January 6th

A prayer for the New Year

A prayer for the New Year

God, who makes all things new,

In this season of looking back and looking forward,

we are grateful.

We are grateful for your presence that we have learned to trust, even when sitting alone,

for your love that warms our hearts at each first glimpse of a loved one on our laptops,

for the adventure you spark in our spirits each time we experiment with something new.

God who makes all things new,

we release the past.

We release the tears we’ve shed

for people who shaped our lives and are now gone,

and for the times we said “goodbye” without closure.

We let go of the spaces in our lives

that were meant to be filled with dreams and experiences

that didn’t happen.

Give us the courage to turn to those empty spaces

and to prepare them to be filled again.

God who makes all things new,

you give us hope!

We anticipate the return of the things we love:

hearing our voices, lifted together in song,

smiling with our mouths and not just our eyes,

laughing with friends until we cry,

the touch of a hand-shake,

working together in person, through struggles and achievements,

the peace that fills us when we are together as your people.

God who makes all things new,

help us to embrace the new.

Open our eyes to a future that will look different than the past.

May we grow through and be changed by these strange times.

Help us to see the cracks where opportunities linger,

and to trust each other as we take another step into the unknown.

God of all time and space,

make us new.