A New Year’s Prayer

[ 5 minutes to read ]

Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.
– 3 John 2
Pray the Scripture.

[N]ew Year’s Day is just another day. A lot of people are off from work and maybe spend the day with family, but it’s not really so much different from the day before it or after it. It’s not just another day, since it marks the beginning of a new year. I realize that’s just convention, but there’s something to it for us.

New Year’s provides a natural time for us to review the previous year and different aspects of our life in general. We also naturally look ahead and even if we don’t have written goals, we probably have unwritten ones. We have areas of our life in mind that we would like to improve, continue, or maybe stop. Goals involving personal health and finances are on most people’s minds. If you’re a Christian, you probably have in mind some sort of spiritual goals. Maybe you want to read the Bible in a year for the first time, or pray more, or pray better.

So let’s think together on a portion of Scripture that will perhaps help us with three common goals or thoughts at the beginning of a new year: devotions, money, and prayer. Paul wrote to Timothy:

    Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy; That they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate; Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.
    – 1 Timothy 6:17-19

Meditate on the Scripture

What does this passage mean? Paul mentions riches in this passage and it is the third mention material possessions at the close of this letter. The first is a warning about greedy, false teachers (1 Timothy 6:3-5). The second flows from the first and is a word concerning contentment and a sober warning to those who desire to be rich (1 Timothy 6:6-10). Paul then tells Timothy to flee all these things that he be above reproach and then gives Timothy this charge for the rich.

The word Paul uses for rich in this passage means wealth, or abundance of possessions. Most of us dismiss this charge as belonging to a category of people we do not belong to. Not so fast. The earlier warning was to those who want to be rich and this word is to those who “are rich in this world.” If we think in general and basic terms, riches refers to having abundant possessions, or having more than mere necessity. While we can discuss a range of having more, we must admit that most everyone reading this has more than simply mere necessity. The fact there are people with far greater abundance than us does not change the fact that we have more than just what we need. So this charge is for you and for me.

The charge consists of two things not to do and five things to do that will result in “laying up in store … for the time to come,” and laying “hold of eternal life.” First, we are not to be highminded. The word means haughty and Paul is telling us not to derive our self-worth from our possessions where we esteem ourselves more highly than those who have less than us. Second, we are not to trust in uncertain riches. Whatever abundance we have, we are not to have confidence and hope in those things, which are so uncertain. Everything you and I have today could be gone tomorrow.

Having wealth in whatever measure, we are first charged to trust in God, who is the source of our abundance and the terminus for our enjoyment, praise, and thanksgiving. Second, we are to do good. Doing good means doing good for others, or doing things for the benefit of others. Third, we are to have an abundance of good works. The word for good here means beautiful in the sense of noble, or virtuous. Fourth, we are to be ready to give. Fifth, we are to be ready to share.

Paul, nor other Scripture, condemns the having of abundance. We are warned not to trust in it, nor to pursue it as our primary goal. We are charged to be open-handed and generous in giving to others. We are to be thankful for what we have, recognizing from Whom we have received it. And, we are to use it for enjoyment and service in bringing glory to God. By this, we lay up treasure in Heaven.

Pray the Scripture

Maybe you have heard someone talking about praying Scripture, but aren’t sure what they mean. First, let’s admit we all struggle in prayer. We fall into routine, redundant prayers we don’t even need to be fully awake to pray. We set out to spend a longer time in prayer but run out of gas after only a few minutes. Praying Scripture can help us, but what is it and how does it work?

Let’s use our passage to see how we might pray this passage. First, we read the passage and meditate, or think, on what it means and how it applies to us. We did this in the previous section. You may to spend some time thinking how each of those charges apply to you personally. Second, we pray the passage.

We often must begin with confession to put ourselves in the right place in the passage. Here we begin by acknowledging we are rich. We have more than bare necessities in life. Don’t worry about who may have more, or less. You have more than you deserve and more than you truly need. So acknowledge this before God.

Next we focus on what we are not to do. If we have been highminded and trusting in possessions, confess it and repent of it. This will take time for reflection and examination to search out our own hearts and shine the light of Scripture in the dark corners. After confession, we seek God for his help and deliverance from these temptations and failings.

Then we pray through what we are charged to do. We can follow the pattern–examine our hearts and lives, confess and repent our failures, and seek God for deliverance and preservation to glorify him in faithful obedience.

A New Year’s Prayer

This particular praying of Scripture is an excellent way to start the new year. Perhaps this practice will help you pray more and better in the new year. Maybe this prayer will help us with the abundance we have. I pray this will help us glorify him this year, whether by life or by death.

(Visited 1 times, 1 visits today)

Leave A Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *