5 Prayers for a New Year

For all that is unknown about a new year, one thing you can know for sure is that new days are on their way. Whether you are the one who feels like you are running out of time, or you are excited about what’s to come, you can trust that every hour of this new year is wrapped in endless, boundless grace.

So whether we are looking forward to the new year with hope, worry, gratitude, or a mixture of things, may we each be reminded, all by grace, there is an invitation to talk to God about these things. Every day is an opportunity to carry on faithfully on the journey, trusting that the Love of Christ reminds us how glorious new beginnings can be.

As we enter into this time of renewal together, here are 5 prayers inspired by poems I have written for a new season.

1. For the one who is looking forward to the new year:

Dear God,

As I look forward to the future

with unbridled hope and a humble dream,

may I remember the wide-open fields

of Your glorious, morning mercy.

May I remember that all along,

it has been You that has guided and provided for me

in ways I have yet to see.

And as I ready my heart for what’s to come,

I will remain in sincere thanksgiving

for all You have already done.

I will give my all to this season

rooted in Life-altering Jesus-Love.

And no matter my failures or successes,

I know This Love will be enough.

Because when I look back over my life,

I want to see You in everything.

I want to see that I gave my all

to The One who gave all for me.

AMEN

2. For the one who is anxious about the new year:

Dear God,

For every “what if I fail?” and “what if I ruin it?,”

I will trust that You will meet me in the midst of it.

Even if the timing of it all is hard to understand,

May Your Love ever-remind me:

not a day of this new year will slip out of Your Hands.

I will take a deep breath. I will find Hope in You.

I will find freedom in laughing about the days to come

and celebrate, while waiting, all You have already done.

Because perhaps, the moments I’m finding peace in my uncertainty,

are also the moments You are preparing my heart for Forever.

Unravel my worry-woven tapestry, O God.

Cut it down to nothing more than severing threads.

May I be reminded that in all that is unraveling

You are only making space for a beautifully woven future ahead.

I am choosing to trust You now.

I am choosing to believe: You will sort everything out.

I will fall in love with the journey of knowing You more

and the wonderful things You are doing, right here, right now.

I will choose to be the one who sees Jesus standing on the shore,

ever-Loving, ever-ready to let You show me something More.

A M E N

3. For the one is entering the new year, still waiting:

Dear God,

Slowly but surely,

I am learning to not be afraid of the wait anymore,

for I know You will open doors,

beautiful and perfect in their time.

I will go deeper into embracing the process.

I will trust that I am not forgotten.

I will lean into The Promise that the Love I now know in Christ is Eternal.

In my despair, I have not been abandoned.

I do not know how much longer I will have to wait, but I know You are with me.

In Your grace, I am guided right where I am meant to be.

And even when I feel lost on the inside of my mind,

I will trust Your Holy Spirit is still my ever-faithful guide.

I am not alone on this journey

even in the waiting.

I am Yours, wholly Yours

and I will continue to trust,

as I wait for open doors.

A M E N

4. For the one who is searching for peace for the past year:

Dear God,

Whenever I start to feel like things should have been better this year,

I will remember the mountains and valleys Your Love carried me through to bring me here.

They were not accidents. Those moments were in vain.

And I am not the same.

I have grown and I am growing.

I am living, I am breathing.

I am wrapped in endless, boundless, grace.

And in This Love,

things will get better.

There is more to me

than yesterday.

A M E N

5. For the one in the middle, thinking and feeling many things:

Dear God,

For the highs and the lows

and the moments in between,

The rivers and valleys,

mountains and streams,

I will trust that You will guide me

right where I need to be.

Help me to remember Your Grace, Your Love.

Help me to trust: this is more than enough.

For I have known worry,

and in Love, I will know peace.

I have known sorrow,

in Love, I will know joy.

I have known regret,

in Love, I will know mercy.

I have known weakness,

in Love, I will know strength.

In the wilderness of it all,

I long to be overwhelmed by Your Love.

I long to be who I was created to be.

With every new moment,

continue to shape me.

Prepare my heart for this new year,

O God, I trust You.

I am ready.

A M E N

Written for Devotionals Daily by Morgan Harper Nichols, author of All Along You Were Blooming.

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Your Turn

We can trust that every hour of this coming new year that’s just a couple of days away, is wrapped in endless, boundless grace. Isn’t that an amazing promise?! What are you praying for the new year? Come share with us on our blog. We want to hear from you! ~ Devotionals Daily