Spiritual Renewal Starts With Prayer

As we begin this new year, many of us reflect on the past year and the things that we want to do different in the new year. Sometimes we can reflect too long on the mishaps of the past and miss what God wants to do in and through us today. At the start of each year, we vow that this year is going to be better than the last year. We make resolutions only to have them dissolve before we get started. Frustration sets in because we've prayed over and over again to be set free from things that have held us captive.

If you're anything like me, you need your mind and your spirit renewed. 

For a long time, I wondered why I felt like I couldn't get a breakthrough in my prayer life. I always thought my prayers were powerful. I spoke the right jargon during my prayer time. All the while, there was a blockage. I was encased in a glass box looking that the promises that God had for me.

Why couldn't I get to them? I see them. They are within arms reach.

Then the thoughts race through my mind of all the times people and things hindered me from receiving those promises. They kept me from moving forward. They hurt me. They gossiped about me. They abused me. They lied on me. They....they....they....

It wasn't until one day when I realized "they" had power over me because I wouldn't let go of the past. The only control others have over you, is the control you give them. I allowed people that I hadn't seen in years to control me from afar. Why? Because I had not completely applied the Word of God in my life.

Isaiah 43:18-19 says, "Do not remember the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing, now it shall spring forth; shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert."

Hitting the rewind button to continue playing the past will cause you to miss our on what God has in your future.

Let's start this year off by renewing our spirits through prayer. The prayer that's most powerful is the prayer of inviting God to come into your heart. Maybe you have prayed this prayer before, but you can pray it again. Maybe this is your first time praying it, and you're hesitant. Those feelings are normal. I do want to say that in order to move forward, we must seek forgiveness for our past and present sins.

Will you bow your head with me and say this prayer?

~ Dear Lord Jesus, forgive me for my sins. Cleanse me from all righteousness. I believe that you died on the cross. Were buried and on the third day, and God the Father raised you from the died. Right now Lord Jesus, I open the door of my heart. I receive you into my heart as my Lord and Savior. In Jesus name. Amen. ~

If you said that prayer, you're on your way to a spiritual renewal.

Remember this, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new." -II Corinthians 5:17