A Prayer for the New Year:   

Dear Heavenly Father, I thank you for this New Year and for your great Mercy which is always ready to give me a fresh start.  Lord, you make all things new and I ask you for your healing presence in my life in this coming year! I'm so happy to have the chance to start again.  Thank you for carrying me through this past year and for always being by my side.  I look forward to all the wonderful things you have in store for me.   

I know your Mercy is so great that every day is a chance to start fresh.  You are always ready, willing, and able to forgive us our sins and bring us into a new life.  I ask for this new life now.  

I ask to be made a new creation in your Son, Jesus Christ.  I want to become the person you created me to be!  I will need your help.  Please make ways for me where there are no ways.  Please build bridges and remove obstacles, and make my path straight.  Give me strength and peace as I journey on with you toward a bright future.   

I ask for the grace to let go and put the past back where it belongs.  I pray for the grace not to carry the old baggage into the new year, and to place my future into your care.  I pray for you to pour out your healing love in every area of my life.  I ask for your help to truly live my life, in You, with You, through You and for You.  
 
Help me to move forward in your Love for me.  Please help me to respond to the action of your Holy Spirit within me.  Help me to come to know you in a deeper and more meaningful way, and to Trust you again with my whole heart.  Help me to make a serious commitment to you my God and to put you first in my life, to make you the center of my life, to make you "my all".  

Finally, Thank you for sending your Son into the world and into our hearts.  Thank you for your unfailing love.  I know that you are Good, and Loving, and that you are always with me.  I ask for your blessing on this New Year.  Please bless and protect my family and everyone near and dear to me.  Please guide us all into the Light of your Truth, and help us to walk day by day, step by step, in Your direction.   

May the Peace of Christ remain with us all year long, and may we grow in love and faith in a New Way, starting Today.  In Jesus' beautiful name.  Amen.

 Happy New Year! 

A very powerful scripture from Ephesians Chapter 3 ...

"For this reason I fall on my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth receives its true name.  I ask God from the wealth of his glory to give you power through his Spirit to be strong in your inner selves, and I pray that Christ will make his home in your hearts through faith.  I pray that you may have your roots and foundation in love, so that you, together with all God's people, may have the power to understand how broad and long, how high and deep, is Christ's love.  Yes, may you come to know his love - although it can never be fully known - and so be completely filled with the very nature of God.  To Him who by means of his power working in us is able to do so much more than we can ever ask for, or even think of: to God be glory in The Church and in Christ Jesus for all time, forever and ever! Amen." (Eph 3:14-21)

This scripture is so beautiful and rich in its meaning.  Each sentence is powerful.  We are called in this scripture to "have our roots and foundation in love."  To make God our center.  It is His Love that we should build a foundation on.  He is our rock, and His Love never ends. There is no limit to His Mercy. He is always ready to heal us and ready to help us.

God doesn't abandon His children.  He stays with us, and He never leaves.  Let's be open to His Holy Spirit so that we may become "strong in our inner selves."  Let's open our hearts to Jesus in a new way today and allow Him to "make his home in our hearts."  Let's allow the Love of God to fill us and transform us .. to make us New! 

God is just a prayer away.  Let's turn to Him now, and may He Bless you and everyone near and dear to you.

From the Gospel of Mark ...

"Then they came to Jericho.  As Jesus and His disciples, together with a large crowd, were leaving the city, a blind man, Bartimaeus (which means “son of Timaeus”), was sitting by the roadside begging.  When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout, 'Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!' Many rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, 'Son of David, have mercy on me!'  Jesus stopped and said, 'Call him.'  So they called to the blind man, 'Cheer up! On your feet! He’s calling you.' Throwing his cloak aside, he jumped to his feet and came to Jesus.  'What do you want me to do for you?' Jesus asked him.  The blind man said, 'Rabbi, I want to see.'  'Go,' said Jesus, 'your faith has healed you.' Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road"  (Mark 10:46-52).  

In this scripture, Bartimaeus recognizes Jesus.  He may be blind but He has the spiritual insight to know that Jesus is The One he should turn to.  He begs The Lord, "have mercy on me."  He places his hope in Jesus.  He trusts Him.  He doesn't care what the other people think, He just wants The Lord.  He calls out to Him, with humility and great faith.  Even amidst a noisy crowd, Jesus hears him and responds to his faith.   

Jesus asks a simple yet profound question of Bartimaeus, a question He still asks us today.  "What do you want me to do for you?"   

In prayer today, let's reflect deeply on the answer to this question in our own lives.  Yes, I'm sure there are many things we could say.  I myself have a laundry list of things I would love Jesus to do for me, but maybe deep in our hearts we may simply want to "see" Him also.  To get to know Him, to believe He is real, and present with us throughout life.  We may simply want to know that, like in the case of Bartimaeus, Jesus hears our prayers and will answer them.  Or maybe we will have our eyes opened too, and recognize all that Jesus has already done for us.  There is no wrong answer here.  God knows your heart, and He already loves you, no matter what you say.  

Imagine Jesus in front of you, looking at you with love, calling you gently by your name, and saying "What do you want me to do for you?"  When we really give this meditation a chance and open our hearts to God, we may be surprised to learn what it is that we really want.  Perhaps even our answer will be the same, "Lord, I want to see."  

In our own spiritual blindness we have all asked Jesus the question at some point in our lives, "Where are you Lord?" Or perhaps, "Where were you Lord, when I needed you?"  There are plenty of moments in our lives when we don't "see" Jesus the way we want to, when we want to.  But through the eyes of faith, we can still believe He is there, that He is here now, working in us, and on us.  He is shaping us and preparing us.  Just as the crowd told Bartimaeus ... "He's calling you." Jesus will also open our eyes to recognize Him and the new life He offers us.   

With confidence in God's goodness, let's call out to The Lord in our heart of hearts.  With a new spiritual vision let's recognize Jesus as The Light of the world within us.  God has a wonderful plan for our lives, and we don't need to see what it is as much as we need to "see" Jesus who will guide us to it.  Like Bartimaeus, who after receiving his sight, "followed Jesus along the road", may we also follow Jesus in our own daily walk and allow The Light of Christ to guide our steps, in a New Way, Today.
 

"I am the vine, you are the branches.  If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing" (John 15:5).

“We all have a place in the Kingdom.  We are all a part of God's plan in some way and each one of us is called to personal holiness, which means we are called to be the person God wants us to be. We are called to follow the path God has laid out for us, a path that will accomplish His Will and lead us to Him.  We are called to be our own unique branch and remain attached to our source, who supports us and gives us everything we need to grow and thrive.”

“We find the strength we need when we stop fighting God and gracefully accept His will for us.  When we trust that He knows better.  When we stop looking at others and the different gifts God has given them, and start developing and being grateful for the ones He has given us.”

“It doesn't matter how big our glass is, it only matters that it is full.  We have a purpose, one that is tied directly to Christ Jesus, The Vine, and as long as we stay connected to Him, we will not wither away.”

These passages are from our book, “Strength For The Weary. Finding Grace in Times of Trial.” 

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was in the beginning with God.  All things came to be through Him, and without Him, nothing came to be.  What came to be through Him was life, and this life was the light of the human race. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it”  (John 1:1-5). 

Jesus is The Word of God.  Jesus is The Light of The World.  Jesus has always been with us, and He always will. 

God became man.  In the person of Jesus Christ, we hear the voice of God speaking to us.  To this very day, His words ring in our hearts, convicting us of wrongdoing, and setting us back on the right road.  

His voice fills us with new hope.  His teaching may be difficult, but His words are always true.  We should pay close attention to everything Jesus says, for it is God Himself who's speaking.  

Our Creator Loves us! God came to heal, to save.  Jesus is our help.  He is The Way, The Truth and The Life, and it’s time to stop looking anywhere else.  Jesus alone is the answer. He opens the door to Heaven. Let’s open our hearts to Him.

Let’s pray, in a new way today, to hear the voice of God in our lives and follow Him.

May God Bless you, and everyone near and dear to you, In Jesus' name.  Amen.

God’s voice is alive in our hearts. If we’re willing to listen, we’ll receive a new start. Because His message is clear, one of love and of truth, and it opens the soul to a life that is new. God’s Love is a love that heals us, that changes us, that helps us to become the person He created us to be. God’s Love flows out to others, and sets everyone free .. A Love that is waiting for you and for me.

