Three Prayer Requests For 2025

It’s hard to believe that 2025 is upon us. We only have a few more days until we turn the calendar over again.

In America, a new president will take over by the end of the first month. Many people are looking forward to this with anticipation; with others, however, the primary emotion is dread.

Like every other year, 2025 will bring a roller coaster of emotions to most people’s lives. Marriages, divorces, deaths, births, new jobs, and the loss of employment are some of the things most of us will experience, while some people may experience them all. All these things and more bring new chapters to our lives.

As the days of 2025 fall from the calendar, three things are at the top of my prayer requests list for the upcoming year.

The salvation of souls.

Salvation helps us navigate through the evil of this world, and it also gives us a home in heaven throughout eternity once we leave this world.

God does not want anyone spending eternity in hell. 2 Peter 3:9, “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”

Jesus Christ was slaughtered on the cross because he was the lamb of God, the only sacrifice God the Father would accept for the payment of our sins (1 John 2:2; 4:10). Christ paid the price, and the payment is applied to us through faith (Romans 3:25).

Saving faith is more than just an acknowledgment of the facts. Saving faith brings repentance (see 2 Peter 3:9 above).

Example: A doctor explains that your health is terrible, but you can correct your condition with a healthy diet. He gives you a list of food to eat and another list of foods not to eat. You believe what the doctor says one hundred percent; you even think obeying the doctor’s orders will add years to your life, but in the end, you follow none of the doctor’s advice.

A lot of people treat God the same way. They have faith enough to know what God says is true. They believe Jesus died on the cross for their sins, but it has no impact on their life. On the other hand, saving faith makes a person a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17). The realization that Christ died for your sins brings a contrite spirit within you that has no choice but to change (Psalm 51:10,16-17). You start turning away from sin, not because you have to, but because you want to. We will struggle with some sins; salvation does not mean we become sinless, but sin, whenever it does raise its stinky head, will lead to repentance shortly thereafter (Romans 7:14-25).

Second on my prayer list for 2025 is that Christians would act like Christians, particularly in the area of speech.

Many in the public forum recently will proclaim Christianity, or at least give praise to God, and mention Him in their speeches and interviews (If you pay attention to the news, blogs, and other media with conservative beliefs, you have probably noticed this trend). However, cuss words roll out of the mouth just as often or more as words about God. Conservatives and Christians will proclaim people who use the F word and other foul language regularly in their broadcasts as champions of the cause. Conservatism embraces many Biblical principles, but conservatism and Christianity are not one and the same.

This mixture of foul language and praise to God makes our Christianity worthless. These are not my words; they are God’s words. James 1:26, “If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man’s religion is vain.”

Lastly, my prayer for 2025 includes a plea that the rapture comes.

As I type these words, there are several days left in 2024, and I am still praying the rapture comes this year before the clock turns to 2025.

Here is the Bible’s most detailed description of the rapture: 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18, “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.”

An individual’s last words are vastly important. The Bible ends with Jesus’ promise of the rapture, and I will also leave you with those words. Revelation 22:20-21, “He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come Lord Jesus. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.”