In my last blog post, I wrote about how I had picked up a few things in 2022 that I no longer wanted to carry.

When we lay something down, it’s important to pick something else up. Gain a new focus where the old one used to exist.

So, I’ve been thinking about things that God wants to equip me with in 2023. And the first thing I feel He wants me to have is prayer.

1. Prayer

January 2023 will mark my 20-year anniversary, as a follower of Jesus.

Honestly, I am astounded by how much God has transformed my life in that 10 years.

Yet, after 10 years of following Jesus, I am excited by the fact that I have barely scratched the surface of all that He wants to show me.

I am delighted to tell you that there is more, for me. There is more adventure to be had and there is so much more for me to know of Him.

Jesus has a plan for my life and He has so much to tell me, to show me and to grow within me.

This next season, though, begins in prayer.

I am only going to see the miracles Jesus wants me to witness when I get onto my knees and pray.

I am only going to see the more of God when I cry out for the breakthroughs I am longing for. Longings that He put in my heart.

What would happen if I actually talked to God about the people I cared about?

What would happen if I really took action and dared to pray for the things that God has put on my heart?

Do you know that Jesus spent a night in prayer, before choosing His disciples?

One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God. When morning came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them, whom he also designated apostles.

Luke 6: 12 – 13, NIV.

If Jesus prayed about everything, I can’t afford to live in prayerlessness.

I need to pray things that I’ve never prayed before. Things that I would love to see – But, am I serious about actually seeing them?

I don’t want to settle, when I know there is more for me to grab hold of.

I don’t want to grow stagnant and forget that there is always more.

But, if I am honest, I have got a little lazy. I have got a little stagnant.

So, for me, 2023 requires prayer. It requires a new kind of prayer for me. A bit of unknown, but essential if I am going to move forward.

I wonder, are you praying for the same things you were praying for 10 years ago? Are you asking for some new things, now? What are they?

Maybe you’ve heard that there is more of Jesus, but you don’t know how to get it. Where do you start?

Begin by inviting the Holy Spirit in. Ask Him to show you what to pray for in 2023. Write down anything that comes to your mind and then bring those requests before God, on your knees, and see what happens.

2. Purpose

O.K, I am using a bunch of Christian words that begin with the letter ‘p’. I know, it’s a bit cheesy.

But this year, I really want some of that cheesy, purpose stuff.

That kind of purpose where you know what God has asked you to do and you are not afraid to say no to anything outside of that remit.

I think of Jesus – when he learned that His friend Lazarus has died, He didn’t go to Lazarus’ family right away. He had the ability to heal His friend and raise Him from death, yet He didn’t move fast. He waited for the right time. (John 11.)

Similarly, when there was a huge storm on a boat, Jesus was sleeping. He didn’t silence the storm immediately, He waited for the right moment. (Mark 4: 35 – 41.)

I was thinking about purpose and how, when I was younger, I lived with a purpose to people please. I wouldn’t have been able to tell you that, at the time.

Thing is: We all live with a driving force, something we are gunning for. People pleasing used to be my purpose, but it gave me no peace. In fact, it led to burnout.

When Jesus gives you purpose, you don’t burnout. You absolutely find peace.

That purpose isn’t to run ragged for the sake of the gospel. It’s to be you. The “you” that God created you to be!

It’s about Him fulfilling His promises to you and you trusting Him to do just that.

Psalm 57 says:

I cry out to God Most High, to God who fulfils his purpose for me.

Psalm 57: 2, ESV.

• This year I want to make sure that I’m living sure of the purpose God gives me.
• This year I want to step out in faith and believe He will fulfil His promises to me.
• This year I want to remember that I am God’s daughter and I get to trust when He says “Go” and trust when He says “No!”

Maybe this is the year I start taking some of those dreams seriously. You know, the dreams God puts in us, yet we feel a bit unsure how they will come to pass?

What about you? What does purpose mean to you? What’s been your motivation behind all you’ve done in 2022?

3. Passion

My daughter got a karaoke machine for Christmas.

She sings into that microphone like she’s singing at a jam-packed arena!

She reminds me of me!

I put my heart into stuff. Often, I can’t help it!

Yet, sometimes I put my heart into too much and that is when old burnout comes back to knock me down.

Sometimes, when we burnout, we lose passion. And when the burnout leaves, it is all too easy forget to forget to pick passion back up again.

Passion is a strong feeling of enthusiasm or excitement (Britannica, 2022.)

For me, passion is stirred when I start a new project or when I sing a song that I love (…And no-one is listening!)

Passion is stirred when I talk about envelope-making and writing!

Yet, I would like 2023 to be marked by my passion for Jesus.

I would like to stir that thing up again – Because, honestly, I don’t know where it went!

It’s not that I don’t love Him, it’s just that – more often than not – I get up and crack on with my day, barely talking to Him or about Him.

How do I get that passion back as a busy full-time stay-at-home mum, with a small writing job on the side?

Pursuing Him. In any small or big way. A worship song, a moment of journaling. A flick of the bible whilst in my kitchen.

Actually worshipping when I am at church. Not just mouthing the words!

Psalm 84 says:

My soul yearns, even faints,
    for the courts of the Lord;
my heart and my flesh cry out
    for the living God.

Psalm 84: 2, NIV.

It sounds daft but if I want to get more into envelope-making, I have to practice! I have to pursue the craft!

I think it’s a heart thing. I think I have to choose to cry out to the living God and trust that passion will return to me.

If you’ve been burnout I want to tell you that it is O.K to put your heart into something, again.

Truth is: Putting your heart into Jesus is not going to burn you out, at all.

Maybe this is your year to reconcile with who God made you to be. That passionate, heart-on-sleeve man or woman that does not hold back from loving. God delights in that person. He made you that way.

Get the passion back!

Final Thoughts

These are the things I want to take into 2023: Prayer, purpose and passion.

I want to ask you, what are you taking into 2023? What’s coming and what’s staying in 2022?

• Now is a great time to reflect and change what you don’t like, before time leads you.
• Now is a great time to repent and reconnect with a God who adores you.
• Now is a great time to grab hold of a word, or three! Because that kind of motivation will turn just another year into a decided, focused year.