Hey everyone!! Hoping you all had a splendid Christmas and took time to just celebrate our Savior’s birth. Glory to God forever. I am ecstatic to be sharing about the past year of my life today and my prayers for the future for myself and you all reading along!
Let me just share one thing first: 2021 was H A R D. And when I mean hard, I mean the most difficult year of my life. Loads happened this year, things I didn’t think would. I never imagined I would be where I am today. I do not mean to toot my own horn, but, man, I am proud of myself for the growth I have made this year and proud of how much I have persevered through this year, but actually, I should not take the credit, I have to give the glory to God that He is faithful and has strengthened me throughout this year. I am so thankful that the Lord has walked with me through this entire year. He has helped bring me out of the dark and into His light, no matter my flaws and sins. I started this year in a bad place. If we are being honest, I was still looking for love and validation. I am gonna be honest, I spent last New Year's eve drunk. And I mean DRUNK. If you drink, no shame to you at all, I don’t judge at all. But for me, I was drinking because I was struggling and thought it would bring me “Joy”. I was fighting depression and the need for validation. I was truly begging for God to change something in my life. I felt so trapped and like I was being ignored by God for a while, but the thing is God never ignores us, and He always answers His prayers in one way or another. I felt so isolated from the world by being trapped in the house because of online school due to COVID-19 and felt very robbed because I was not getting the senior year I deserved. This past year often reminds of the story of Abraham and Sarah how God promised them a child, and for years and years, they waited, attempting to conceive until FINALLY God fulfilled His promise to them and allowed Abraham and Sarah to conceive at the ages of 100 and 99 respectively. After praying so much, God thankfully brought us back to in-person school, in-person events, which meant in-person show choir rehearsal! He transformed me this year! He amazes me in all His ways. A lot of huge things have happened this year because of Him: I graduated high school summa cum lade, I finished 7 years of show choir, was the president of my Tri-M Music National Honor Society, worked in a kindergarten summer program for elementary school kids through my hometown’s schools county this summer to help kids catch up on the impact COVID-19 had on learning, started college, my sister, Taylore, got married, finished my first semester of college, started auditioning for colleges again, got to watch my sister, Pastor Kilyn, preach her first sermon in “Big Church”, fought depression and anxiety, went to a church convention, BROADWAY CAME BACK and saw two of my absolute favorite Broadway musicals: SIX and Wicked, went to my first concert, started reading more, started working at Starbucks, went on my first missions trip, just went back to Universal Studios for the first time since COVID, got a tattoo, moved to Maryland, said goodbye to my friends moving away ,STARTED THIS BLOG, etc so many incredible things God has done for me! The best thing by far that has come out of this year is I’ve gotten to start learning about Him and have felt His presence with me this year, no matter what I was doing. I got a Bible for graduation from my church this year that has my name engraved on it and decided to start reading the Bible from beginning to end, truly one of the best gifts I have ever been given. I have been unsure about a lot of things this year: Am I enough? What am I doing with my life? But I promise you this one thing, God is not ever unsure. 2021 has been a hard year, but it has been a good year, and I am so excited to see where 2022 brings me.
I want to share about my prayers for this next year because I think it is essential to pray about all matters of your life because our Father wants us to bring everything to Him and I feel sometimes we lack in prayer, I know I do. We should pray about anything and everything. I read somewhere that often we use prayer like cake, only for special occasions, when prayer should be like bread, we need it every day! I pray next year I become more intimate with God in every way. I pray everything I do I question and see if it will honor God and help glorify His kingdom. I pray next year I continue to have absolute confidence in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I pray next year I continue to hunger more and more for God endlessly. I pray I continue to just want to be where He is. I pray next year God continues to let me experience all the wonders of this world. I pray next year that I am open to whatever God has in store for me and that I am obedient to it. I pray I let the Holy Spirit guide and move in me to where I need to be. I pray to God next year, I serve others and Him better. I pray to God that I speak His truth, nothing else. My prayer for this new year is that I study His word more and dig deeper into what the Bible says, that I use the Bible as a spiritual life guide. I pray next year I take on things that will grow my faith and me as a person. I pray God strengthens me to do whatever His will is. I pray for next year I make quiet time with Him a priority over other things. I pray that I do not worry about anxiety or depression because God is in control and those things do not matter. I pray God uses me like never before to help spread the good news of the Gospel and His name. I pray the Lord helps me continue to build disciplines of His church. I pray next year I become more compassionate and caring through Him. I pray I grow more and more as an example of His light and love, that people see Him in me. I pray next year I see everything in His image. I pray I see His heart in everything He has created, I pray I see everything as worthy because God makes no mistakes and we are all here for a purpose. God planted us where He wants us and I pray I remember that. I pray God takes over in my life, and that my thoughts become prayers to Him, just as Paul’s were to God. I pray I never give up on prayer because He is an on-time God. I pray for our world that we become more united through Him. I pray we stop identifying as our political parties, but as followers of Christ. I pray we do not ask what will help the republicans or the democrats, but what will help grow His kingdom. I pray for whoever is reading that they may grow closer to God in this new year, that You use the Holy Spirit and guide them, Lord, that they put their trust in You alone. I pray to God that we all may spend more time learning about You. Above all else, I pray that we remain focused on God, and we put Him first in all I do. I pray my love for Him becomes bolder and more unapologetic. I know God is the God of miracles, without Him nothing is possible, I know in this new year, God has something huge planned. I trust and know He is the God of the impossible and He has something incredible in store for me, and I cannot wait to see what He has in store. I pray I listen to whatever God brings me and I say, “Yes” to it. You all know, I love worship music, it is one of my favorite things. My prayer for the new year is the song “Available” by Elevation Worship. A song about letting God know I am available for Him to use and just utterly surrendering yourself to God, letting God know YOU CAN USE ME. I pray in the new year: I listen to whatever calling He has for me. I have a feeling 2022 is gonna be an incredible year, and you know what even if it isn’t guess what? God is still just as awesome as He always has and will be. If you have any other prayer requests about the new year please do not hesitate to contact me, I would love to be praying with you and help you as we both go along our faith journey!
Also, are you looking for a Bible reading plan for the new year? Want to read the Bible next year more, but a one-year plan just seems like something you are scared you won’t stay on top of or will forget about it? No problem at all! I am so excited because my church, Bethel Assembly of God, is starting a two-year Bible reading plan together starting January 1st that I am SOO excited about that will take you through the entire Bible in 2 years! I am also a proud and biased brother because my sister, Pastor Kilyn, designed this plan herself. She will also be graduating with her Masters of Divinity in Christian Theology this May from Regent University! I will be linking the plan below, and it starts January 1st, so I will be praying for you all reading and am so excited to see the things God does through it!
https://www.bethel.life/bible-plan
Blessings,
Barrett
Comments