Transform Your Life With These 5 Prayers for the New Year
The wind howls all day—rattling the windowpanes and nearly bending the old poplar to its breaking point. We watch through ice-glazed glass while the Christmas lights blaze white on the mantle. I have no idea that stepping into the white world is about to help me begin praying focused prayers for the New Year.
“You’re not thinking of taking your daily walk today, are you, Mom?” a little voice prods.
“Are you worried about me?” I ask, turning from the window where the snow is swirling in small whirlwinds across the yard.
“You shouldn’t go out in this,” our young son declares protectively. “The TV said it’s 40-below zero with the wind. And what if a tree falls on you?”
Our boy has a point.
I weigh his words until the first whisper of dusk touches the eastern sky—darkening the day’s gray to a smokier shade of ash. I know it’s time to make my decision—now or never.
Ten minutes later, I emerge from the basement adorned in the warmest clothing I own: a heavy hunting parka, wool pants, Thinsulate boots, doubled mittens, a scarf, and two winter hats.
“I’ll be alright,” I tell the boy who looks at me with worried eyes.
When I finally make it into the frigid dusk, I’m surprised to discover that the valley behind the house is quiet. The hemlocks are dressed in a heavy mantle of ivory. In the stillness, the wind can’t reach the cavernous hollow of Wolf Creek’s Narrows.
The wind howls far above the valley floor. Meanwhile, I am protected here. Held.
New Year, New Beginnings
I listen to the rhythm of my heavy boots compressing the white powder beneath them.
Wolf Creek gushes by carrying sloshing chunks of ice—not far from full freeze-up—and the sycamores creak overhead in the blustery wind.
I feel awake.
Alive.
Thankful.
As dusk falls black and thick, I text a message home to the little boy and tell him not to worry. I am well, and I’ll be home by six.
Sitting on a snowy log beside the creek, I inhale deeply and let the cold air sting my lungs. Days will soon grow longer here on the brink of this New Year.
As I rest in the forest, I utter a quiet prayer for more of these moments. I also prepare my heart for the transitions we will face as we step into the New Year.
I’ve always been fascinated by the idea of picking a word, a verse, or a resolution for the New Year. This year, as I sit in the forest, I feel led to ask the Lord to lead me to Spirit-inspired prayers for the New Year.
I speak these prayers in a voice message to myself so that I can write them down when I return home.
Regardless of what you’re facing, where you’ve been, and where you’re going this New Year, I invite you to pray these prayers for your New Year as well.
Transform Your Life With These 5 Prayers for the New Year
Father, help me trust you with the circumstances that don’t make sense to me this year.
We can’t predict everything that will happen throughout the upcoming year. However, we can all expect more than a few interruptions, surprises, and detours. Let’s ask God to help us embrace these situations as opportunities to grow in faith and trust. Let’s ask him to help us trust him when we don’t understand what he’s doing.
Lord, lead me deeper into the awareness of your redemptive love for me.
God’s love changes our hearts. No matter how far we’ve ventured into the depths of his love, there is always a deeper layer. As God’s love touches our hearts, we are healed. Our lives are transformed. Let’s ask God to lead us deeper into his transforming, healing, inspiring, and restoring love this year. Our lives will never be the same.
Jesus, fill me with your compassion for the people you bring into my life.
When Jesus lived on Earth, he was often moved with compassion for the needs surrounding him. The compassionate love of Jesus will forever change us. As he fills us with his compassion for others, we will be compelled to reach out and extend his love to them.
Lord, reveal yourself to me as my Living Hope.
When life is difficult, it’s tempting to put our hope in making it to the other side of the trouble.
Instead, Jesus wants to be our Living Hope. He wants us to put our hope in his presence with us instead of putting our hope in escaping our trials.
Let’s ask the Lord to reveal himself to us as our Living Hope.
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Lord, align my life with your purpose and calling for me.
Have you been trying to kick down doors throughout the past year? Are you frustrated because your dreams aren’t working out according to your expectations? Most of us have faced disappointments throughout the past year.
Let’s pray for surrendered hearts. Pray for the willingness to walk through the doors God opens and walk away from the doors he closes. Let’s pray that the Lord will align our hearts with his purpose and his calling for our lives.
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I sit in the forest and ponder these prayers for the New Year until the clock and the cold tell me it’s time to return home. I sense that I’ve accomplished much in the woods tonight, and I feel pointedly more prepared for whatever lies ahead.
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