Lord, every year I cringe at the words, “New Year’s Resolutions.” Because every year I faithfully make a beautiful, productive list and every year I faithfully fail to follow that beautiful, productive list. Maybe I get too lazy or too tired or too flat-out discouraged with life.

Please establish my plans, God, and give me the courage and strength as we make each step together. Only then will I see fruit. Good fruit that is wise and pleasing and sharable.
Then I can truly say, “Happy New Year!”

God, I get carried away with humanity, sometimes idolizing people with my devotion and loyalty and adoration. I see others doing it too. Revering some folks with an awe that should only belong to You—placing their hope in them, kissing their golden rings, and hanging on their every utterance as if they were You. Oh dear.

Remind me, Lord, that You alone should be my great and perfect hero, only You are truly awesome and worthy of my worship. If I kiss the feet of anyone, Jesus, it will be You.

Dear God, I screamed at my child today. As You know, the whole debacle started when she accidentally dropped a saucer of prune puree. The brown goo splattered all over the highchair, the floor, the curtains, me, and even the ceiling! My little one giggled, and knowing the long cleanup, I screamed. And then we cried together. Good grief.

The house is clean again, but I am so sorry, Lord. Show me how to be humbler, gentler, and more patient with my family.

Dear Jesus, the older I get the more I tend to get reflective, and when I look back over my life, my choices—well, I get depressed. So much of what I chased after, what I longer for, what I won, later looked meaningless—a mere chasing after the wind.

With the power of Your Holy Spirit, please guide me in all my aspirations and future choices, so that I will be more aligned with Your Devine will and not be frittering away the time I have left on this earth. Amen!

I found an old grungy pot in the garage today, Lord, and I think I discovered a spiritual lesson here. I tried to clean up that pot by soaking it, scrubbing it, and hosing it off. I finally had to chuck it, because it was too grimy and too ugly for use.

Please do not let me be like that dirty, unusable pot, Lord. May I always remember that my body is a temple of Your Holy Spirit. I desire to be a clean vessel—to honor You with all of me, including my body.

Lord, aren’t people supposed to converse and not bang into each other? Lately there is more bashing than visiting, especially on social media and even in the church! What happened?

I think it’s gotten so bad that I need to hand people “life scripts” so they will know how to offer encouragement and not throw little verbal punches. That way, I could tell them just what I needed to hear so I could walk away uplifted and not worn down into a mess of hot tears.

Help us, Lord, to build each other up. And help me to always do the same for others. Not belittling anyone, but blessing them.

Before I sit down to a meal with my family, I want to honor You, Lord, by extending a special invitation to You. Please be in our midst, and as we commune with You, may we pass the food with more gratitude, eat with more joy—in spite of the lumpy potatoes—and speak to each other with more love.

Oh, how I wish that You could truly sit with us physically and we could see Your smile. But until that glorious day when I step into Your arms, my door is always open to You right here, right now…

When I crawl out of bed in the morning and look in the bathroom mirror, I don’t usually see radiance. Sometimes I see dark circles and an attitude of resignation—that is, I may not even make it through the day heavily fueled by caffeine.

What I desire, Lord, is to wake up with hope in my soul and praise on my lips. I want to be so drenched in Your Holy Presence that people can sense it in my spirit and see it radiate on my face. Whether I have makeup on or not!

Please help me, Lord, in this harsh season of my life. It’s like I am trudging through a vast barren wasteland—alone. I can so relate to the Proverbs verse that speaks of a crushed spirit and how it dries up the bones. Release me from this earthly malady, and replace it with a merry heart. It will be just the medicine I need!

Dear Jesus, some days I’m tempted to just grasp at whatever I think will make me happy, and some of those choices have been pretty goofy. Sometimes they are downright sinful. But then I remember that my ways haven’t brought me a lot of joy or the true desires of my heart.

So, may I instead delight in You as it says in Your Word. And may we find joy in doing life together—Your way. Then the desires of my heart and everything You want for me will fall into place…

Jesus, when I see the story of me play out each day, it sometimes makes me wince. I start out as a hero and then in the midst of daily troubles I become the character no one is cheering for. I get impatient, petty, envious, and braggadocios. With a few other disagreeable character traits throw in. May the power of Your Holy Spirit guide me out of my fleshly ways and make my story unfold in a way that satisfies You. And me.

This year Christmas became a blurring whirl of shopping and activities. I am exhausted and glad the holidays are over. But, Lord, that attitude does not sound right.

Yeah, I did a lot spending but I did not spend enough time pondering the sacred night of Your birth or Your beautiful design of redemption. I did not honor You as You deserved. Oh Lord, forgive me. Please help me. I want to celebrate Your birthday the right way—with quiet wonder and heartfelt worship…