On this last day of 2025, I have been thinking about my hopes and prayers for 2026 – not just for me, but for my family, friends and community. James tells us we do not have because we do not ask God or because we ask Him for things with wrong motives (James 4:2-3). Jesus encourages us to ask, seek and knock, and to persevere in prayer (Matt 7:7-8, Luke 18:1), and so I have been thinking about what really matters to me and what we all really need (not just what we want.)
So far, I have concluded that what I and others need in 2026 are STAMINA, STRENGTH and STABILITY.
Stamina is ‘the ability to sustain prolonged physical or mental effort.’ It’s allied to perseverance and persistence. Life is a marathon, not a sprint. We have to be able to endure, to keep going when others drop out and life is hard. We have to be able to hold on. Physically, my arm strength is feeble. When I visit seaside towns, they often have a challenge for people to hang from a bar using their arms and hands only for two minutes. I barely last five seconds. But God wants us to develop spiritual muscle so we can keep running the race marked out for us. Stamina is built up gradually, but is a vital element in our spiritual wellbeing.
Stamina builds strength. Paul urges us to be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. (Eph 6:10) We don’t have to look physically impressive (though it is good to develop our physical strength too.) We do need spiritual strength, which is allied to flexibility (bending with God’s plans, being unbroken by life’s trials and storms because we know that God is sovereign over all and that we are in His hands.) My granddaughters have much physical strength from all the running, climbing, swimming and gymnastics they do, but God’s people need spiritual strength, which comes from exercising faith and practising forgiveness, love and service in our everyday contexts.
Stability relates to a firmness in our position, a permanence which adds testimony to our witness. P)aul tells us to stand firm and let nothing move us, saying ‘always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labour in the Lord is not in vain.’ (1 Cor 15:58) When we are stable, the winds of life cannot knock us over (we are like the toy Weebles, who may wobble, but we won’t fall down!) Stability, James says, is closely linked to faith: ‘When you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.’ (James 1:6) We have to have a clear focus on the Lord, believing that what is humanly impossible is possible with God. Our stability comes from Him. He is our Rock.
Stamina.
Strength.
Stability.
May these things be ours in abundance so that we can remain standing for the Lord in 2026.