Heavenly Father, We Welcome You Into the New Year (Part Two)
Heavenly Father, we welcome Your presence, power, and promise into our lives in the new year:
We Welcome Your Provision for Our Every Need
Father, You promised to meet all our needs. You said You “will” meet our needs, not You “might.” It’s a certainty. And You said You would meet “all” our needs, not just “some” of them. We realize You did not promise to meet our every “want” but our every “need.” And we have legitimate needs that need to be met in the coming year. So we bring them before You, believing You’re going to do what You said You would do. Thank You in advance for meeting all our needs according to Your riches in Jesus.
- “And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.” — Philippians 4:19, NIV
We Welcome Increase
We welcome Your increase—increase of our spiritual knowledge and experience of You, increase of Your anointing and power on our lives, increase of our influence and witness for You, increase of wisdom as we make decisions about our lives and families, health increase … financial increase … spiritual increase—increase in every area of our lives.
- “He made him ride on the high places of the earth, that he might eat the increase of the fields…” —Deuteronomy 32:13
- “Though your beginning was small, Yet your latter end would increase abundantly.” — Job 8:7, KJ21
- “The LORD shall increase you more and more, you and your children.” — Psalm 115:4, KJV
- “The meek also shall increase their joy in the LORD…” — Isaiah 29:19, KJV
- “You shall increase my greatness, And comfort me on every side.” — Psalm 71:21, NKJV
- “… and our land will yield its increase.” — Psalm 85:12, NKJV
- “But I will gather the remnant of My flock… and they shall be fruitful and increase.” — Jeremiah 23:3, NKJV
We Welcome Your Abundant Life
Father, we welcome Your abundant life. No matter what trial we are enduring, You have promised us abundant life and joy in You.
- “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” — John 10:10, ESV
We Forget What Lies Behind and Welcome What Lies Ahead
Father, we forget what lies behind and strain forward to what You have ahead for us. We forget our failures and those of others who have hurt us. You are doing a new thing this year. You are making a way where there is no way!
- “Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead.” — Philippians 3:13, ESV
- “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland” — Isaiah 43:18-19, NIV
We Welcome Your Light Shining Through Us
Shine through us this year, Father. May others see You in us and give You glory, credit, and worship!
- “In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” — Matthew 5:16, ESV
We Welcome Your Divine Power
Father, You have given us divine power for all things. Do more than we could imagine or request in our wildest dreams this year as we actively believe You and allow Your Spirit to work through us.
- “His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature….” — 2 Peter 1:3-4, ESV
- “Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us.” — Ephesians 3:20, ESV
- “God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us.” — Ephesians 3:20, MSG
We Welcome an Awareness of the Shortness of our Days
Father, show us how fleeting and short our lives are. May we live on earth as citizens of heaven, with our hearts set on things above. May we redeem the time and make every moment count for Your kingdom.
- “So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.” — Psalm 90:12, ESV
- “Show me, Lord, my life’s end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting my life is.” — Psalm 39:4, NIV
We Welcome a Taste of You
Father, give us a taste of You this year. Cause us to hunger and thirst for You, treasuring the words from Your mouth more than our necessary food.
- “Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!” — Psalm 34:8, ESV
- “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” — Matthew 5:6, NIV
- “I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my necessary food.” — Job 23:12
We Welcome Physical and Spiritual Renewal
Father, trials and battles of this past year left us weary and worn. We’re physically, mentally, and spiritually drained. But You promised to renew our spirits and refresh our bodies. We welcome Your promised renewal!
- “I’ll refresh tired bodies; I’ll restore tired souls.” — Jeremiah 31:25, MSG
- “For I will satisfy the weary soul, and every languishing soul I will replenish.” — Jeremiah 31:25, ESV
- “So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.” — 2 Corinthians 4:16
- “Restore us to yourself, O Lord, that we may be restored! Renew our days as of old.” — Lamentations 5:21, ESV
- “He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.” — Psalm 23:3, ESV
We Welcome Spiritual Awakening
Wake us from our spiritual slumber, Father. Time is short. Our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. The night is nearly over, the day has almost dawned. It’s high time that we wake up!
We repent of our spiritual complacency. Forgive us for our idolatry and unfaithfulness to You. Forgive us for being lukewarm and double-minded. Forgive us for our pride and selfish ambition. We’ve trusted in the arm of the flesh and mechanisms of man. As church leadership, we’ve trusted in the machinery and production of man rather than Your power and might. We’re as spiritually dead as can be—and content with it. Forgive us, Lord! We have a form of godliness but no power!
Forgive us for our prayerlessness, which has been a declaration of our independence from You. We’ve forsaken the prayer closet individually and corporately. We repent, turn back to You, and declare our utter helplessness apart from You.
Pour down upon us, Lord! Give us a spiritual awakening in our personal lives, in the church, and in the nation! We welcome Your presence and Your awakening!
- “You know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy.” — Romans 13:11-13, ESV
Questions: How are you welcoming God’s presence, power, and promise into your new year? Which of these promises and prayers most spoke to the cry of your heart?
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