A #Prayer of Surrender for #2021

What a year #2020 has been!

As I leave #2020 behind, may I also discard:

Unhealthy Fear

Please take my fear of physical disease and the myriad of circumstances I cannot control

Grant me instead, a reverent fear of you alone

The one whose love cannot be hindered “Though the mountains be shaken and the hills removed. . . ” (Isaiah 54:10)

Crippling Despair

In your mercy, grant me the wisdom to “lift my eyes to the hills” (Psalm 21:1) instead of focusing on the upheaval, around me, ideological and political alike

For despite the many dismal images of hopelessness this year has produced

You continue to promise, “I know the plans I have for you declared the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope” (Jeremiah 29:1)

Worldly Enmity

Lord, please remind me that my enemies are not made of “flesh and blood”

Even as I am daily bombarded with contrasting points of view

May I resolve to “know nothing . . . except Jesus Christ and him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2)

For even when the world around me seems shaky, you have declared, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways . . . (my word) will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire . . . “ (Isaiah 55: 9,11)

Lord, grant me the wisdom to “throw off everything that hinders” and “run with perseverance the race” (Hebrews 12: 1) marked out for me as I hope in you alone, the Lord of 2020, 2021, and all eternity