Starting the New Year Right with Your Spiritual Disciplines
- Chuck Lawless
- 3 days ago
- 4 min read
“The Lord’s will is always present tense for us.”
A dear friend gave me those words years ago when I needed them more than she could
have known. Our past tense is exactly that—in the past—and the future rests in God’s hands beyond our control, so today is the day we have to follow the Lord. Even if today is the final day we have on this earth, we have today to honor Him.
I delight in that truth because today is also an opportunity for new beginnings. It’s easy to look back over the past year and get hung up on regrets and failures (and even on successes), but this hour is a new hour. This day is a new day. This year is a new year. And, our God is a God of new beginnings:
“Because of the Lord’s faithful love we do not perish, for his mercies never end. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness!” (Lam 3:22-23)
“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you” (Ezek 26:36)
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, and see, the new has come!” (2 Cor 5:17)
If 2025 has been a year of struggle in your spiritual disciplines, I have good news for you: you can start again today. Here are my suggestions for you as you start a new year:
Thank God for new beginnings. That’s a simple start, but it’s an important one. If God were not willing to remember our sin no more (Isa 43:25), we would all be in trouble. No matter where we’ve been, though, He welcomes us home when we turn from our wrong and trust Him. The present tense really does matter.
Don’t worry about fixing everything overnight. It’s not likely that you will quickly grow in your spiritual disciplines, so don’t worry about trying to do so. Think of your growth this way: on a scale of 1-5 (with 5 being the highest rating of your disciplines), strive to grow up the scale just one number at a time. Push for a 2 if you’re at a 1 today, and then later push for the 3. You’ll never get to the 5 if you don’t grow along the way.
Get a plan, especially for your Bible study. No plan usually equals no execution—and you’ll have the same regrets about your spiritual disciplines at the end of this coming year as you might have now. Instead, plan now to read at least one chapter of the Word each day, and you will be putting yourself in a position to hear from the Lord daily. If you want more guidance about a simple plan, check out my previous article on this site entitled, “A [10-Minute] Secret to Start Doing Spiritual Disciplines”).
Push hard to grow in the spiritual discipline of prayer. Prayer remains, in my judgment, the most difficult spiritual discipline to develop because it assumes both a loving relationship with God and an undeniable dependence on Him. On the other hand, it’s also the “flip side of the coin” with Bible reading: we hear from God in the Scriptures, and we talk with Him in prayer. One without the other is incomplete—so work to strengthen both disciplines this year. Spend some time hanging out with prayer warriors who can show you the way.
Ask somebody to walk with you this year. You don’t necessarily have to have a formal discipling or mentoring relationship, but nor should you try to grow by yourself. At a minimum, plan a monthly meal with a brother or sister in Christ for accountability, prayer, and support. Intentionally talk together occasionally rather than simply communicate electronically; actually hear each other praying for, admonishing, and strengthening one another. You might be surprised by how much regular godly encouragement can push you forward in a new year.
If you begin to struggle again with your spiritual disciplines in 2026, don’t struggle long before reaching out to somebody (and, of course, you’ll already have that “somebody” if you do #5 above). I’m opposed to being legalistic about our disciplines, but I’m equally concerned about being flippant about them; after all, they’re markers of our personal relationship with God who desires to be in communication with us. Recognize that one day out of touch with God can easily become a second, third, and fourth day—so don’t let that happen. Determine up front to put the brakes on before you get there.
Pray this prayer daily, beginning today: “God, let me love You and long for You so much that I can’t imagine going through the day without spending time with You.” The prayer’s an easy one to pray, but it’s a potent one if you mean the words. In fact, that heartbeat will affect all your spiritual disciplines because the disciplines are themselves an expression of a deep and growing relationship with God. You know for certain that He has given you today—and perhaps only today—so pray that prayer beginning right now. Let your love for Him be present tense as we begin a new year together.