21 Days of Prayer | praying in a new year

 

Hi sweet friend! 

Welcome back to my blog! My mom started doing this prayer challenge and I thought it would be really fun to do this here on my blog with all of you! Basically, the challenge is just to pray everyday for 21 days! Since it is almost the New Year, I thought what better time to do this challenge then now when the new year is just around the corner. 

I feel like I need to do this. Even just for myself, I need to take on this challenge and I want this blog and you to help hold me accountable. If you feel led to do this challenge too, then please join in! 

2023 in review ~ the hard 

don’t lose heart, dear one

This year was not at all what I expected it to be. 

I’ve faced loss, failing vision, anxiety, doubts, depression, setbacks, struggles, changes of plans, fears, health problems galore, wondered if I was going to die (it sounds dramatic but in the summer it was an actual fear when my vision was failing and the doctors wondered if I had a brain tumor or a tumor in my eyes—thankfully it wasn’t but the thought was still scary), and more. 

I was not expecting this year to be as hard as it was. 

At the beginning of this year, I was saying how I believed BIG things were going to happen. Then I felt like I went through attack after attack. Funny enough, I warned myself this could happen.

 

In a post I titled, The Chasm, I talked about this and looking back I see how true it was. So, I want to share what I wrote in that post below: 

“Before I go into today's post, I wanted to say just in case someone else out there reads this and has felt like 2023 is going to be a big year but then is being attacked, to lean into God and pray. If you are being attacked already this year by the enemy, know that isn’t accidental. You have the potential for incredible goodness this year. Something for God’s good and yours is happening and the enemy is trying to stop you from it. Lean into God. Pray, seek him, come closer to him. God loves you and is for you. He has a great plan for your life and your family’s lives. Don’t let the enemy scare you off. Press into God, to his word, and his promises. Don’t lose heart dear one. God is for you. 

“I believe this year is going to be amazing but it is going to be a struggle to get to that amazing part. Maybe not for everyone, but certainly for my family. 2023 started and on the 2nd we were hit. God saved and protected us but it was still a hit. Now, instead of cowering, we are praying deeper and praising God. We are still a bit shaken but we have not been moved. There is a difference. You can go through hard things and feel it and feel shaken but not moved. We have an anchor in God, with him as our anchor, we will not be moved. We may get frightened but we won’t lose our faith in God. That is important. 

“I really do want to encourage you and pray for you, so if you feel like this has spoken to you and if you feel brave enough, please leave a comment to let me know. I would love to know your name so I can pray for you.”

At the beginning of the year (the 2nd of January) my family was hit. Then again and again, we were hit. I struggled with vision loss, I had to stop writing, I had to take a break from everything and I struggled. I feared and doubted. I wondered if the things I felt God had placed on my heart weren’t really for me. It was HARD. 

But God didn’t leave me in that place. He put people into my life who spoke life and promise over me. He put verses and music for me to read and listen to and hope in. He has answered prayer and has given me PEACE. 

He has never left me. 

Not once.

Not ever.

He has ALWAYS been there for me. 

I trust Him. 

No matter what happens, I will trust in Him. It isn’t always easy—I know that personally—but just as I said in the post from all the way back in January—You can go through hard things and feel shaken but not moved. We have an anchor in God, with Him as out anchor, we will not be moved. We may get frightened but we won’t lose our faith in God. 

I felt shaken. I felt lost and like I was failing. But still, I had my faith in God. I had Him with me the whole way through in each and every situation. Though the good and scary and bad. In all of it He was there. 

I know that in whatever situation you are in, God is with you and for you and He loves you. Don’t lose heart, dear one. 

2023 in review ~ the good 

counting your blessings 

So many good things have happened this year too. 

I turned eighteen, I graduated high school, I have a new baby sister named Oceana (now there are 6 of us), I have written a book, I’m working on a short story for my subscribers, I started a podcast (something I wouldn’t have started unless I started to lose my vision), learned to appreciate what a GIFT vision and sight and textures and light are, got to grow deeper in friendships, made new friends, joined my first book clubs, spent more time in the moment, let myself rest, be more intentional, went outside more, had fun with my family, made better boundaries with social media, am learning to take care of my health, grown in leaps and bounds in my faith, actually started working on pursuing my dreams even when it has been scary, learned and am learning to TRUST God more in everything and SO MUCH MORE! 

This has been such a beautiful year filled with many blessings. Yes, it has also been hard but so much good has happened as well. I have so much to be thankful for. So much to thank God for. I am so thankful for all God has done in my family and mine’s lives! I’m so thankful for His peace. I’m so thankful for the friendships He has given me and for my life. I’m so thankful for having a time of rest. I’m so thankful that I can still write and that He is still my writing partner. There is so much I am thankful for—far much more than I can fit into this post but these are just a few. 

Question: what are YOU thankful for? What is something God has done in your life this year (2023)? 

2023 ~ a year of testing 

using this time to strengthen your faith 

A friend of mine told me that she believed success can come with a price. That good things can and will happen but that we can go through a time of trails and hardships (the price) before hitting blessing and success. It is a time to test ourselves, how much we want what we want, a time to test our faith and see just how much we TRUST IN GOD THOUGH IT ALL. 

When you walk through hardships and testing: 

• Where do you place your trust? 
• Where do you go first?
• Is God your first answer?
• Are you placing Him FIRST in your life? 

I feel that this year has been a time of testing. I’ve had to be tested in my faith and dreams and calling and goals. I’m hoping I am passing. I feel at at a better place than I did at the beginning of the year with more direction though I am still searching and I don’t have it all (or really any) of it figured out but I’m hopeful. I am hoping that this new year (2024) will be full of blessing and I’ll be able to see that what’s over the rainbow. 

I’m wanting to really pray hard and focus on God. I want to make sure I am placing Him FIRST in my life. Not just at the top, but FIRST. I want to pray and lean into Him and grow deeper in my faith. I want to trust Him FULLY, pushing away all thoughts of doubt or questions. 

I know God has a plan, one He made, the best one for me because it is His. I need to trust in that plan wherever it leads me. <3 

I don’t know whats next, but I think this is my best “next step”. It’s prayer. It’s spending time with God. It’s prioritizing Him each and every day. 

In conclusion…

And so, I want to take the next 21 days to pray for the next year, whats next, for focus and for direction. I want to pray this new year in. I want to pray for specifics. I want to pray about my purpose and callings in God. I want to pray for His direction and guidance. I want to pray believing and knowing He has a plan. I trust Him.

I don’t know whats going to happen next but I’m hopeful. 

I will trust. 

I really think these next 21 days will be good! So, for the next 21 days I will be praying on my own (personal prayer time) and then *hopefully* I’ll be posting about it here. I’m not entirely sure what it will look like: maybe just a quick post saying I did it or something that stood out to me in my prayers or in reading the Bible or a prompt or verses or something like that. 

I pray that this will be good and a blessing in my life and in anyone who decides to take this challenge on (even if only for a day). 

Goodbye! <3 

I hope you are having a wonderful rest of your day sweet friend! I’ll see you TOMORROW with PRAYER DAY ONE! 

*(Feel free to use any of the graphics I use in this series (just make sure to tag me or something like that)) 

Love, 

Moriyah 

p.s. 

If you do the challenge PLEASE comment so I know about it! <333