In our prayers today, we remember the people of all nations.

Grant McMurray

God of this time and all time, we pause on this first day of a New Year to give thanks for the gift of life, for a world in which to live out our stewardship of that life, and for the divine love, which is at the very foundation of life itself.

We look back on the year just past and recognize our joys and sorrows, our awareness of deeds done and those left undone. We confess our sin and accept your forgiveness, which is stitched into the fabric of our personhood. We are grateful beyond words for your presence in our lives.

We recognize our unworthiness and pray that we may always carry with us the spirit of gratitude that comes from our knowledge of your grace-filled love.

We pray for our world and its many diverse people. We know of the differences and the hostilities that linger out there among so many of your children. We know of the tribal, cultural, ethnic, philosophical, language, lifestyle, religious, and interpersonal differences that divide us and that sometimes pit us against one another.

We pray for your reconciling love, Lord, as we strive anew to be a peaceful people, to find new ways to mediate that which separates us and to seek that which unites us.

We do not know what the New Year will bring-but we approach it in trust because we know you are our God and we are your people. Remind us, Lord, for we will forget.

Encourage us, Lord, for we will be reluctant. Inspire us, Lord, for we will often think of only commonplace answers. Calm us, Lord, for we will get angry and unreasonable. Love us Lord, for we will be unlovable at times, but that is when we most need to be loved.

In this New Year, we resolve to embody the qualities so urgently needed from those who follow you: to rejoice in the goodness we see around us, to carry with us the hopeful promises of the gospel, to love our neighbors without conditions, and to be emissaries of peace wherever we live. We do that because our community of faith proclaims, in everything we do, the sacred name of Jesus Christ, in who name we pray on this fresh New Year, brimming with possibility. Amen.

Tags: prayer, peace