Holy God of yesterday, today, and tomorrow,

we arrive at the edge of this year carrying more than we expected.

Some of what we carry is joy: surprises we did not plan and moments of grace we did not and could never create.

Some of what we carry is grief: names we speak more quietly now; dreams deferred; wounds that did not heal on our timeline.

We bring it all to You, trusting that nothing in our hands is too heavy for Your mercy.

As this year closes, we confess we have grown tired in a world that never seems to rest.

We have been tempted to numb ourselves to suffering that feels endless, to shrink our compassion in order to survive, to settle for outrage instead of action.

Forgive us for the ways we have learned to look away when love required us to look closer.

Yet, even now, O God, You are still at work.

You have not abandoned this world to violence, nor surrendered it to despair.

You are still planting seeds of justice in places we were told nothing good could grow.

You are still calling ordinary people to live brave, inconvenient, nonviolent lives.

So, as we step into a new year, we do not pray for mere optimism.

We pray for resilient hope.

The kind of hope that tells the truth about what is broken and still believes repair is possible.

The kind of hope that refuses to dehumanize our neighbors, even when fear tells us to do so.

The kind of hope that keeps showing up, to love, to serve, to resist, to heal.

Teach us to measure this coming year not by what we accumulate, but by who we protect.

Not by how safe we feel, but by how faithfully we love.

Not by how loudly we speak, but by how courageously we act.

When the road ahead feels uncertain, remind us that You go before us.

When we feel small, remind us that a bite of bread and a tiny sip of wine is still enough.

When we stumble, remind us that grace does not run out at midnight.

Receive this year that is ending. Bless this year that is beginning. And shape us into a people who do not merely watch the world change, but who, by Your Spirit, help bend it toward justice, mercy, and peace.

We pray in hope,
we pray in resolve,
we pray in the name of Jesus,
who makes all things new.

Amen.