I wrote this New Year prayer 4 years ago in a time of great transition, and wanted to share it with you. It is designed to be read in a church service, or at a family meal table some time this week.
(This prayer is excerpted from Family Prayers For Christmas And New Year (And Throughout The Cycle Of Light).
Here it is:
WITH YOU, WE WALK
A NEW YEAR’S EVE, DAY AND WEEK PRAYER
By Dan Wilt
Another year has turned its page, O Lord.
We feel promises about to be fulfilled, hopes that may be realized,
And sorrows unknown – that may become ours to bear.
All of this, we carry into a New Year.
We declare at the doorway into this year, that our trust is not
In any man or woman to fulfill us,
Nor is our trust in circumstance,
Or a belief that the days ahead will be easy.
We do not expect, in this New Year, for our every prayer
To be answered in a way we would like.
You are in control, and we release our lives to you.
We put our trust in this:
That You who have been with us through this past year, Immanuel,
Will be with us in this New Year.
It is in You, Immanuel, we trust.
If you go ahead of us, we will go; if you go behind us, we will go.
If you will lead us in a cloud by day, and if you will
Light the night and its shadows with Your fire, we will faithfully follow.
This is our prayer: In all things that happen this year we ask
That we would be aware of Your presence, O Lord.
In this walk that will always be by faith and not by sight,
Let us percieve Your nearness.
We will stumble and fall, and we will also succeed and triumph.
We will laugh, and we will also weep.
But in those moments in which we cannot sense You near,
Let us see with the eyes of faith the marks of Your presence all around us,
Beneath us, carrying us boldly into Your future.
With You we walk, with confidence and trust, into this New Year.
In Your Name we pray, living Lord Jesus,
Amen.
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Resource: I created this collection of written prayers for churches throughout the holidays: Family Prayers For Christmas And New Year (And Throughout The Cycle Of Light).
Bio: Dan Wilt, M.Min. is the creator of the Essentials In Worship Video Training Course for worship leaders and teams, and is the Founder of WorshipTraining.com, a media-training network of over 31K worship leaders and musicians. He serves as a worship leader in Franklin, TN, and has taught in Worship & Arts programs for schools like St. Stephen’s University and Indiana Wesleyan. Dan is a songwriter, hymn writer, and author, and has served as a conference speaker globally. Dan works with his church family at Vineyard USA and Vineyard Worship in various support roles, and he, his wife Anita, and 3 young adult children live in Thompson’s Station, TN. His ancient-future worship leadership blog offers weekly tools and team encouragements at DanWilt.com.