5 Minute Faith-filled Devotions and a Prayer for Hope in the New Year
Happy New Year!
I think many of us were thankful to turn the calendar page and start the new year.
Each January 1st, we dream of new opportunities, fresh starts, and endless possibilities.
Have you made your list of goals and resolutions for the year?
Last year, I made it a goal to write a devotion and prayer for every chapter of the New Testament and I loved it! It was a wonderful blessing to be able to dig more deeply into the truths of God’s Word and share with you some of the things the Lord was teaching me.
And you blessed me so much with your encouragement! Thank you!
The Lord gave me so much joy as I wrote and interacted with all of you last year that I want to do something similar this year.
5 Minute Faith-filled Devotions and Prayers
I’ll start the year with some of my favorite verses but I really want to focus on your favorite verses and the verses that make you pause with questions.
I want to talk about what you want to talk about.
So, I need your help. I need you to share your favorite verses or the ones you’d just like to talk about.
I want us all to dig deeper and grow together.
Today, I want to start with a couple of verses written by Jeremiah.
The faithful love of the Lord never ends!
Lamentations 3:22–23
His mercies never cease.
Great is his faithfulness;
his mercies begin afresh each morning.
I’ll bet you didn’t expect to start with verses from Lamentations!
Jeremiah wrote these words after Jerusalem was destroyed by Babylon. He had seen people tortured, killed, and taken captive.
In chapter 2, he wrote…
I have cried until the tears no longer come; my heart is broken.
Lamentation 2:11a
As we look back at the last couple of years, there have been plenty of reasons to feel sad and anxious. But like Jeremiah, we are not without hope.
God is great! His love and mercy never end . . . they are greater than the past however it looks.
Jeremiah continued…
“The Lord is my inheritance;
Lamentations 3:24
therefore, I will hope in him!”
When we have His grace, mercy, and love through Jesus . . . we have hope!
A Prayer for Hope in 2022
Lord, thank you for the fresh start of a new year. Thank you for Your loving mercy . . . for forgiveness and clean slates. Thank you for hearing my humble repentance and for removing my sins as far as the east is from the west. (Psalm 103:12)
Your Word says that repentance is not only being sorry for my sins but it’s turning to You. Repentance is admitting that Your commands are right and good. Repentance is surrendering my stubborn will to Your perfect will. Repentance is faith in You, my Lord and Savior. (Acts 20:21)
I come to You and give you every moment of this year. I surrender my thoughts, my words, and my actions to You. Please, by the power of Your Spirit, guard my eyes and ears . . . help we choose what I watch and hear carefully. Guide me and help me wisely choose what I say and do.
By Your grace, fill me with hope. Give me eyes to see what You are doing in the world around me. Give me ears to hear Your truth and know Your heart. Give me all I need to say and do things that will build up those around me. Give us Jesus!
Lord Jesus, You are the Way of Salvation, the Truth that sets us free, and the Life that lasts forever. You are the hope that never fails. And it is in Your name, I pray. Amen.
Jesus is our hope . . . today, tomorrow, and always.
I’m praying for you and asking the Lord to give you peace and fill you with hope throughtout the year ahead!
May the Lord bless you and keep you safe today and always.
Please let us know how we can pray for you in the comments below or on the Blessing Counters Prayer Page. And don’t forget to share the verses you’d like us to talk and pray about.
I’d also like to invite you to check out the 5 Minute New Testament Devotions Page – where you can read, study, and pray through the New Testament again this year. Take a peek and please tell your friends!
Some of my favorite verses:
John 3:30
Philippians 4:4-8
Colossians 1:16
Deuteronomy 30:16
Thank you.
Thank you much, Meme! I’ve added them to my list! Praying that you have a wonderful day! God be with you!
One of my favorite verses is Isaiah 40:28-31 Have you not known? Have you not heard, that the Everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, does not faint, nor is He weary? His understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youth grow tired and weary and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. Isaiah 40: 28-31.
Another one that I refer to a lot is Isaiah 61: 1-3 – The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has appointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion – to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor.
What wonderful verses . . . they are perfect words of encouragement and hope. Thank you so very much for adding them. God bless you!
2 Corinthians 10: 3-4
Ephesians 6: 12 – 16
Colossians 3: 12
Psalm 46: 1
Ephesians 1: 4-5
Colossians 1: 3-4
Thank you, Marilyn. I’ve made a list of all your verses. I so appreciate your help. God be with you and bless you!
This is Danny. Martha is in the hospital with pneumonia. I have no idea how she caught anything, but somehow she did. It started Christmas, but by yesterday her 02 levels really dropped so I called 911 and then took her to the ER. She asked me to let you know and asked for prayers from you and her blogging community.
