New Beginnings

Prayer for the New Year

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Give us the kindness to hear with compassion,
     to offer support,
     loving comfort, and care.

Give us the courage to do what is needed,
     the wisdom to choose
     what is right and fair.

Give us the vision to see what is possible.

Give us the faith
     that will help pave the way
     for a present that is hopeful,
     a future that is peaceful—

Give us a heart to bring joy to each day.

Jeremiah 29:11
"For I know the plans I have for you," says the LORD. "They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.

Philippians 3:13-14 
No, dear brothers and sisters, I am still not all I should be, but I am focusing all my energies on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I strain to reach the end of the race and receive the prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.

Dear Lord,
In this new year, we pray
that You will guide us each new day
in paths that are pleasing to You.
Lord, the new year gives us another chance
to rededicate our lives to You,
to study Your Word
so that we know right from wrong
and to act in accordance with Your commands.
Thank You for the sense of
direction, purpose and peace we get
from aligning our lives with Your Holy will.
We pray for the strength and the will to obey You
each and every day of the new year,
and when we fail, we pray for Your mercy,
Your compassion, Your grace and Your love.
Help us in the New Year to be your faithful servants.
In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.

Why Pray?

• The purpose of prayer is not to inform our Lord what you desire, for He knows all your needs. It is to render you able and ready to receive the grace which our Lord will freely give you. This grace cannot be experienced until you have been refined and purified by the fire of desire in devout prayer. For although prayer is not the cause for which our Lord gives grace, it is nevertheless the means by which grace, freely given, comes to the soul.

• Book I, ch. 24 (p. 28)

(The Ladder of Perfection, Walter Hilton, English Carthusian) (1494)