It's the middle of December. Most of us are up to our eyeballs in Christmas preparation while also preparing our hearts throughout our Advent journey. But I'd love to direct your attention toward the new year—just for a moment—to invite you to join us for the 2019 Prayer Pledge.
The Blessed is She Prayer Pledge
Every January, our Blessed is She community comes together, across the globe, to dedicate the first month of the new year to prayer. As many of us formulate goals and articulate dreams for the new year, we link arms and encourage one another to put our relationship with the Lord at the very top of our list.
So for the first 31 days of the new year, we pledge to pray together. We set ourselves on the path of this good practice with the hopes that our daily time spent with Christ this first month of the year would carry over to a daily prayer habit for the rest of the year...and for our entire lives.
New Year, New Pentecost
This year's Prayer Pledge theme is New Year, New Pentecost. As a play on the oft-used phrase this time of year, "new year, new you," we're focusing our attention on praying for a deeper relationship with the Holy Spirit. It is He who will ultimately create an everlasting transformation in our hearts, lives, and world.
Each week of January, one Regular Blog Contributor will walk us through one prayer or hymn to the Holy Spirit. We will reflect on five different prayers and hymns to the Holy Spirit and what this means for our relationship with Him. Our hope is that we all grow to know, love, and serve God more through this prayer time together.
What to Expect Each Day
Every day of the Prayer Pledge, there will be a new post on the blog. The daily posts, as aforementioned, will include a section of a prayer or hymn to the Holy Spirit and will be followed by a brief reflection.
Our daily posts will close with both a personal reflection question or encouragement and a deep question to discuss with your prayer partner (more on that below).
If you're like me and could use a daily reminder about the Prayer Pledge, sign up to receive the Prayer Pledge posts straight to your inbox. If you subscribe to our devotions, then you're familiar with the setup and how much easier this makes it to remain faithful to our pledge! By signing up, you'll also receive five gorgeous printables with excerpts from each week's prayer or hymn that yo can print and hang throughout your home.
Prayer Partners
Another great way to enter into the new year with a renewed pledge to deepen your relationship with God is by buddying up. We really encourage each of us to choose a prayer partner for the Prayer Pledge. If you already have a thriving Bible study or prayer group, perhaps you can team up and bring the Prayer Pledge content to your next meeting or text thread!
As prayer partners, you'll hold one another accountable to read the daily posts. But not in a annoying way, you know, just a regular-person-trying-to-help-you-do-what-you-really-want-to-do way. Like we mentioned above, each day's post will contain a question for you to discuss with your prayer partner. You can do this in whatever way you so choose (email, text, phone, Voxer, over coffee, etc.). But these questions go a little deeper than the typical, "What struck you about this reflection?" We're really striving to be vulnerable here and form a bond with our prayer partners while strengthen our bond with Christ. Most importantly, as prayers partners, you'll be dedicated to praying for one another through the month and beyond.
We encourage you to reach out and select your prayer partner before the Prayer Pledge begins if possible! Text them the link to this blog post so they can sign up, share it on social, or email it to a friend.
Interceding for a New Pentecost
The final aspect to the 2019 Prayer Pledge, in conjunction with our theme, is a group intercessory prayer for an openness to the Holy Spirit.
Each week, we will be praying for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit on various people and groups. We'll start small, and widen our intercession as the month moves forward.
We'll pray for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit:
- Week 1: In our own souls
- Week 2: In our families
- Week 3: In our local communities and dioceses
- Week 4: In our Church
- Week 5: In the entire world
What to Do Now to Get Ready for the Prayer Pledge
Ready to get ready for the new year? Ready for a "new you" by praying for a new Pentecost in your soul? We are, too, sister.
Here are our next steps:
- Sign up to receive the Prayer Pledge to your inbox in the colorful box above.
- Ask the Lord if He has someone in mind to be your prayer partner. Then reach out to them!
- Share about the Prayer Pledge by word of mouth and on social media. Use the hashtag #prayerpledge We're going to be praying powerful prayers, friends. Can you imagine what it will be like to have thousands of us praying for an increase of openness to the Holy Spirit in our world?!
- Keep walking through Advent and preparing your hearts for Christmas. We'll catch you in the new year.
Prayer Pledge Days
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Day 6
Day 7
Will you be joining us for this year's Prayer Pledge? Let us know who your prayer partner is in the comments!
New Year, New Pentecost: Join Us for the 2019 Prayer Pledge! #BISblog #prayerpledge //Click to tweet
Olivia Spears lives in Kentucky, where sweet tea and bourbon flow like milk and honey. She holds degrees in Theology and Catechetics from the Franciscan University of Steubenville and works from home while enjoying her children and husband. She curates relevant and inspiring content for Catholic women as Blog Manager. She is the narrator of Set a Fire, And Hay Became Holy, and All She Had as well as a contributing author for Rise Up. Find out more about her here.
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