Hi, Happy New Year and welcome to Five Word Prayers Daily, a five day a week daily devotional where we share the word prayers in our heart.

I'm Lisa Whittle, and I welcome you to just five minutes with me, which I trust and pray will be five minutes well spent.

So it's officially 2018, and I'm officially both excited and terrified about the idea of having enough

things to talk about that we will do this very thing every day through the week, Monday

through Friday, all year. I mean, I know I'm a woman of many words, an author who always

needs an editor to help condense.

But everyday inspiration, man, that's going to require Jesus to give insight and wisdom and

help to do that, which I cannot. It kind of reminds me about how I feel about the start

of every new year, hopeful and excited, and also needing God to help

me do all the things. Let's talk about that in just a minute, okay? I'm going to be completely honest with you. And by the way, I'll always be completely honest with you, because that's just how I roll or at least how I always pray to roll.

But I've written about this a little bit online. I have several big undertakings this new year, work-wise. And we won't even discuss how my son is going to be a senior next school year.

And that's going to happen in the middle of all this podcast stuff.

And they have me more nervous these things I'm doing and even a bit scared than I have been in a very long time.

I've launched a brand new ministry called Ministry Strong that some of you know about.

It's to help make people make their ministry stronger in three key areas to serve Jesus for

the long haul. And then this podcast, which is a large commitment. And I'm excited about both,

and I know their undertakings directed by the Lord, but they're not small, and they require much from me with an

already full life of writing and speaking and being a wife and mom and friend and daughter,

etc., etc., etc., all the rest.

And I know at this turn of a new year, you have things that both scare and excite you like I do,

and some of us are just hopeful about possibility and even the

idea of shedding a bad last year. Although the truth is there's nothing really significant truly

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