A Prayer for the New Year
O Author of Life,
Thank you for granting us another day on earth.
Help us to enter into this new year with open hands,
knowing You’ve already written the entire story for Your glory.
We long to be partakers in Your grand plan.
Have Your way in our hearts and in our homes.
Give us eternal eyes, for we know this is not our final destination.
We submit our time, treasures, and talents to You.
Help us to know You and enjoy You in deeper ways in the coming year.
We confess that we’ve strived for prominence, approval,
comfort and security this past year and it did not satisfy.
Help us to seek Your glory and not our own.
Help us to depend on You and not ourselves.
Help us to turn our eyes from worthless things,
and to fix our gaze on eternal treasures. Namely, You.
Would we abide under the shadow of Your wing.
It is there, alone, that we find true rest.
It is there, alone, that we are fully satisfied.
O Suffering Servant,
Help us to kill our pride and choose humility.
Help us to consider each face we come across as
more important than ourselves.
Help us to joyfully invite correction,
acknowledging that we are often blind to our own sin.
Help us to be supernaturally unoffendable
and assume the best of those around us.
We know you will give us opportunities
to go low and overlook offenses.
In those, help us to look to You, the Perfect Example.
Help us to look to Your life and Your death for guidance.
Help us to crucify the flesh, and walk in step with the Spirit.
For we know that in our continual death of self,
it is there we find True Life.
Break down our religious ways and resurrect our freedom.
Convict us of our pharisaical tendencies,
and melt our hard hearts with Your overwhelming love.
Chisel away at our tough edges, make us supernaturally soft,
giving us a gentleness that is evident to all.
And help us to give more grace this coming year,
remembering the unmerited mercy
we ourselves have been lavished in.
And when we fail to do these things, lead us to quick repentance.
Then help us to walk in complete freedom + joy
knowing Your blood already covered that.
Repent and believe
Repent and believe
Repent and believe
Would these three words mark our days, our lives.
O Merciful Gardener,
We invite Your pruning.
Though it may (will) be painful,
We know that as You trim, cut-off, and carefully shape,
You are ultimately bringing about freedom, peace, joy.
Sanctify us by the washing of Your Word.
Bear fruit in our lives, by Your Spirit, as we abide in You.
Help us to look more like Your Son this coming year,
so that You can use us in greater ways for Your glory.
Would we boast in our weaknesses
so that Your perfect power may rest on us.
For apart from You, we can do nothing.
O Mighty King,
Give us a fierce yet humble boldness, by Your Spirit,
to share the good news with the people
you bring into our lives.
Would we genuinely know and believe that our purpose
is to know You, enjoy You, and bring Your name glory.
Our purpose is to proclaim Your life, death and ressurection.
Would we share about this hope we have,
freely and generously.
Remembering how we received it.
We long to be more aware of
Your presence and providence.
Open our eyes to what You are doing, wake us up!
You have already ordained innumerable divine appointments for us in the coming year.
Help us to say “Yes!” to Your Spirit’s prompting.
Lord, this is our “best yes!”
Help us to believe it.
O Jehovah Jireh,
Help us to settle in under Your wing and cease striving.
You have already provided for our every need in Yourself.
When we were enemies of the cross, you moved toward
us, paying for our sin, regenerating our hearts,
bringing us from death to life. Hallelujah!
How we long to experience Your radical joy, peace, rest,
and resurrection power in immeasurable ways.
Help us to wait on You, alone, this year.
It is there, waiting on You,
that we will experience these gifts and your power.
We know You will do more than we could ask or imagine.
And we are expectant.
Use our lives for Your glory.
In Your precious Son’s name we pray,
Let it be so.
