A New Year's Prayer

[Guest guest]

A New Year's Prayer

Holy God of Heaven and Earth,I know that a thousand years are as a day to you,

but we humans are bound up in time.

As a new year is beginning, please teach me to...* care more about people and less about money,* enjoy my work but not let it enslave me,* and laugh more easily than I did last year.As I get ready for 2008, help me to remember things that are easy to forget...* that it might well be my last year,* that some people are counting on me,* and that you have things for me to do.Lord, with the things I have accumulated over the years, please let me...* shake off the monotony of life,* try some new things in this new year,* and mend some broken fences.And, Father of Mercies, please teach me in this new and unspoiled year to...* lighten up and enjoy children, sunsets, reading, and long walks,* avoid quarrels and work at being a peacemaker in this world,* and start next year with fewer regrets than I bring to 2008.I cannot know what this year will bring, and I am grateful for that!But help me...* eat less junk food,* exercise and take better care of my body,* and learn to enjoy the simple pleasures of life.Above all other things, Father, I want to be your instrument for...* easing somebody's too-heavy load,* relieving some sad person's misery,* and introducing some lost soul to Jesus.Come what may in the year about to begin,

may we live it for your glory, within your will,

and to your delight.