Word of the Year: Believe

I've never done a word of the year before. In fact, I'm pretty sure I've never done a New Years resolution. It's just not my style. I'm the kind of person who makes a change right when I decide I want to make a change, and then I'm pretty determined to do it. Because I'm stubborn... and an over-achiever (although I think that's lessened since college days)... and I hate failing.

But a few weeks ago I was spending time with the Lord, and he put the word peace on my mind. And as I thought about it, I realized that that word describes last year. The Lord continually asked me to pursue peace... in relationships, in circumstances, in my schedule, in my soul. While seeking peace is a life-long pursuit because we've never arrived while on this earth, I have found a really deep peace this past year in a lot of areas. Right now, my circumstances are not perfect. My relationships are imperfect and some are broken. My schedule is crazy and unpredictable with three little kids and diet changes and car problems. But my soul is truly at peace. The Lord has taught me how to trust Him in and through it all.

So I was thinking about what my word for this year should be. Thinking about the word wasn't really about trying to choose a word to define the year. It was more about seeking the Lord about what he was putting on my heart right now so that I can be diligent to pursue him in the matter. And I realized lately the Lord is putting the word believe on my heart. He has been asking me to have faith and to believe in His incredible, boundless power.

Our family is part of a Life Group at our church. God has used this group immensely in our life to encourage us and spur us on. I have experienced prayer in a way that I have never known before. I have learned to cry out to the Lord with my sisters in Christ and to ask Him of the deepest desires of our heart. In the past few months, we have been praying desperately for a seemingly impossible situation. And in the last couple weeks, the Lord has answered our prayers! What an incredible thing it is to experience the power of God and to see Him answer our askings.

I am praying to you because I know you will answer, O God. Bend down and listen as I pray. Psalm 17:6

On the very same day that the Lord answered our prayers, I watched War Room. This movie is about the power of persistent prayer. After watching the movie, I felt convicted to believe in the power of prayer. Of course, in some way I did before. But my life doesn't really show it in the amount of time I actually spend before the Lord in prayer. The Lord has put a few heavy burdens on my heart in this past month, and I know He is asking me to spend time with Him in prayer and to believe that He will answer. He will not delay. He will not ignore. He will not forget.

So, this year, I am learning how to believe. To use my days and hours and minutes and seconds in a way that show that I believe that the Lord hears and answers prayers and that He is the one who has the power to change.