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“When we are one with our life . . . no prayer can be denied.”
—George MacDonald
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The chances are good that you’re not processing your inbox but are celebrating the New Year with some of your favorite people . . . and that’s just how it should be.
When you have a few minutes, though, I’d love to give you something for the year ahead (details below). But first, take a deep breath and enjoy this paraphrase of Psalm 32:8–9. It’s simply delightful.
I hear the Lord saying, “I will stay close to you, instructing and guiding you along the pathway for your life. I will advise you along the way and lead you forth with my eyes as your guide. So don’t make it difficult; don’t be stubborn when I take you where you’ve not been before. Don’t make me tug you and pull you along. Just come with me!”
If you’d like for that to be the banner over your year, can I get a yes and amen?
In our last Entry, I shared some thoughts on how pride blinds us, but humility opens our eyes and ears to God’s ways and words. As the paraphrase puts it, “God will lead you forward with his eyes as your guide.”
Only God knows what 2024 holds for us, but he’s not trying to keep us in the dark. Whatever God hides from us, he ultimately hides for us, preparing us to know the Truth and receive it as our own. And the greatest truth of all is the promise of Immanuel—God for us, God with us, and God within us. A promise that becomes more and more real as we learn to embrace prayer as a way of life.
Response
My wife, Juli, and I collaborated to create a six-session course on trading transactional prayer for a transformative experience. If you’ve journeyed with me for a bit now, you know that I think we largely look at prayer through the wrong end of the telescope, and that’s why so many of us are frustrated and dissatisfied with our prayer life.
While we don’t cover everything in this course, we want to give you what we have. I’m also thrilled to tell you that we created a course guide so you can host a group and invite some friends to journey through the course with you.
And the best part of it is, that while the course was costly to make, we’re making it available to you at no cost.
Closing Thoughts
My suggestion is to go through two sessions a week for the first three weeks of January. Think of it as a 21-day commitment. Between the course guide, the sessions, and a daily reading of John’s gospel (which is always a great way to start the year!), you’ll be positioned to start 2024 in strength. And if you don’t have the Words with God book yet, it’ll be an amazing companion for this journey.
Praying with you,
Addison
P.S. To access the free Words with God course, just follow these simple steps:
1. Download the MessengerX app on the Apple App Store or on Google Play (or simply click here.)
2. Sign up / sign in to your account in the MessengerX app using your email address.
3. After completing steps 1 and 2, come back to this email and click here to gain access to The Words with God Course. (Note: You’ll need to use the same device that’s signed in to MessengerX.)
