9 Actions to Pray for this Holiday Season
For years, the weeks from Thanksgiving to New Years were the most miserable, anxiety creating, drama filled weeks of the year.
Here are 9 actions I am praying this year to not only create joy and peace for others but these little tricks help me share that joy in peace with others. Join me in shifting this season from stress to rest by praying these nine things!
1. Gratitude
2. Generosity
3. Peace
4. Blessings
5. Success
6. Submission
7. Healing
8. Forgiveness
9. Gifts
1. Gratitude. Don’t stop the gratitude from THANKSgiving. Pray and thank God for the good things he has given you and when a complaint sneaks in, shut it down and instead focus on the good things God is doing, even in the challenges.
For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer.
1 Timothy 4:4-5 ESV
2. Generosity: Against materialism and self-obsession. The giving of gifts is meant to be a reminder that the greatest gift and only one we truly need was given to us when Jesus was born. When I start shopping and trying to choose things I want I become self-obsessed instead of grateful. All the hard words of gratitude and the blessing it was on my mind last month is consumed by my desire to get more stuff. I start to think, “what will make me happy?” instead of “thank you for the things I have that do make me happy” I think, “what can I buy to make me look good to others?” Instead of, “what can I do to love others?”
“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal,
but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.
For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Matthew 6:19-21 ESV
3. Peace: Say no to anxiety. Every minute you let the anxiety run wild in your mind takes 10 minutes to recover from. Stop it and choose peace instead. What if this year, you were so at peace that your presence was a source or relief for others.
When the cares of my heart are many, your consolations cheer my soul.
Psalm 94:19 ESV
4. Blessings: Pray blessings over others. We can give gifts but if we truly believe in the power of prayer we will pray for others- pray blessings over them and believe they will receive it.
The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.
Numbers 6:24-26 ESV
5. Success: Ask God for success over all the work from this year. Spend time reflecting on your past year in gratitude asking him to bless the work you've done- to pour gasoline on the fire you have built.
Let not steadfast love and faithfulness forsake you; bind them around your neck; write them on the tablet of your heart.
So you will find favor and good success in the sight of God and man.
Proverbs 3:3 ESV
6. Submission: Submit your plans to God. He calls us to work hard (col 3:23, 1 cor 10:31) and he will bless our work and give us direction if we walk with him and listen. and submit your plans for next year in Hope.
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your path straight.
Proverbs 3:5-6 ESV
7. Healing: Healing in relationships. Relationships are hard with sinners. It is easy to focus on the other person’s side of the street instead of our own. God gives us commands in scripture in regards to relationships not because he wants perfect little robots but because he knows when we do the things in this verse, there is power and blessing for us and others. Forget what's done to you and be the peacemaker this holiday season.
Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.
Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.
Ephesians 4:31 ESV
8. Forgiveness: Help forgiving others. Players gonna play and sinners gonna sin- it is what it is. God tells us again and again yet we are shocked everytime someone sins against us. I view unforgiveness as if I am holding a nerf gun and pointing it at the offender everytime I complain about their offense, speak poorly of them or sit in my anger I pull the trigger but the gun is pointed at me. Forgiveness doesn’t mean what they did was okay, it means I will put down the gun and stop shooting myself.
Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be
condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven.
Luke 6:37 ESV
9. Gifts: Ask God for a gift from him. I do this every year for my birthday. I ask God to give me something that shows me how much he loves me- nothing physical or monetary but something that we will bless me in a way that I will know it is from him- then I wait in hope and expectation… he has yet to disappoint.
If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children,
how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
Luke 11:13 ESV
Join me in shifting this season from stress to rest by praying these nine actions!
Blessings,
Lacey
P.S. Check out the Free Printable we have provided that coincide with the 9 actions! Check out the link on our homepage called “Resources”.
