Ten Prayers for the New Year

Author - Umn ministry

December 30, 2021

2021 was a year filled with trials and troubles for many. Let’s start this next one on our knees.

1. A prayer for a fresh start:

Lord, thank you for another year of life and all that you provided for us last year. We lay before you all the disappointments and unfinished work, and we ask for your mercy, peace, and joy as we look to the year ahead. May we delight in the gift of your presence as we discern the journey you have for us in this new year.

2. A prayer for our habits:

Lord, we confess that we spend much of our day thoughtlessly consuming the things around us. Our habits often lack intention and cause us to live distracted, self-focused lives. Would you bring to our attention the unhealthy ways we spend our time, energy, thoughts, talents, and money? Show us old habits to turn away from and new habits to practice. Shape us by your Spirit into more merciful people who love you and neighbor with greater intention.

3. A prayer for relational healing:

Lord, there are many ways we fall short in our relationships. We failed to carry each other’s burdens, we harbored offenses, and we judged each other’s motives. Help us to confess our sins against each other. Help us to forgive and seek forgiveness. May your Spirit heal wounds and bring unity to fractured relationships—that we might love one another as you love us.

4. A prayer for the weary:

Lord, the last few years have been filled with sickness, death, job loss, isolation, anxiety, fear, and division. We are weary. In our weariness, we confess our cynicism and our skepticism and we ask for your renewal. Give us eyes to see the kingdom life Christ has promised—and fill us with a hope that allows us to live each day with soberness, generosity, and joy.

5. A prayer for the lonely:

Lord, you are the father of the fatherless, and you place the lonely in families. ...