Questions Christians Should Ask At The Beginning Of A New Year
There are questions Christians should ask themselves when a new year or a new season begins. As Christians, we do not want to drift aimlessly through our life with no vision for our future.
New seasons of life (or the new year) can sneak up on us rather quickly.
Life has a way of moving on whether we are ready for the changes or not. Perhaps you find yourself seeing seasons of life change more suddenly than you anticipated. When these changes come, we Christians should take time to draw away with the Lord and ask some questions.
It is impossible to have a vision for the future if we never consider the future or what the Lord might have in store for that future.
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Questions Christians Should Ask At The Beginning Of A New Year Or New Season Of Life
Let’s start our questions Christians should ask by looking back at the past season. Learn the lessons that we need to learn from the past and prayerfully apply them to the future.
What has God taught me about Himself this past season or year?
Has there been something that God seems to keep pointing out about Himself this past season? What have you learned as you grow in your Christian faith?
If you haven’t been learning anything new, why not? Have you been drifting and aimless lately and need to start focusing on learning in the upcoming season?
Write down what lessons have been learned about God. Let this serve to help excite you learn more in the future!
As you step into a new season, be attentive to the lessons that God might be trying to teach you now.
How has God answered my prayers this past year?
Prayer is a powerful part in the life of a Christian woman. What prayers can you look back on and see how God has answered them?
Again, write down a record of the answered prayers. Spend some time praising the Lord for His faithfulness in the past.
What sin is hindering my walk with God?
As far as questions Christians should ask about a future season, this is the most important one!
We want to press forward and leave behind the sin that so easily entangles us as Christians. (Philippians 3:12-14)
As you look back on this past season, what sin have you struggled with frequently?
Sin keeps us from drawing closer to the Lord. Pray and ask God to show you what sin is entangling you and pray for His help to call the sin in your life sin.
Then repent of those sins. Turn away from them. Turn to Christ and leave behind sinful ways.
Who is drawing me closer to God/drawing me away from God?
We become like those we spend the most time with. This is true of both our IRL relationships as well as our social media/screen relationships.
Are there friendships/relationships that you should be cultivating? I know of a couple of Christian moms who always encourage me to be a better Christian mom whenever we are together. These are the relationships I need to spend more time cultivating.
Are there people in my life that draw me away from the Lord?
“Bad company corrupts good morals.” (1 Corinthians 15:33) The apostle Paul even warns us in Scripture about the corrupting factor that bad companions can have in our walk with the Lord.
We need our walk with the Lord strong. Oftentimes that means we set boundaries on who we associate with frequently. Our closest friends and our largest chunks of time should be spend with other believers. Then we will both be sharpened and ready to share our faith with unbelievers when the time comes.
We can never be an example of Christ-filled set apart life when we are living like the world in about every conceivable way.
Quick side note: Bad company can definitely include those we “befriend” through our screen time-not just the people we are around in real life. Practice boundaries on all bad company!
Who do I need to disciple and encourage?
Christ’s final command as He left earth to return to heaven was to “make disciples.” This has become a cliche term at churches. In America, we tend to think of making disciples as a big program project through an organized church. But that is wrong.
Discipleship is a slightly more mature Christian walking with a younger Christian through daily life in friendship. It is a one on one relationship where both parties are growing in the Lord over the years.
Who can you disciple and encourage in their Christian faith?
Big side note: If you are a parent, this first and foremost applies to your kids. Your family is who you are to minister and disciple day in and day out. Exhausting but wonderful work!
Make sure to prioritize the little disciples in your home first. If God allows other time and opportunity then you can reach out to disciple those outside your own walls. Make sure to not neglect your family discipleship! (Deuteronomy 6:4-9)
What big changes might be on the horizon that I should spiritually prepare for?
This question honestly leaves me in tears. It is tough to face change, especially when you think about hard changes! Life will throw us curve balls. However, there are seasonal changes that we can expect and prepare for spiritually.
Some season changes can be exciting. We are about to potty train our last child. For the first time in eight years, I won’t be buying diapers and changing diapers and hauling diapers with me everywhere I go. I will miss some things about having babies around but I will definitely not miss the diapers!!
Other season changes can be heart wrenching. My parents are aging. While they still live on their own, we are having to prepare ourselves for the eventual day when they can no longer live independently and will need help. It is hard to see those changes on the horizon.
What changes do you see coming that you are not spiritually prepared to face?
Write down the big changes (or little changes that feel big) that could happen in the next season of your life.
Study Scripture and search for the Biblical response to those changes. Prepare your heart spiritually for the hard and exciting changes coming.
What big changes might be on the horizon that I should practically prepare for?
Are there ways you can make practical plans to help with the changes in your near future?
If possible, find practical ways to prepare for those future changes that you pinpoint. In the case of hard changes, find ways to make the hard times less hard. (For instance, in my case, it is placing a little extra finances away to help pay for future medical costs that come with caring for the elderly.)
During a season of good changes, find ways to celebrate the milestones!
We can’t control everything but we can be proactive instead of reactionary when possible. Apply Godly wisdom to your future season.
Plan what you can plan for as much as possible. Trust God with the rest.
How can I better study God’s Word in the upcoming season?
As Christians, we should be in God’s Word consistently every single day. It is our spiritual food. His Word sustains us and helps us to grow strong in faith through the challenges of life.
Studying God’s Word will look different in different seasons. When I was a teenager, I used devotional books to help “whet” my appetite for the hard parts of the Bible. I found readings that walked me through and explained hard to understand passages. As a young Christian, I relied heavily on helpful resources along with my Bible.
In college, I spend hours pouring over Scriptures. Reading and marking up my Bible with notes took up hours of free time in my day.
