As we look forward to a new year with its uncertainties, challenges and potential, the Spirit quickened to my spirit Paul’s prayer in Ephesians 1:16-20.

“I do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers: that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places,  far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come.”

In his research into community transformation, George Otis identifies the perception of three major people groups in society.

1. Conditions are stable and prosperous.
2. Conditions are troubling but not unmanageable.
3. Conditions are desperate and unmanageable.

Your perception of your condition and the condition of your community will determine your level of pursuit of God. Accordingly, your level of pursuit of God will determine the level of revelation you will receive. God’s promise in Jeremiah 29:13 says, “And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.”

Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians and for us can only be fulfilled as we come to realize that our condition is desperate and unmanageable, causing us to become desperate for more of God. That desperation brings us to a place of yielding and surrender to His will and plan no matter what the cost. This Christmas season I was reminded of the cost Joseph and Mary paid to be vehicles of ushering in the King of Glory. It was not convenient, and it turned their life and plans upside down.

As we look forward to a new year may God by His Spirit birth desperation in us for more of Him — not desperation for a job or better job, a nicer home or a new car, or a greater ministry. May the Spirit of God drive us to our knees in prayer and surrender to His will. May our spiritual eyes be opened to see what God sees and to be moved by what moves Him.

My prayer for you is that as you search for Him with all your heart that He will grant you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him and you will come to understand the awesome calling He has on your life, the riches of His inheritance and the greatness of His power that is available to you. As we become desperate for Him, God wants to move us from the natural to the supernatural that He might be glorified and, like Joseph and Mary, we can be vehicles of ushering in the King of Glory.