A New Prayer for the New Year!

When we approach God as sinners who have broken (and broken and broken and broken) every single commandment, it forces us to approach God with a different plea. As humans with our sinful nature we tend to think (even if we don’t admit it): “God, I’ve committed a few sins, but overall, I’m a pretty good person. Now, I need forgiveness for those sins, I agree, but don’t forget to recognize that for the most part, I’m a pretty good person; especially compared to those around me”.

Church, that kind of mindset is exactly the essence of Jeremiah 17:9, “The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it?” (NKJV). If there’s such a thing as “worse sin”, it’s a much worse sin to minimize, rationalize or ignore our sin than it was to commit the sin in the first place.

We should be so grateful to God that He has reminded us that we can ask forgiveness from Him, not according to what we deserve, but according to WHO God is. We ask for mercy based on God’s loving kindness, not our own merit. We ask for grace based on God’s good mercies, not because we are owed grace. We ask for forgiveness because God alone can blot out our sins for His glory, not because we deserve it.

Let us ring in the New Year with a new plea, a new prayer to God.

1. Let our words be few and our actions be many.
2. Seek God first in every area of your life, in every decision you make. May He direct your paths and give you the strength and perseverance to see it through to the end.
3. Commit yourselves to Bible study and daily quiet times with God.
4. Remember that we are blessed in exact proportion to our faith (little faith=little blessings). Don’t fool yourselves by saying you have faith in God when you won’t allow/trust Him for anything. Do you want to be blessed more? Then you must learn to grow your faith in Him. How do you do that? Refer back to #3.

As members of Friendship there is one verse that stands out as our motto, and yes it ‘s even engraved on the outside of the church building at the front doors. It is simple, straight forward and to the point, James 1:22, “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.”

Have a Safe & Happy New Year, and May God’s Blessings Abound for You and Your Family in 2009!


In the words of Pastor Dave, “Just as you have been blessed, go now and be a blessing for others.”

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