Resolutions, Fresh Starts, New Year ideals... Where to begin? Draw a circle, get in it and pray!

I love lists, I love plans, I love Mondays, new weeks, new months, fresh starts, but most of all I love a brand new year.  I get excited, I spend weeks in prayer prior to the 1st and I ask God, what do you want from me this year?  Then I make a list, keep it in my bible and ask God to do the new work in me for the year and He is always faithful, even when I am not. So what do I want this year... I want revival.  I want revival in my city, in my country, in my church, in my family and friends lives.  So I began praying and reading about prayer, revivals and other’s “success” stories.  I came across this quote and it has stuck with me....

Gypsy Smith a revivalist from the 1800’s was asked how to have a revival. “Go home, lock yourself in your room, draw a circle around yourself w/ chalk, and ask God to start a great revival w/in that circle! When God has answered your prayer the revival will be underway!” 

So my prayer for my home, my family, my friends, my city, my country, my world... begins with me.  This seems to be an ongoing theme in my life.  In the first year of my marriage I quickly became disillusioned with marriage and quickly saw all my husbands shortcomings... God brought me to a book about me being the first to change. I took my focus off of him and put it back on God and what He wanted to do in my life, and my marriage has never been sweeter. My husband continues to grow and be even more amazing every year and I hope he feels the same about me. I have had disputes, frustrations, arguments with people in my life, and God always brings me to His words in Matthew 7:1-5, Not to judge others, not to worry about the speck in their eye, and of course verse 5 standing out the most to me. “Hypocrite! First get rid of the log in your own eye; then you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend’s eye.” So in my lists and plans for this new year, at the very top is revival... Revival in me!  As far as what’s on the rest of my list... well that’s a whole other blog. I am off to lock myself alone in my bathroom and draw a circle in chalk, get on my knees and pray.  

As you can see... I really did draw a circle in chalk on my floor in my bathroom, I really did get on my knees and pray, and I really am waiting expectantly for God to do a revival in me. Now to go mop my bathroom floor and clean up the chalk.