As a young nursing mom, I would listen to the Bible or read the Bible on my phone during the quiet night time nursing sessions.
Now I am reading in the early mornings (usually) before my kids are awake and in my room.
As you look at your current season of life, how can you carve out time to study God’s Word daily?
With each change of season, we will have to adjust how we take time to study God’s Word. Some seasons require more creative work to make it happen.
What is important is that we plan to study our Bible-no matter what. We need our daily bread found only in the Word of God.
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What areas can I strengthen in my prayer life?
Prayer life is so important for a Christian. This is our daily communication with our Lord and Savior. It is our spiritual battle field where we can fight spiritual battles. Prayer is our time to pour out our praise and our sorrows to the Lover of our soul.
And yet, we can find it so hard to cultivate our prayer life!
Our minds wander when we try to pray. Or we rush about so busy all day that we forget to infuse prayer into our chaos and panic. Oftentimes, we stop to pray and wonder what to pray for or how to pray.
What practical baby steps can you take to grow your prayer life this next year?
Perhaps it is carving out a time in your day to pray for 10 minutes. Or setting an alarm to remind you to pray in the midst of the daily chaos. Maybe you need to create a prayer journal so that when you sit down to pray you have something to pray about each day. You might be comfortable praying silently and alone. Could you stretch your comfort zone and pray aloud with your spouse, your kids or some Christian friends?
Find specific ways to deepen your prayer life during your next season. Then act on those plans! 🙂
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Wrestling Prayer by Eric and Leslie Ludy
How can I serve other Christians better in the upcoming year?
We are the body of Christ. As Christians, this means we go out of our way to care for other Christians and help them through the struggles of life.
Realize that you can’t serve every need of all the believers but you can help with some needs.
Consider shoveling the walk for an elderly Christian every time it snows. Grab groceries for a single Christian mom who could use a break from running errands after work. Cover the expenses of diapers for a young Christian family for a month. Visit elderly shut-ins who can’t make it to church services often. Donate to your local Christian radio station to keep them on the air. Offer to cover the janitorial work at your church while the church janitor takes a vacation. Fold bulletins for the pastor or mail the church newsletter.
There are thousands of little and big ways you can serve other Christians. Be intentional and plan some service opportunities. Then practice flexibility in your schedule. Say yes to some needs as they come up randomly throughout the year.
What is something I would like to learn how to do this upcoming season?
Educating ourselves and learning new skills should not stop upon graduation. We need to become life long learners-stretching ourselves to learn more about God and His beautiful world. God has gifted us with the ability to keep learning.
What areas could you learn more about this next year or so?
Do you want to learn to sew? Get a sewing machine and learn the basics from an older more experienced seamstress. Then take that new skill and use it for the Lord.
Perhaps you want to take a course on nutrition so you can begin to build healthy eating habits for your family over the next few years.
Maybe you desire to learn an ancient language like Hebrew or Greek so you can study God’s Word in the original language. Go for it!
God gives us each unique desires and cravings. Pick one and start moving (slowly if necessary) towards that new learning goal!
What books do I want to read during this next season of life?
Life long learners are life long readers. If you struggle to sit and read, take heart. You live in the world of audio books! Listen to books if you need to rather than sit and read them to yourself.
Depending on the season of life, gather books that will help you grow as Christian.
When I was single, I read books that encouraged me to live set apart to the Lord through the single years. As a newly wed, my husband and I read marriage books and budgeting books together to help us set a good foundation for our marriage. Once kids came along, we read Christian parenting books. Now that I am a homeschool mom, I enjoy books that help hone my skills of educating my children. Pick books that match your season and read!
Remember we can always read books that help us deepen our knowledge of God and His Word. Study apologetics books so you can boldly share your faith in hard situations.
Set aside time to delve into good books that help you grow and learn more!
Top Christian Books To Consider!
The Case For Christ by Lee Strobel
Out Of A Far Country by Christopher Yuan
Questioning Evangelism by Randy Newman
What in my schedule is not necessary or drawing me away from the Lord?
We live in a world where we can cram pack our days with activities. Good activities like sports, art classes, karate, extracurricular theater programs, and community volunteer positions. Unfortunately, we are so busy that our schedule can actually be a detriment to our walk with God, especially during certain seasons of life.
Evaluate how you are spending your time. Is the good activities in your schedule crowding out your time with the Lord or keeping you from discipling your family at home? Maybe your marriage is suffering because you never have time to see each other.
Decide if the good things in life are keeping you from the God-commanded best things of life. Evaluate how many activities you can feasibly take on during this new season. Ruthlessly cut what is not necessary. Trust God will meet you in those empty moments of your schedule that you give Him.
Where should I financially be giving my money in the next season?
Finally, look at your finances for your upcoming season. Money issues can take over our lives quickly if we allow. We need to make plans for our finances.
Budgeting can seem like the least fun action to take but it can provide us with the ability to live within our means wisely and to give generously. Take time to determine what your budget will be for an upcoming season of life. Know how much you can use to give away and bless others. Donate generously and cheerfully when you can.
If you are in a season of climbing out of debt, find ways to serve others cheerfully without spending money. Then give financially again once you can.
Honor God in all areas including your finances!
Final Thoughts About Questions Christians Should Ask
Take time to evaluate all the main areas of your life. Don’t shy away from the hard questions Christians should ask themselves about the future.
Ponder and question and pray over your upcoming plans.
Remember that God is the one in charge ultimately. We have to hold our plans loosely because God can change everything in a moment.
That being said, Christians should be wise and prepare for the future as well as they can. We need to let Godly wisdom move up forward to mature Christian faith in God and mature Christian living.
Let’s continue to grow in Christ as we face new seasons.
Thanks for stopping by!
