The new year provides a natural opportunity to take some time to sit with God and prayerfully reflect on the year gone and the year to come. It’s not that there is any special power in the new year, it is simply a moment that marks time. This isn’t about new year’s resolutions, it’s about being attentive to his work in our lives and intentionally seeking him in what is ahead.
Here are some questions you can use to remember the moments of joy and goodness as well as the challenging times, and to recentre as you move forward. So grab a journal and a cup of tea or coffee, put on some quiet worship music and take some time today to reflect with God on the following.
- Remembering the past year, what are you grateful for? What brought joy?
- Where did you feel God’s presence most? Where were the thin places? What were the sacred moments?
- Over the past year, what has been challenging? What pulled you away from God?
- What do you need to lament or repent of from the past year?
- How have you grown (personally, spiritually, professionally, relationally) this past year? Maybe this was through some of the challenges you identified in question 3.
- What would you like to take with you from the past year into next year?
- What is God asking you to leave behind?
- What are you looking forward to about the new year?
- What is your prayer for the new year?
- What do you long to hear God say in response to that prayer?
- What would you like to receive next year?
- What would you like to give next year?
- What spiritual practice do you sense God is asking you to take up next year?
It is sometimes helpful to share your responses with a trusted spiritual friend. I pray that these questions are helpful for you as you begin this new year.
Deeply Formed 