Step Into the Future: 5 Resolutions For The Best 2024 Resolution FIVE

      

Resolution # 5.

Talk to God More!

“Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus." Phil 4:6-7NLT

Our Thoughts Ruminating 

How many times do we worry about things that we have no control over? Do you desire to have more peace in your life? In Philippians 4:6-7 there’s a promise that God’s peace will guard your heart and mind, AFTER you've talked to God.

Worrying and thinking about our issues throughout the day without ever directing them toward God in prayer is very easy to do. But as a result, how often do those issues continue to repeat in our hearts and minds without any sense of peace? Jesus is the Prince of Peace, and the peace that’s everlasting can only come from Jesus. 

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” John 14:27

According to the Mental Health Foundation, in the past year, “74%  of people have felt so stressed that they’ve been overwhelmed or unable to cope.” Anxiety and depression are at an all-time high!

Conversation With God 

Prayer is more than thanking God at mealtime, bedtime or turning to Him during crisis! Prayer is simply conversation with Him! Conversing with Him is something that God desires we do as we cultivate our relationship with Him. It’s a way to express praise, thanks, adoration, humility, and need for Him in our lives. What I find most exciting about prayer is that it’s not a monologue. It’s a dialogue. Yes, I said dialogue! Nothing brings me more peace or excitement to me than hearing God respond when I talk to him!

I hope to write more blog posts about how to hear and understand God’s voice. But I assure you, the more you talk to God, the more you will learn to hear His voice! God often speaks through His Word-The Holy Bible, which is the best way to hear God. There are multiple other ways to hear God, but if you’re new to learning God’s voice, the Word of God is the best place to start.

Jesus, The Good Shepherd

“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.  To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.

So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.” John 10:1-18

Make a point to spend more time talking to God this year! You will notice things shift in your life as you align with Him. You will gain more peace in your life regardless of what you face in 2024. Most of all, your faith will grow, and your trust in God will strengthen as you spend time speaking to Him. Try to spend increments of time designated toward time in prayer and add to it as you are able. Don’t be discouraged if you don’t have a strong prayer life right now, you have to start somewhere, so start today.

A template for prayer from Luke 11:1-4 NKJV:

Now it came to pass, as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, that one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.”

So He said to them, “When you pray, say:

Our Father in Heaven,

Hallowed be Your name.

Your kingdom come.

Your will be done

On earth as it is in Heaven.

Give us day by day our daily bread.

And forgive us our sins,

For we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us.

And do not lead us into temptation,

But deliver us from the evil one.”