time to think and pray
and make some resolutions...
Now, no one knows better than you, Lord,
my track record on resolutions:
the ones I've made year after year
at New Year’s - and so many other times -
when I've promised and pledged:
to do this or take care of that,
or to stop doing things I ought to avoid;
or to follow through on meeting goals
I’ve wanted to achieve…
But then just days or weeks later
- well, you know how that goes, Lord!
So let me begin
by placing the whole New Year ahead
entirely in your hands, Lord…
I put my heart in your hands, Lord,
and I pray you'll
mend its broken pieces,
soften what's grown coarse,
warm what's chilled and frostbit,
smooth its jagged edges,
ease what’s stiff with anger,
loosen all that's tight with fear,
undo the knots of worry
that bind and tie me up
- all this for my sake, Lord,
and for those who count on me,
wait for me and hold me in their hearts…
In the New Year, Lord,
give me a heart for others
and help me resolve
to love my neighbor as myself...
As a New Year begins,
I place in your hands, Lord:
my mind and my will,
my thoughts and ideas
and my dreams and my schemes
and I pray you'll help me sort through
my doubts and my questions,
my fuzzy, lazy thinking,
my confusion and my foolishness…
In the year ahead, Lord,
give me the gift of your wisdom
and help me resolve
to seek and rely on your Holy Spirit
for guidance, direction and counsel...
with the sword of your truth, Lord,
In the year ahead, Lord, I offer you my body:
help me respect and care for the frame
that gives my soul its form and substance.
Get me out of my bed and off my butt:
move me, shake me, stretch me;
walk with me and strengthen me, Lord,
to do the work that’s mine to do…
And I offer you my spirit, Lord, my soul:
give me the courage and the strength I need
to walk each day with you,
your arm around my shoulder,
my hand tight in yours,
guiding every step I take...
In 2026, Lord,
give me the gift of your grace
and help me promise, pledge and resolve
to trust in your faithful love and care:
whatever may befall me,
whatever comes my way,
wherever my path may take me,
wherever your Spirit leads,
through good times and through bad times,
in sickness and in health,
through happiness and sorrow,
through my laughter and my tears
through joy and disappointment,
through brokenness and healing,
through sunshine and through darkness,
through loneliness and friendship,
in my weakness and my strength,
in my good deeds and my faults,
in my prudence and my foolishness
my selfishness and kindness…
In the new year, Lord,
help me live each day with you:
a day at a time,
an hour at a time,
moment by moment…
Fill my days with energy
and resolve to do your will;
fill my nights with restful sleep
to strengthen and refresh me
to live the year ahead
as you would have me live it…
In the New Year, Lord,
I pray you’ll make my thoughts pure,
my dreams sweet,
my intentions just,
my speech true,
my body healthy,
my soul pure,
my path straight,
my heart generous,
my love patient,
my plans firm,
my goals reachable,
and my will
ever faithful to your own…
all the burdens and sorrows
the New Year will bring.
Give me the grace to accept your help
with a hearty spirit
and a peaceful soul…
And I offer you, Lord, the New Year’s joys:
let me miss not a single one
but rather, delight in them all
- and share them with my neighbors...
In 2026, Lord,
help me resolve to do for others
as I'd have them do for me...
In the New Year, Lord,
help me always
do the next right thing…
In the 12 months ahead of me, Lord,
help me trust and believe
that all shall be well, that all shall be well,
that all manner of things shall be well…
Into your hands, O Lord, my God,
I entrust this New Year
and I pray, through your grace,
I’ll come to its end
in your mercy and peace,
held close in your loving arms…
Amen.
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