Jump-Start for the New Year

by Kathleen Elliott

New years are always a time of new beginnings. As we put up the new calendars and take time to reflect on last year, let’s think about some creative ways to spiritually jump-start us into the new year.

Navigators published a wonderful booklet "23 Ways to Jump-Start Your Spiritual Battery" and I reference that for a number of meaningful ideas for putting some zest into our relationship with God.

  1. "Practice redemptive remembrance" by reviewing the year and noting the times God has protected us, redeemed our mistakes, forgiven our bad judgement, rescued us from foolish relationships and difficult circumstances. Review your own conversion experience and journal, or write your thoughts into a psalm of praise and remembrance.

  2. Like Scrooge in Dickens’ A Christmas Carol who took a trip into the future to see what he would become, we can imagine our own lives as we live out the path we are currently on. Reflect on personal habits; disciplines; relationships; issues; physical, emotional, and spiritual self-care. Pray for courage and inspiration to grow in areas of challenge.

  3. Look for ways to do "acts of service" in secret — things that would encourage, relieve financial strain, or minister to the hurting.

  4. Plan a "day of Prayer," spending concentrated time in worship, organizing prayer concerns for regular prayer times, setting priorities and goals, reading scripture, praying through hymns, reading an inspirational biography or book you’ve been wanting to read.

  5. Challenge yourselves to pray in a variety of ways, including different positions of kneeling, standing, lying prostrate; lifting hands to heaven; praying Psalms and prayers from scripture; singing and memorizing scripture as devotion to the Lord.

  6. Think through and study the different names of God and Christ, choosing a different role as a theme for a each day of the week.

  7. Paraphrase a favorite book of the Bible or long passage, thinking deeply about it over a period of time; study, cross-reference discuss with other serious students of scripture, then express these thoughts in your own words in a way that communicates the truth in your current culture.

  8. Hang out with a small child and listen to the genuineness of his/her questions and responses. Jesus loved children and cited their innocence and simple faith as a model for all of us. Pray with him/her and hear the heart without the clutter of stress.

  9. Get out of our comfort zone and read authors who are controversial and write from a theological perspective other than our own. Different ideas help strengthen convictions and prepare us for intelligent discussion in a context for evangelism or teaching.

  10. Read the newspaper as a prayer guide, realizing the laws, economy , social issues, political hot buttons, as well as media, celebrities, and other cultural factors are highly relevant to Christians. Pray for those in authority and influence.

  11. Spend a day consciously choosing to focus on others. Instead of using the words "I" and "me," let your conversation draw others out and focus on their needs. Take "me" out of the equation.

  12. Focus on a daily walk with the Lord to be single-minded seeking His will, opening your hands to give Him all the worries, anxieties and concerns that distract you and make you confused and double-minded.

Innovation and creativity can keep any relationship more interesting and intimate, including our relationship with God. These twelve ideas and more from "23 Ways to Jump-Start Your Spiritual Battery" can energize our relationship with God and keep it fresh and rich.

*Randy D. Raysbrook, author of the article from which these ideas and his booklet came, is a Navigator staff member who lives in Colorado Springs. You can order this booklet at The Navigators, PO Box 6000, Colorado Springs, CO. 80934,or 719-594-2100.