Author: Ali, Contributor: Elton Streyle, Photography and Editing: Ali

Lord, I come to You in Jesus’ Name to thank You for Your sovereignty over my circumstances. No matter what this new year will hold, or the difficulties I experienced in 2021, remind me that You are still God and You are still good. James 1:17 “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.” Whether I am looking toward 2022 with excitement and anticipation, or with dread and anxiety, direct me to depend on You. John 15:4-5 “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.“

This year, guide me to become more like Christ in my conduct towards others and in my relationship with You. Like Jesus did, help me to love and pray for my enemies, as well as my friends, during this coming year. Matthew 5:43-44 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven.” Just as Jesus made it a priority to pray during His life on Earth, direct me to prioritize conversation with You in 2022. Luke 5:16 “So He Himself often withdrew into the wilderness and prayed.”

May this be the year that I let Your transforming power work in my life like never before. Open my eyes to see how You are already working, and expand my expectations of how You will answer my prayers. Like the prophet Habakkuk, my circumstances now or in the coming year may cause me to cry out to You and ask “why?” or “how long?” Habakkuk 1:3 “Why do You show me iniquity, and cause me to see trouble? For plundering and violence are before me; there is strife, and contention arises.”

In such situations, direct me to be fully content in You so that I can say with confidence what Habakkuk said in Habakkuk 3:17-19. “Though the fig tree may not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines; though the labor of the olive may fail, and the fields yield no food; though the flock may be cut off from the fold, and there be no herd in the stalls— Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation. The Lord God is my strength; He will make my feet like deer’s feet, and He will make me walk on my high hills.“

In Jesus’ Name, Amen.