UPDATE: for a newer version of this prayer for 2011-2012, check here!
As we approach the end of the calendar year,
these words might help us walk gracefully into 2010...
Good Lord,
it is the last day of 2009...
Only a few hours left in this old year
which seemed so new,
oh, not-so-long ago...
Where has the old year gone, Lord?
How did it go?
And how did I go with you, Lord,
these past twelve months?
I remember the times
we walked and talked together,
you and I...
And I remember the times
when I forgot, somehow,
that you were right there by my side...
I remember the times when you took delight
in my words and my work
and I remember the times I ignored and forgot you
- and still you loved me
and forgave me...
Nothing I have done, Lord,
merits all you have given me:
your love is grace and pure gift...
In return I offer so little
and I have so little to offer...
But there comes a new year, Lord,
and with it my prayer
to live a life more worthy
of all you so freely give me...
In this new year, Lord,
make strong my resolve to be faithful,
make deep my trust in your presence
and make sure my hope in your promise,
for without your help
I will fail...
Lord, you offer me only
what is true and pure,
good and just, strong and graced...
In this new year, help me to recognize
what is false, cheap and sham...
Help me to settle for nothing less
than what comes from your heart and hand...
Nourish me, Lord:
give me a hunger for what is genuine,
a thirst for what is holy,
a wisdom for discerning your gifts...
It is the last night of the old year, Lord...
Shake from my heart what has no place there
and wake my heart
to the gift of your grace
at the dawn of a new beginning...
Amen.
May the friendship of Jesus accompany you each day in the New Year, CP. Thank you for all you do for us.
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year!
Rosemary
amen...
ReplyDeletethis is such a perfect prayer...
for how I feel about God and also about others-
(and, oh, it's so complicated... )
I want to give so much but I have so little to give-
and I often don't know what or how to give-
and, sometimes, what I give is the opposite of what I should give...
I wish you a very peaceful, grace-filled, healthy new year...
Wonderful prayer (as usual) I think the way you do but putting the words together is not easy.
ReplyDeleteBlessings of the New Year to all who read this blog !!
Thanks, Concord Pastor, My Pastor
Lovely, Austin, thank you so much -- just what I needed. I will re-read the prayer several times tonight and tomorrow. I usually spend all or most of New Year's Eve quietly. I pray that this year I can make this a contemplative quiet. And I pray for God's grace (which is already there, we know) in your ongoing ministry, and also for times of rest and refreshment for you. So glad that you have this online ministry too!
ReplyDeleteConcord Pastor,
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for this beautiful prayer. You're words touch what my heart is feeling tonight and all my hopes for a new beginning one day at a time with God's grace in the new year.
God's peace, strength and joy in the new year to you and all of us!
Nancy
I am late to this - but it is never too late, is it?
ReplyDeleteThis is wonderful - thank you!
I picked up a copy of this prayer at church when you first offered it and have said it daily since. I really like it!
ReplyDeleteRosemary