Prayer for new beginnings:
Dear God, thank You for a new year and for Your care and blessings throughout the past year. I bring to You my hopes and plans, my uncompleted projects, and even my disappointments. Help me not to limit Your work in my life as I plan for the upcoming year. Give me faith to trust in You and determination to persevere according to Your will.
Prayer for habits:
Dear God, I confess that I’ve formed habits that are not the best. I ask that You remind me when I fall into harmful routines that cause me to lose time, physical and mental energy, resources, or my health. Help me to see what good habits can be reinforced, what unhealthy habits I need to leave behind, and what new habits I can acquire.
Prayer for relations with others:
Dear God, I so often fall short in the way I treat others. Help me to be more understanding, to forgive and to ask for forgiveness. Send Your Spirit to heal the wounds of our fractured relations so that I can love others with the same love that You have for me.1 Help me to turn a blind eye to the faults of others, unless I know of a way in which I can be a help,2 remembering that love is always the best route to take.
Prayer for the weary:
Dear God, these past years have been marked with sickness, death, isolation, fear, anxiety, loss of jobs, economic troubles, and division within our society. I call out to You for the renewal of my spirit. I remember that You never give us any situation that is too difficult to handle, as we lean on You, and with each challenge, You give us the strength we need.3 You promised that Your yoke would be easy and Your burden light.4
Prayer for the lonely:
Dear God, You are a father to the fatherless and set the solitary in families.5 Help me to work alongside You this year to alleviate the loneliness of those who live in isolation. Lead me to ways to mitigate the suffering of those who are lonely—a child from a broken home, an immigrant far from his family, a single parent, someone who is incarcerated, homeless, sick, or elderly. Help me to be available and willing to reach out to those who need a sense of belonging.
Prayer for those who suffer:
Dear God, help me to be mindful of the cry of those that are hurting and in distress. Help us to be ever praying for their needs and to be of service in whatever way we are able. Give Your servants the fortitude to be Your hands and feet in attendance to those who suffer from violence, hunger, broken families, or dangerous surroundings. That they may know “by deed and by truth”6 that You remember them when it seems like the world has forgotten. That their pain has reached Your heart; that what they suffer, You also suffered, and that You understand and will always answer the prayers of those who call out to You.
Prayer for neighbors:
Dear God, help me to reach out more to those in my neighborhood, to learn the names of those who live nearby, who serve me when I’m eating out, who fill my gas tank, or teach my kids. Help me to be a blessing to those around me and a conduit of Your love.7
Prayer for work:
Dear God, You have believers scattered throughout every city and in every sphere of business. Help me to be a faithful steward in my job, to be a positive and unifying influence in my workplace, and to always embody Your values of honesty, justice, kindness, humility, and diligence. Give me motivation to not just earn a living, but to help others also have a better life.
Prayer for Christian unity:
Dear God, help me to draw a circle of love that includes all of my brethren in the faith, without distinction.8 Help me not to be too busy for fellowship,9 knowing that wherever there are two or three gathered together in Your name, You are with us in spirit.10 Help me to not fall into the trap of criticism and gossip, but to respect each of Your dearly loved children.
Prayer for protection and guidance:
Dear God, guide my paths this year, and help me to follow Your example and strive to do as You would in each situation. Shine light on my path with the lamp of Your Word, and keep me from evil by surrounding me and those I love with Your angels.11 Please protect me from sickness and disease, and if I do get sick, please provide healing and protection from long-term adverse effects.
Prayer of service:
As You taught us, dear God, help me to serve joyfully in any job I have,12 to be a servant to others,13, and to put people before material gain. Please help my labors be fruitful, but also help me to never put my work above my love for You and the special relationship we share.
Prayer for relationship with God:
Dear God, help me to stay close to You this year, to come to You for renewal when I feel overwhelmed, to read, absorb, and meditate on Your Word, to not let any day go by without spending time in Your company.14