Prayer for the New Year

 

A Christian Prayer for the New Year

Our Father and our God, as we stand at the beginning of this new year we confess our need of Your presence and Your guidance as we face the future.

We each have our hopes and expectations for the year that is ahead of us-but You alone know what it holds for us, and only You can give us the strength and the wisdom we will need to meet its challenges. So help us to humbly put our hands into Your hand, and to trust You and to seek Your will for our lives during this coming year.

In the midst of life's uncertainties in the days ahead, assure us of the certainty of Your unchanging love.

In the midst of life's inevitable disappointments and heartaches, help us to turn to You for the stability and comfort we will need.

In the midst of life's temptations and the pull of our stubborn self-will, help us not to lose our way but to have the courage to do what is right in Your sight, regardless of the cost.

And in the midst of our daily preoccupations and pursuits, open our eyes to the sorrows and injustices of our hurting world, and help us to respond with compassion and sacrifice to those who are friendless and in need. May our constant prayer be that of the ancient Psalmist: "Teach me, O Lord, to follow your decrees; then I will keep them to the end" (Psalm 119:33).

We pray for our nation and its leaders during these difficult times, and for all those who are seeking to bring peace and justice to our dangerous and troubled world. We pray especially for Your protection on all those who serve in our armed forces, and we thank You for their commitment to defend our freedoms, even at the cost of their own lives. Be with their families also, and assure them of Your love and concern for them.

Bring our divided nation together, and give us a greater vision of what You would have us to be. Your Word reminds us that "Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord" (Psalm 33:12).

As we look back over this past year we thank You for Your goodness to us-far beyond what we have deserved. May we never presume on Your past goodness or forget all Your mercies to us, but may they instead lead us to repentance, and to a new commitment to make You the foundation and center of our lives this year.

And so, our Father, we thank You for the promise and hope of this new year, and we look forward to it with expectancy and faith. This I ask in the name of our Lord and Savior, who by His death and resurrection has given us hope both for this world and the world to come.

- Billy Graham

PRAYER FOR THE NEW YEAR

 

Drenched in Holiness Prayer: Prayer for a New Year

Dear God,

On this day I ask You to grant this request,

May I know who I am and what I am,

Every moment of every day.

May I be a catalyst for light and love,

And bring inspiration to those whose eyes I meet.

May I have the strength to stand tall in the face of conflict,

And the courage to speak my voice, even when I'm scared.

May I have the humility to follow my heart,

And the passion to live my soul's desires.

May I seek to know the highest truth

And dismiss the gravitational pull of my lower self.

May I embrace and love the totality of myself,

My darkness as well as my light.

May I be brave enough to hear my heart,

To let it soften so that I may gracefully

Choose faith over fear.

Today is my day to surrender anything that stands

Between the sacredness of my humanity and my divinity.

May I be drenched in my Holiness

And engulfed by Your love.

May all else melt away.

And so it is.

- Debbie Ford

Prayer To Help Us Enter The New Year

 

Help Us Enter the New Year

God of all time, help us enter the New Year quietly,

thoughtful of who we are to ourselves and to others,

mindful that our steps make an impact

and our words carry power.

May we walk gently.

May we speak only after we have listened well.

Creator of all life,

help us enter the New Year reverently,

aware that you have endowed

every creature and plant, every person and habitat

with beauty and purpose.

May we regard the world with tenderness.

May we honor rather than destroy.

Lower of all souls,

help us enter the New Year joyfully,

willing to laugh and dance and dream,

remembering our many gifts with thanks

and looking forward to blessings yet to come.

May we welcome your lavish love.

In this new year, may the grace and peace of Christ bless us now and in the days ahead.

- Vinita Hampton Wright; Offered by Douglas Ruschman

The Work of Christmas Begins - by Michael Dougherty

 

The Work of Christmas Begins

When the carols have been stilled,

When the star-topped tree is taken down,

When family and friends are gone home,

When we are back to our schedules

The work of Christmas begins:

   To welcome the refugee,

   To heal a broken planet,

   To feed the hungry,

   To build bridges of trust, not walls of fear,

   To share our gifts,

   To seek justice and peace for all people,

   To bring Christ’s light to the world.

- by Michael Dougherty, a variation on Howard Thurman’s ‘When the Song of the Angels is Stilled’

Prayer to Mother Mary: Ask and Pray for a Miracle… Mother Mary will make it happen for you

 

MOST holy Mary, Queen of heaven, I who was once the slave of the Evil One now dedicate myself to thy service forever; and I offer myself to honor and to serve thee as long as I live. Accept me for thy servant, and cast me not away from thee, as I deserve. In thee, O my Mother, I place all my hope. All blessing and thanksgiving be to God, who in His mercy gave me this trust in thee.