Danny
Oh, Danny, I’m so very sorry to hear that. Tell her that we miss her and we’re praying for her to get better quickly. Thank you so much for letting us know. God bless you both.
Dear Deb,
Your devotionals are a HUGE blessing to my life! Truly, God has given you a skill to write. Your love for the Lord and your style of communication brings a newness/freshness to His eternal Truths. Thank you.
Request: When I hit the print lay out button, your current format often divides the prayer onto 2 different “printable pages” mixed with illustrations. Your illustrations are lovely, but I don’t really want to print those, as they take up paper & ink. I’m one who benefits from seeing it in print, rather than just online. Please consider arranging your illustrations in a way that is helpful for printing just the text. Thanks!!
Hi Carey, thank you so much for your kind encouragement and your input. I’m trying to learn how to make a post printable without the graphics. In the meantime, I found a site where you can add the url to the post and it enables you to delete any graphics or sections you’d like and print the rest. It seemed to work pretty easily. I’m bookmarking the site. It’s https://www.printfriendly.com/
I hope that helps. Thanks again and God bless!
I love Phillipians 4 ( anxiety and worry problem area of for me)
Psalm 91 , Psalm 23
I love Psalm 62:5 and
Psalm 37: 7 Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; do ont fret when people succeed in their ways, when they carry ot their wicked schemes.
psalm 31:13
O Lord, since your are my rock and my fortress, for the sake of your name, lead me and guide me!
Jeremiah 33:3
Call to me and I will answer you and show you GREAT and unsearchable things that you do not know!
Col 3:15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. (This is a problem area for me and why i need and love this verse so much…)
Thank you, Jamie! Anxiety and worry have been a challenge for me as well. I sure do appreciate your list of verses. God bless you!
My favorite verse that I say each morning: “This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it.”
Psalm 118-24
Thank you, Rosemary! What a wonderful way to start the day. Talk about beginning with your heart in the right place. I love it! Thank you and God bless you!
Hi Deb,
This was a great exercise as I never realized how many passages the Lord spoke to me through my journey….
One of my favorite is Jeremiah 24:6-7 – 6 For I will set My eyes on them for good, and I will bring them back to this land; I will build them and not pull them down, and I will plant them and not pluck them up. 7 Then I will give them a heart to know Me, that I am the Lord; and they shall be My people, and I will be their God, for they shall return to Me with their whole heart.
Another one also from Jeremiah 31 “3 The Lord hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with loving kindness have I drawn thee. 4 Again I will build thee, and thou shalt be built, O virgin of Israel: thou shalt again be adorned with thy tabrets, and shalt go forth in the dances of them that make merry.”.
Micah 7 18-19 “18 Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy. 19 He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.”
Ezekiel 36:25-27
Isaiah 65:1-2
Isaiah 64:4-8
Isaiah 41:13-14 especially dear to my heart and have been solace for me during dark times: “13 For I the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee. 14 Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and ye men of Israel; I will help thee, saith the Lord, and thy redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.”
Have a blessed New Year in your life and in the work of spreading the Good News ????????
Thank you so much, Gaby! I love that verse from Micah! He is so good! I sure do appreciate your input. God bless you, my friend!
Thankyou Deb, for this great assignment to share what verse from God’s Holy Word is a personal favorite. ❤
Very hard to pick a few. His Word is richness all day long, every single day.
I love Habakkuk 3:17-18
Though the fig tree should not blossom,
nor fruit be on the vines,
the produce of the olive fail
and the fields yield no food,
the flock be cut off from the fold
and there be no herd in the stalls,
yet I will rejoice in the LORD;
I will take joy in the God of my salvation.
And
Daniel 3:16-18 the fiery furnace
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king,
“O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter.
If this be so,
our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace,
and He will deliver us out of your hand, O king.
But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”
Psalms
Colossians 3
The blessings in
Jude 1;24-25
Ephesians 3:20-21
And always, everyday, all day long:
All Honor
All Praise
All Glory
To our Only
Living Hope,
the LORD GOD ALMIGHTY.
????????
Thankyou.
Thank you, Laurie! What wonderful verses! I sure do appreciate your sharing some of your favorites. God be with you and bless you!
My favorite scripture
I can do all things though Christ who strengthens me Roman’s 8:28
Behold I give you power to tread upon serpents and scorpions and all power of the enemy and nothing shall by any means harm you. Lk 10:19
Thank you, Martha! Romans 8:28 is one of my favorites too. Thank you so much for joining the conversation. God bless you!
Jeremiah 29:11 is one of my favorites.