by George L. Perin
God of the years, our Heavenly Father,
whatever the message of the old year may have been,
whether of darkness or light, joy or sorrow,
we stand this morning waiting expectantly
and confidently for some message with glad tidings.
May we, therefore, enter upon the New Year
in the mood of hope and good cheer,
brushing from our faces every sign of care,
let us go forth into the New Year with the spirit of a child
who puts his hand into the hand of a Father
to be led into a field where the flowers blossom
and the birds sing.
Not for today only do we pray for sweetness and light,
but let us be glad and happy every day.
Thou art with us today,
Thou wilt be with us through all the journey of the year.
May our own daily gladness be born of the conviction that
Thou art always near.
Amen.
New Years Blessings
by Calvin S. Locke
Author and Giver of every good and perfect gift
whose infinite presence and power underlie all growth
and life and activity.
Who revealest Thyself in the varied forms of beauty
which come so rapidly in the revolving year,
in the green grass and blossoming roses and lilies
and refreshing, fast-succeeding fruits.
We thank Thee that Thou art now crowning the year
with Thy goodness and inviting us to gather in from
tree, garden, field, forest, mine, what will feed, clothe,
protect us during the wintry season given us,
free from arduous labors, to find enjoyment in
books, music and social gatherings.
These blessings remind us to present to Thee
the fruits of the spirit, love, joy, peace,
long suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
meekness, temperance.
Amen.
Poet: A. B. Simpson
Lord, I would ask for a holy year
Spent in thy perfect will
Help me to walk in Thy very steps
Help me to please Thee still.
Lord, I would ask for a busy year,
Filled up with service true;
Doing with all Thy Spirit's might;
All that I find to do.
Lord, I would ask for the dying world
Stretch forth Thy mighty hand
Scatter Thy Word - Thy power display
This year in every land.
Lord, I ask for a year of hope
Looking for thee to come
And hastening on that year of years
That brings us Christ and Home.
New Years Wish
by E. M. Warner
O God, our Heavenly Father, we thank Thee
that Thou dost overrule our weakness, failure and
sins to the accomplishment of Thy divine plan for us.
We recall with pleasure our successes in the past year,
and if we have failed, wilt Thou show us where and when
and teach us the way of amendment.
We thank Thee for our Hope and Faith which
have come to us from the Bible.
Here, on every page and in every biography,
have we learned of Christ Jesus, the Way, the Truth and the Life.
We thank Thee that through Him our sins are forgiven,
and we have learned to know Thee, O blessed Father,
which knowledge is eternal life.
May we walk with Him, moment by moment
in a life of loving service to all mankind,
during all the remaining days of our life.
Amen
New Year's Hymn
by George L. Perin
Our Heavenly Father,
it is good for us to start upon the year's journey
with hope and with noble resolution.
Let us not be dismayed by any consciousness of failure in the past.
This is a new year, and Thou art still with us.
Give us vision to see a better way;
give us strength to carry our resolutions into actions.
O, may life seem real, may work be to us a constant joy.
Renew our strength from day to day, quicken and deepen our faith,
enrich our lives that this may be to us the best of all the years.
In this mood of faith, we would lie down to rest on the evening of the first day.
May faith make our sleep sweet.
Amen.
Christian Poems For The New Year
by George L. Perin
Our Heavenly Father,
we thank Thee for the perennial allurements of hope.
When it is night we wait for the day,
when it is winter we wait for the spring,
when we have failed we try again,
when misfortunes assail us we refuse to accept them as final;
we rest in no achievement and are dismayed by no disaster,
but ever and ever we say "It is better farther on."
Oh, keep alive this alluring dream,
let us triumph through our faith.
So may each day be a better day,
each year a better year,
and while the days and years recede,
may life grow rich and fruitful.
Amen.
Prayer Quotes
by Carl F. Henry
Our Heavenly Father, we would close the day
with Thee who dost guard and guide us all the way.
We thank Thee for that wise goodness that has attended
us all the years and which, we are certain,
will go with us into this new year that waits veiled before.
We know not what the future holds, but we face it confidently
because it is Thine and we also are Thine.
Give to us, we pray, the courage and cheer of perfect faith,
and teach us all, O God, in this new year to do and
love Thy holy will that we may have the freedom of truth,
the peace of obedience, and the joy of loving Thee.
Protect us through the night, O Lord,
and may the morning find us ready for our work and Thine.
Amen.
by George L. Perin
Our Heavenly Father, we stand upon the utmost verge of the old year.
Forgetting the things that are behind,
we stand with our faces looking earnestly into the future.
We do not despise the past,
we do not forget its manifold blessings.
We do not forget that Thou hast been with us in the old year;
for all this we would be grateful.
With clear vision and earnestness of purpose,
we would stand looking into the future expectantly,
ready for its duties and its responsibilities;
yet not ostentatiously nor with over-confidence,
for we know our own infirmities, our own weaknesses.
We would enter upon the New Year with confidence,
not because of our own strength,
but because of Thy living presence.
Thou art always with us.
Thou art pouring out Thy spirit upon us.
O Lord, let us believe in Thee, and believing,
let us have a heart for any fate.
Amen.
Prayer For Strength
by Hannah More
Blessed be God, who has brought me safe to the beginning of another year!
My God, make me truly sensible of this mercy, and give me grace to consider often how short and how uncertain ray time is; that there is one year more of a short life passed over my head; and that I am so much nearer eternity: - that I may in good earnest think of another life, and be so prepared for it, as that death may not overtake me unawares.
Lord, pardon all my misspent time, and make me more diligent and careful to redeem it for the time to come, that when I come to the end of my life, I may look back with comfort on the days that are past.
Grant that I may begin this new year with new resolutions of serving thee more faithfully - and if through infidelity on negligence, I forget these good purposes, the good Lord awaken in me a sense of my danger.
My heart is in thy hands, O God, as well as my time; O make me wise onto salvation; that I may consider in this my day the things that belong unto my peace; and that I may pass this, and all the years I have yet to live, in the comfortable hope of a blessed eternity, for the Lord Jesus' sake.
Amen.
Religious New Years Poems
by Catherine Pulsifer
Father, we thank you
For the dawn of the New Year.
We thank you for our family and friends
Who to us are dear.
During the coming year,
Father, help us shine your light.
Let us show kindness and love
Each day, day and night.
