Introduction: A Different Kind of Post
I’ll warn you up front: this post is not a typical Rooted Thinking article. Actually, it’s not really a blog article at all; it’s an email letter that I sent to a couple of close friends a few days ago. I debated about sharing this with you, but thought that perhaps the Lord might use this note to encourage you in a couple of specific ways. First, I hope this note helps you think and pray more specifically about your own growth in grace. Cultivating greater depth in our walk with Christ isn’t something that will happen accidentally or haphazardly. It requires (among other things) thoughtful reflection, honest confession, clear direction, and specific prayer.
In addition, I hope this letter will reinforce the essential role godly friends play in our pursuit of Christ. No one matures in isolation. We need godly friends to pray for us and keep us accountable. We need friends who will freely edify, challenge, and speak the truth to us when we’re discouraged or apathetic. I pray that this note will encourage you to pursue and deepen godly friendships with other like-minded brothers and sisters in Christ.
My Prayer for 2023
Dear friends,
I recently took time to reflect on how the Lord has been working in my life over the course of this past year (I noted a few of the lessons He’s been teaching me here). As we prepare for the upcoming year, I’d value your encouragement, accountability, and prayers in the areas listed below:
Greater intimacy with Christ and usefulness in His Service
Over the past few years, a spirit of complacency has subtly crept in and dampened my zeal for Christ. I don’t, however, want to rest satisfied with my present spiritual attainment (Phil 3:12-16). I want more of Christ. I want to know and love Him more deeply, intimately, and passionately. I want to be more faithful, fervent, and fruitful in His service (Ro. 12:11).
In a letter to his sister shortly after his missionary call, 19-year-old Hudson Taylor wrote, “I feel my need of more holiness and conformity to Him who has loved us and washed us in His blood. Love so amazing should indeed cause us to give our bodies and spirits to Him as living sacrifices… Pray for me, that I may be made more useful here and fitted for extended usefulness hereafter.” I pray that these same, heart-felt ambitions for holiness and usefulness will shape my life and ministry this upcoming year.
Living and laboring with faith-filled expectancy
The temptation to settle into a routine and coast along is very real. Sadly, I’ve allowed small, man-centered expectations to handicap me from prayerfully anticipating God’s hand of blessing on my labors for Christ. I’ve overemphasized the challenges and underestimated the power of God and His gospel. I find myself admiring what God has done in the past but not expecting Him to work as powerfully in the present. By God’s grace, I need to repent of and vigilantly mortify this sinful, God-belittling mindset. Pray that I might live and labor with a faith-filled, God-glorifying spirit of expectancy.
Words cannot express how thankful I am for the grace of friendship. I am humbled and grateful for how the Lord has used each of you to point me to Christ. I pray that in some small way I can do the same for you as well. Let me know how I can pray for and encourage you this upcoming year as we grow in grace together.
With gospel affection,
Micah
