Truer and greater goals
A prayer as we enter the new year
How do you prepare for the new year?
Do you set resolutions or goals? Do you choose a word or a theme that will define the next 365 days? Do you treat it like any other day?
Whatever your approach, I want to invite you to spend a few intentional moments with God, thanking him for his provision over the last year and entrusting your cares and concerns for 2025 to him.
Here’s a short prayer you can use to prompt your own time of devotion:
A prayer for the new year
Wise, all-knowing Father,
Thank you for carrying me safely into another year.
I see your fingerprints on every page of last year’s story.
In victories and defeats,
in successes and failures,
in new challenges and well-worn traditions,
your providence has been my comfort and my guide.
I trust that you will uphold and sustain me in the year ahead.
You are my true aim.
Whatever I resolve,
whatever I desire,
whatever I seek to attain or accomplish—
All these things pale in comparison to the joy and satisfaction found in you.
Guide me toward truer and greater goals:
a mind saturated in Holy Scripture,
an insatiable hunger and thirst for righteousness,
a deep, abiding love for the people around me,
a desire to see your kingdom’s dominion
over all the earth.
You are the Alpha and Omega;
The fullness of existence is found within you—
Father, Son, and Spirit reigning in love
from eternity past to eternity present.
I will take comfort in your consistency and rejoice in your love for me
every moment of every day of this new year.
Your glory, your wisdom, your power know no limits.
You hold the world together
and you hold all my days in the palm of your hand.
Amen.
From the archives:
Need inspiration for your to-read list this year? I have a recommendation…
A visual reminder:
