A New Year's Blessing

by Andrew Cromwell

The New Year is here. Today alternately marks the end of the holiday season and the beginning of a new calendar. Today we turn from reflecting on the past year and we look forward to what the new year brings. Traditionally, this is the day that our new year’s resolutions begin too—to lose that extra poundage we gained during the Christmas season, to make those phone calls and stay connected better, to get out of debt and to spend more time with family.

This year, rather then give you another strategy on how to keep your resolutions; I decided to simply write a blessing for you and yours for the new year. Scripture says that giving a blessing to others is part of what we are supposed to do as followers of Christ (1 Peter 3:9). Speaking a blessing over others is powerful because you are bringing your words into agreement with the One who is the Father of all blessing and life.

So here goes:

In this new year, may the Spirit of the Living God sustain and strengthen you. May His wisdom guide you with clarity in moments of confusion. May His hope encourage you in moments of despair. May His power gird you up when you are weak. May His light shine in every dark place and bring life to that which has long been dead.

I pray that the eyes of your heart, your spiritual eyes, would be opened to see His goodness and that as you reach out to Him, you would find Him. May the riches of His glory fill your heart and home. May you find His favor extended to you daily as you encounter the challenges of life.

May your children be blessed. I pray that they would excel among their peers and have favor with their teachers and administrators. I declare a new sensitivity in their hearts and minds to the words and ways of the Living God. I speak protection over them wherever they are—on the playground, in the classroom, on the school bus and at home.

I pray that you would have a new resolve to do that which is right and good; that your speech to others would be seasoned with grace and love; that your actions would flow from an open and giving heart; and that your steps would be ordered by the Lord.

May this year be a year of great blessing and great increase. I pray that in Him you would find the resource for all that is lacking and that it would not only fill you but that it would also supply the needs of those around you to the glory of our God and Father. Amen.

The pastors of Kings County would love to have the opportunity to teach you how to walk continually in the blessing of God. One of the greatest blessings you can give to your family this year is to start them off right and help them get under the umbrella of God’s blessing.