May God's Love completely transform our hearts and minds and make us New!

In Jesus' name.

Amen.

"But God proves His Love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us" (Rom. 5:8).

Here's a prayer we can say to open our hearts to God's unconditional Love ...

"Dear Lord, the world tells us we must deserve love.  It paints a picture of a love that needs to be earned, that we need to do something, as if our own efforts will achieve it.  Please help me to rid my life of this lie and accept that your love is a free gift.  It’s who you are.  It’s your nature to love. Grant me a new understanding of what love means. 

Please help me to embrace the unconditional love you offer me.  I thank you for loving me now, no more or no less than you ever will.  Nothing is ever lacking from your Love.  It's total and complete, and there is nothing I can do to earn it.  Even now as I am learning to grow you are loving me completely.  Help me to accept your love and the salvation you won for me.  Help me to become a person of love, who brings your love to others, and grant that I may live in your love forever.  In Jesus' name.  Amen."

This prayer is from our book, "Prayers For A New Way.  A Prayer Book For The Heart." I pray that it will touch your heart, and make your life new in Christ.

"Dear Lord, you have told us to forgive one another. This is your commandment - to love one another as you have loved us.  But you know how hard it is for me to be the one to forgive in this situation.  It's not easy to let down my pride, but this is what you want me to do, and my soul knows it.  Please Lord, give me the grace I need to forgive. 

Lord, nothing is beyond your power and I need your power to do this. On my own I will stay angry forever but with you I can forgive anyone and everyone, including myself, and have a new life.  I can be set free from this pain that controls me and this hurt that keeps me stuck in the past.  Please help me to be willing to do what I have been so unwilling to do for so long.  Thank you for forgiving me. Help me to do the same.  In Jesus' name. Amen."

This prayer is from our book, "Prayers For A New Way: A Prayer Book For The Heart." Available on Amazon and in the iBooks store.

"We have an opportunity to live out our faith in a new way, one in which the past doesn't define us, where the world doesn't guide us, and where unconditional love is a reality.  A way that changes us, challenges us and motivates us to live the Gospel message fully and to be open to God's plan for our lives.  A way of peace, calm, and freedom from fear as we deepen our spiritual life, listening for the voice of God in our hearts, and coming to trust in Him more and more each day.

God Loves us. He desires to heal our hearts and bring us into a new and closer relationship with Him that is based on trust and confidence in His Love.  It's a Love that only He can give us. It's a Love every heart craves.  God wants to heal our old heart of the pain of the past and bring us into new life with Him through His Son, Jesus Christ.  God has an abundant life of peace and inner joy awaiting us.  All we have to do is take His hand."

This excerpt is taken from New Way Today's book "Inspirational Reflections For The Soul."  Filled with short and simple messages of faith, it brings hope and healing..  Find it here on our Amazon page.

Prayer

            Dear Lord, I know you are with me wherever I go.  I want the abundant life you died to give me.  I really do want to be open to your plan for my life and to trust you with everything, but I'm human and weak and I need your help.  I'm a sinner in need of your mercy and grace.  I'm so glad you are always ready to lift me up and carry me through.  Thank you for loving me just the way I am. 

            I give to you now the present moment.  This is where I am at this time in my life.  I give you my situation just as it is.  Lord I surrender to you my current path. I lift up my past and its regrets to you for healing, and pray for the grace to learn from it and begin again.  Help me to truly surrender everything about me to you.  Help me to be yours.  In thought, word and deed please help me to be more like you. 

            Please inspire me with a new dream, a new hope, a new idea.  Help me to forgive what needs forgiving.  Help me to love and forgive myself also.  Above all, please fill me with the knowledge that you are always with me.  Wherever I go, you are at home in my heart.  Help me to draw strength from your presence within and grant me the gift of faith at all times.  Please fill my heart with your love and there will be no more room for fear or doubt.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.


This prayer is from our book, "Strength For the Weary, Finding Grace in Times of Trial".  Available in the iBooks store and on New Way Today's Amazon page. 

May God Bless you, and everyone near and dear to you.