Extend your Sled Run in the New Year!

“New things I declare to you. Before they spring into being I announce them to you. Sing to the Lord a new song, his praise from the ends of the earth… See I am doing a new thing. Now it springs up. Do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wilderness.” (Isaiah 42:9, 10; 43:19)

When was the last time you went sledding in the snow? Maybe it's been awhile. When I see a snow-covered hill the boy in me comes out! Over the years Kristi and I have had some exciting adventures on sled runs with our kids. Our favorite spot to sled is on the big hill in the forest right behind the cabin we go to in Lake Arrowhead, CA.

One time after an hour of sliding and shrieking with delight, David (he was 13 years old) and I decided that rather than joining Kristi and the girls in going back to the cabin to sit by the fire and sip hot chocolate we'd extended the sled run. We added a snow bank and made a groove that turned to the right and then went farther down the hill. I call it a big hill, but it's really the side of the mountain and it sent us flying. And I do mean flying! We got airborne!

But the most thrilling part was the end. That was the steepest, fastest part of the sled run and it headed straight for the street. Picture this. There we were, both of us sitting in this long sled, me in the back and David tucked just in front of me and leaning back against my chest, and we'd go soaring down the mountain and screaming with excitement, "Yeahhh!" Then at the last second David would yell, "Bail!" and we'd launch ourselves off of the sleds to go sliding and laughing into the snow bank while the sled crashed into the street below.

That was fun! And that's a picture of how I want to start the New Year. I want to extend my sled run. God has more of his life for me then I have yet learned to expand into. And he has more for you too!

Let's go sledding with Jesus! Let's improve the sled run! And let's bail out on living for own goals in our own strength. Let’s aim to live our whole lives as Jesus' apprentices – it’s the greatest adventure of life! Nothing is more fun and more meaningful.

The Apprentice Prayer

I used to get up thinking about – or worrying about! – all the things I needed to do that day and rushing to get going on them. But I’ve learned to begin my day in quiet prayer. (Sometimes to do this I have to wrestle the anxieties off of me!)

Years ago I learned to offer the first words of the day to my Lord: “I love you Jesus!”

This has grown into “the Apprentice Prayer”: a simple but powerful prayer of devotion to Jesus.

I use The Apprentice Prayer to train my heart to live as an apprentice to Jesus. It helps me to rejoice in the Lord in trials, submit to his kingdom in all that I do, and listen to what God is teaching me through the events of my day. It also helps me to entrust myself and my loved one’s to God’s providential, loving care.

Begin this New Year by offering The Apprentice Prayer (or your own paraphrased version) each morning for a number of days. Form a prayer habit of the heart and you’ll be amazed at how God uses it to help you to live as the disciple Jesus loves!

The Apprentice Prayer
Jesus, I love you! Father, I adore you. Holy Spirit, I rely on you.

Lord Jesus, I seek to live as your apprentice in all that I do today. I submit myself to you and your kingdom. In all things today I pray, “Your will, your way, your time.”

Dear Father, I ask you to ordain the events of this day and use them to make me more like Jesus. I trust you, Sovereign Lord, that you won’t let anything happen to my family or me today, except that it passes through your loving hands. So no matter what problems, hardships, or injustices I face today help me not to worry or get frustrated, but instead to relax in the yoke of your providence. Yes, today I will rejoice because I am in your eternal kingdom, you love me, and you are teaching me!

My Lord, I devote my whole self to you. I want to be all and only for Jesus! Today, I love you with all my heart (intentions and choices), all my soul (personality), all my mind (thoughts), all my strength (body and energy), and all my relationships (conversations and interactions).

Today, I depend on you, Holy Spirit, not my own resources. Help me to keep in step with you.

Today, I look to love others as you love me, dear God, blessing everyone I meet, even those who mistreat me.

Today, I’m ready to lead people to follow you, Jesus.

Amen.