Prayer on New Year's Eve

 NEW YEAR’S EVE

In just a few hours the new calendar year will be upon us.  As we watch the news in review on television these days we realize again how the events of this past year were so far beyond anything we imagined at this time last year. 

It’s been such an unusual year and there are more unusual days ahead until a great many more people get vaccinated.  After such a challenging year with the COVID-19 pandemic and things still not really resolved, on what basis do we hope to have a better year? 

This is a time to remember that God is in control and will fulfill His purposes regardless of how many days of the pandemic lie ahead, or other unknown threats might arise.  There is much more going on in the world than what we see and hear in the daily news.  When we call on God in our personal challenges and crises, we are assured that He will help us and bring about those things He has promised.  Even when people think they have failed to live up to the potential God has for them, God is unwavering in working out His purposes for those who commit their will and life into His care. 

For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm. The Lord foils the plans of the nations; he thwarts the purposes of the peoples. But the plans of the Lord stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations.  Psalm 33:9-11

God has good plans for each of us in 2021 regardless of how long it takes to resolve all the pandemic issues.  What God is concerned about, even more than the virus, is where our hearts are at in terms of the sin disease.  God wants us to end this year on the best note possible and position ourselves going forward.  How do we do that, according to God? 

Repent! Turn away from all your offenses; then sin will not be your downfall. Rid yourselves of all the offenses you have committed and get a new heart and a new spirit. Ezekiel 18:30b-31

As we wait for the countdown to this new year, it’s good to take heart in the fact that God promises us a new heart and a new spirit if we turn our will and our life over to His care.  We will come into this new year as a new person if we choose to do so.

Anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion 2 Corinthians 5:17 NLT, Philippians 1:6b

This coming year is a fresh opportunity to improve our conscious contact with our powerful God who can restore and maintain our sanity.  We can’t fix ourselves, but God can.  We may not trust our own ability to carry anything through to completion but God “could and would if He were sought.”  This is our New Year’s hope. 

Loving God, As we enter this new year, we choose to commit ourselves to You.  We lay down our fears and resentments.  We receive Your comfort, Your forgiveness, and Your healing.  We have hope and confidence in Your assurance that You will complete the good work you have begun in us, not because we’ll be all that great at doing things but because You are strong and faithful and You promise that what You begin, You finish. 

We trust You to help us find peace in this fragile and sometimes frightening world.  Help us to continue to have faith in Your ultimate control and Your ability to bring about Your purposes, just as You always have. 

On this unusual New Year’s Eve 2020, we reaffirm our trust in Your power to work in any unusual circumstances we may encounter.  When You says that we will not be overwhelmed, You mean it. When You say You will make a way where there seems to be no way, You are able to do just that. We trust You, Lord Jesus.  You came to be our Prince of Peace and we welcome You to live in our lives as that as we leave 2020 and move into 2021.  Amen

When the storm has swept by, the wicked are gone, but the righteous stand firm forever. Proverbs 10:25