Most Loving God, because my life is not static and cannot improve without change, I know that change is coming … I can feel it. In the same way that seasons come and go through the cycle of a year, so do cycles come through my life to reshape me and help me search for new ways to live. When I make poor decisions, I bear the burdens of those choices and must work hard to recover the ground I have lost. When I make good choices, I reap the benefits associated with those choices and rework is not required. You call this process “reaping and sowing”. In the same way that the moon in the sky marks the changing seasons for me and the sun lets me know that hours have passed me by, so must I be watchful for the things that tell me change is coming to my life. I find myself being pulled back and forth between the forces of good and evil … each wanting me to go the direction they want for my life.
What then should I do to make change work for my benefit? To listen to the enemy of my soul means death, loss and destruction will come to the things I hold dear. Yet somehow, there are lingering enticements to my lusts, weaknesses and ignorance that draw me to a place where suffering and pain reside. How do I go about disconnecting myself from these tools of destruction … lust, selfishness, ungodly behavior and pride? When I stay close to You, the decisions I make are good ones and they come easy. When I am lazy, distracted or neglectful in our relationship, I find my quality of life going downhill. In my fallen condition, succumbing to evil is easier. I have come to believe that You paid the price to set me free from the tendencies I have to make bad choices. However, just removing the shackles does not make me free if I feel I am still bound. Help me see and understand that I have been set free and give me the strength to think and act like I am free.
As I contemplate change, I realize that for it to occur I must be open to it. Being complacent will prevent me from advancing my life in the direction You want it to go. I must be able to use the tools You’ve provided for me to use in walking in Your freedom. Your Word has been given to me as a lamp guiding me in a path I am to follow in moving my life forward. It spells out Your directives for a good life and warns of the impending dangers I face. In my prayer time, I get one-on-one interaction with You that produces hope and the feeling I am truly valued. In my times with You, I can unload my heartaches, disappointments, failures and, in return, receive forgiveness, hope, rest and joy. I should not leave out the working of the Holy Spirit who has been given to me to instruct me, comfort me and help me navigate the course for my life. I know that life with You will always bring about change … so that’s why I sense that change is coming. And it’s in Jesus’ name I pray. AMEN!!
II Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he’s a new creation; old things passed away, all things are new.