Prayer  of Praise and Confession:

(from Uniting in Worship 1 p67 to 69) 

We are the body of Christ.  Come, let us worship God, who has called us to be a holy People, and has established an everlasting Covenant with His Creation through Jesus Christ our Lord.

We come in spirit and in truth.

Let us offer our adoration to the God of love; who has created us, who continually preserves and sustains us, who has loved us with an everlasting love, and has given us the light of the knowledge of His glory in the face of Jesus Christ.

We praise you, O God, we acclaim your majesty as Creator of Heaven and Earth.

Let us mediate on the grace of Jesus, for though he was rich, yet for our sake he became poor, for though he was tempted in every way as we are, yet he did not sin.  He went about doing good and preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom of God.

We praise you, Jesus, we acclaim you as Lord of all.

Let us meditate on the gift of Jesus, for he became obedient to death, death on the cross; he was dead and is alive for evermore.  He opened the Kingdom of Heaven to all believers; and is seated at God’s right hand in glory.

We praise you, Jesus, we acclaim you as Saviour of all.

Let us rejoice in the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, the giver of life, whose witness confirms us, whose wisdom teaches us, whose power enables us.  By the Spirit we are born into the Family of God, and have a share in the fellowship we have with God and with each other.

We praise you, Holy Spirit, we acclaim your power and influence in each of us.

Yet, we humbly confess our sins, merciful God.  You have set forth the way of life for us in Jesus, but we confess with shame our slowness to learn from him, our failure to follow him, and our reluctance to take up our cross.

Have mercy on us, O God, and forgive us.

We confess the poverty of our worship, our neglect of the Christian Community, our hesitating witness for Christ, our evasion of responsibilities in your service, our imperfect stewardship of your gifts.

Have mercy on us, O God, and forgive us.

We confess that so little of your love has reached others through us, that we have cherished things which divide us from others, that we have made it hard for others to live with us, that we have been thoughtless in our judgements, hasty in our condemnation, and grudging in our forgiveness.

Have mercy on us, O God, and forgive us.

We bring these prayers before you, trusting in your goodness and faithfulness to listen to us and to forgive us.

Cleanse us of that which hinders our fellowship with you and our fellowship with others.  Renew us so that we give honour to you in our thoughts, our speech and our actions.  To your glory we pray.  Amen.

Assurance of Forgiveness

(Philippians 2: 8 & Galatians 4: 5) 

The Apostle Paul reminds us that Jesus humbled himself and walked the path of obedience all the way to death, his death on the cross, to redeem us so that we could all become children of God.

  Having confessed our sins before God and placed our trust in the love and grace of God, we have the assurance that God, in His mercy, has forgiven us and has cleansed us of all unrighteousness, and that He has accepted each of us as His own.

Thanks be to God.

Prayers for Others

Almighty God, we come to you in this brand new year with a desire to move forward, not backward.  Last year is gone and with it all the foolish mistakes we made.  We are eager to put the past behind and to press on toward the mark of knowing you, loving you, serving you, and making Your name known in this coming year.

At the start of each day, help us to recognize you above all else. Enlighten the eyes of our heart that we might see you, and notice how you’re at work through our lives.  Give us the wisdom to make the best choices, fill us with a desire to seek after you more than anything else in this world.  Let your Spirit and power breathe in us, through us, again, fresh and new.  Thank you that you are greater than anything we may face in our day.  Thank you that your presence goes with us and that your joy is never dependent on our circumstances, but it is our true and lasting strength, no matter what we’re up against.  We ask that your peace lead us, that it would guard our hearts and minds in you.  We ask for your grace to cover our lives this day and every day.

Almighty God, thank you that you make all things new.  Thank you for all that you’ve allowed into our lives this past year, the good along with the hard things, which have reminded us how much we need you and rely on your presence filling us every single day.

We pray for your Spirit to lead us each step of this New Year.  We ask that you will guide our decisions and turn our hearts to deeply desire you above all else.  We ask that you will open doors needing to be opened and close the ones needing to be shut tight.  We ask that you would help us release our grip on the things to which you’ve said “no,” “not yet,” or “wait.”  We ask for help to pursue you first, above every dream and desire you’ve put within our hearts.

We ask for your wisdom, for your strength and power to be constantly present within us.  We pray you would make us strong and courageous for the road ahead.  Give us ability beyond what we feel able, let your gifts flow freely through us, so that you would be honoured by our lives, and others would be drawn to you.  We pray that you would keep us far from the snares and traps of temptations, that you would whisper in our ear when we need to run and whisper in our heart when we need to stand our ground.

We pray for your protection over our families and friends.  We ask for your hand to cover us and keep us distanced from the evil intent of the enemy; that you would be a barrier to surround us, that we’d be safe in your hands.  We pray that you would give us discernment and insight beyond our years, to understand your will, hear your voice, and know your ways.

God of all times and seasons, on this threshold of a new year, we turn and return again to you.  The year spreads before us with possibilities and challenges, joys and concerns.  There is beauty all around: in the smiles of children, in the love offered between friends, in the beauty of the earth.  But there are also challenges already surfacing.  In the closing days of last year we have seen the images of war torn countries, terrorist attacks, hunger, poverty and despair, and the COVID pandemic continue.  

Your heart grieves when your children anywhere are hurting.  Then again, we know that even in the midst of winter there is hope for spring, and even in the midst of grief there are signs of hope: children embraced, lives touched by grace, heroes who surface in times of trial.  In the midst of the good and the bad, hear our prayer for this New Year.

May you help us to love a bit more deeply, see the beauty around us more clearly, listen more earnestly, speak more honestly.  May we be troubled by injustice and be moved to act.  May we be led by compassion and be moved to serve.  May we walk softly upon this Earth and be gentle towards your creation.  May we be a courageous and bold witness for you.  May we be a living example of your gracious love, not only in word but in deed.  And may we daily give thanks for the others in our lives and in the world that do the same and more, every day, in innumerable ways.  For the promise in this New Year, we give you thanks.  Help us to live it wisely and well.

Jesus, you are the light in our darkness.  You bring grace in our sinfulness, peace in our strife, joy in our sadness, hope in times of despair and courage in our weakness.  We thank you for Christmas.  Your coming showed us your tender loving care for us.  As we move into this new year, we acknowledged that ​we have fears, questions and uncertainties.  We acknowledge unfinished business in our lives, tasks we had hoped to complete that we have left undone, strained relationships that need healing, mistakes we have made this past year we do not want to repeat.  We need your strength to journey towards new ​beginnings. ​
Humble us afresh so that we may receive your forgiveness and welcome you afresh into our lives.

As we look back on this past year, we also thank you for all your blessings.  Just as you have always gone before us preparing the way, and stood beside us, guiding us, and urging us on, help us to trust you now.  In you we live and move and have our being, all our times are in your hands.  All our beginnings and ending are known to you.  Take our lives into your keeping that we may begin and continue this year in the hope, peace, joy and love that comes from you.  Loving God, we bring these prayers to you, trusting in your compassion and care.  To your glory we pray. 

Amen.