Holy Father, Creator of the seasons of earth and Creator of the seasons of our lives,
Humbly we kneel before Your Throne, high and exalted. Our hearts reach out in prayer to touch the train of Your robe and feel Your mighty power. We come into Your Presence with Thanksgiving for life.
As we stand on the cusp of a new year that falls in a season of winter dormancy, we await the time to inhale the rebirth of spring. Though the calendar marks the years, we know You have created Time for us to count and wait until our own rebirth of life on heaven’s shores. You have individually numbered all the days of our lives and have written them in Your book— even before one of them came to be. We thank you, Father, for your gift of life. You know our hearts, LORD, and you have placed within our beings the joy of celebration.
We hold the memories of how you brought us to this day, and our hearts skip with jubilant expectation as we look forward to another new year.
As we step into the unknown year ahead, help us live by faith and not by sight. We anticipate days of laughter, days of anxious moments, and even days when Satan’s darts will threaten to pierce our core. Please, Abba Father, hold us in Your arms; tuck us in Your cloak where we can feel the heartbeat of blessed assurance that You will never leave us. Strengthen us to Trust with all our hearts and lean not on our own understanding when the darkness confuses and threatens us.
We thank You for providing sanctuary in Your Kingdom where we stand yoked soul-to-soul with sisters of encouragement. Inspire us to look not only to our own interests, but also to the interests of others. Help us fulfill our individual lives with the good works that You planned and created in Christ Jesus. Abba, please teach us, your daughters, to pick each other up when we falter and also to dance in delight together.
Let us not quench the Spirit but eagerly move forward with hope into a new year.
According to the riches of Your Glory, grant that we may be strengthened in our inner being with power through the Holy Spirit and grounded in love. Let us worship at Your feet as we sing, pray, and lift up holy hands in Thanksgiving and Praise.
We glorify You, O Father, for giving us Time, a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens.
In the Hallowed and Holy Name of our Savior Jesus Christ, we pray.
Amen.
Scripture references: Isaiah 6:1; Psalm 139:16; 2 Corinthians 5:7; Proverbs 3:5; Philippians 2:4; Ephesians 2:10; Ephesians 3:16-17; 1 Timothy 2:8; Ecclesiastes 3:1