True it is, that in time past I have fallen miserably into sin; but by the merits of Jesus Christ, and by thy prayers, I hope that God has pardoned me. But this is not enough, my Mother. One thought distresses me; it is that I may yet lose the grace of God. Danger is ever near; the devil sleeps not; fresh temptations assail me.

Protect me, then, my Queen; help me against the assaults of my spiritual enemy. Never let me sin again, or offend Jesus thy Son. Let me not by sin lose my soul, Heaven, and my God. This one grace, Mary, I ask of thee; this is my desire, this may your prayers obtain for me. Such is my hope. Amen.

(3 Hail Marys in reparation for blasphemies against the Blessed Virgin

Holy Mary, pray for us.

Holy Mother of God, pray for us.

Holy Virgin of virgins, pray for us.

Mother of Christ, pray for us.

Mother of divine grace, pray for us.

Mother most pure, pray for us.

Mother most chaste, pray for us.

Mother inviolate, pray for us.

Mother undefiled, pray for us.

Mother most amiable, pray for us.

Mother most admirable, pray for us.

Mother of good counsel, pray for us.

Mother of our Creator, pray for us.

Mother of our Savior, pray for us.

Mother of the Church, pray for us.

Virgin most prudent, pray for us.

Virgin most venerable, pray for us.

Virgin most renowned, pray for us.

Virgin most powerful, pray for us.

Virgin most merciful, pray for us.

Virgin most faithful, pray for us.

Mirror of justice, pray for us.

Seat of wisdom, pray for us.

Cause of our joy, pray for us.

Spiritual vessel, pray for us.

Vessel of honor, pray for us.

Singular vessel of devotion, pray for us.

Mystical rose, pray for us.

Tower of David, pray for us.

Tower of ivory, pray for us.

House of gold, pray for us.

Ark of the covenant, pray for us.

Gate of Heaven, pray for us.

Morningstar, pray for us.

Health of the sick, pray for us.

Refuge of sinners, pray for us.

Comforter of the afflicted, pray for us.

Help of Christians, pray for us.

Queen of angels, pray for us.

Queen of patriarchs, pray for us.

Queen of prophets, pray for us.

Queen of apostles, pray for us.

Queen of martyrs, pray for us.

Queen of confessors, pray for us

Queen of virgins, pray for us.

Queen of all saints, pray for us.

Queen conceived without Original Sin, pray for us.

Queen assumed into Heaven, pray for us.

Queen of the most holy Rosary, pray for us.

Queen of peace, pray for us.

Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world,

Spare us, O Lord.

Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world

Graciously hear us, O Lord.

Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world,

Have mercy on us.

Pray for us, O holy Mother of God,

That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Let Us Pray

Grant, we beseech Thee, O Lord God, that we Thy

servants may enjoy perpetual health of mind and

body, and by the glorious intercession of the Blessed

Mary, ever Virgin, be delivered from present sorrow

and enjoy everlasting happiness. Through Christ Our

Lord.

Amen

ANGELS : THE 12 MOST IMPORTANT THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT THEM

ANGELS

The Twelve Most Important Things to Know About Them

- by Dr. Peter Kreeft

1.They really exist. Not just in our minds, or our myths, or our symbols, or our culture. They are as real as your dog, or your sister, or electricity.

2.They’re present, right here, right now, right next to you, reading these words with you.

3.They’re not cute, cuddly, comfortable, chummy, or “cool”. They are fearsome and formidable. They are huge. They are warriors.

4.They are the real “extra-terrestrials”, the real “Super-men”, the ultimate aliens. Their powers are far beyond those of all fictional creatures.

5.They are more brilliant minds than Einstein.

6.They can literally move the heavens and the earth if God permits them.

7.There are also evil angels, fallen angels, demons, or devils. These too are not myths. Demon possessions, and exorcisms, are real.

8.Angels are aware of you, even though you can’t usually see or hear them. But you can communicate with them. You can talk to them without even speaking.

9.You really do have your very own “guardian angel”. Everybody does.

10.Angels often come disguised. “Do not neglect hospitality, for some have entertained angels unawares” — that’s a warning from life’s oldest and best instruction manual.

11.We are on a protected part of a great battlefield between angels and devils, extending to eternity.

12.Angels are sentinels standing at the crossroads where life meets death. They work especially at moments of crisis, at the brink of disaster — for bodies, for souls, and for nations.

The Guardian Angel Prayer should be prayed every day:

Angel of God,

my Guardian dear,

To whom God's love

commits me here;

Ever this day, be at my side

To light and guard

To rule and guide.

Amen. ❤