The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness (Matthew 6:22-23)!
Our Father and our God, in this new year, and on this new day, we enter into Your courts with worship, and into Your gates with praise. To You be all glory, and honor and majesty. Thank You for bringing us through one more year, and into another. Thank You for the light of Your guiding presence going ever before us.
Help us to see You. Keep us from stumbling in the dark. We pray like the psalmist, "Send out Your light and Your truth; let them guide me. Let them lead me to Your holy mountain, to the place where You live" (Psalm 43:3 NLT).
Heal our eyes, Lord, and make them healthy. Release us from darkness. Fill us with healthy light. Teach us to walk in the light of integrity so that we honor You. Teach us to walk in the light of wisdom so that we are delivered from the pitfalls around us. Shield us against falsehood, manipulation, and other hidden dangers. Protect us from the lies, fraud, and human intrigues that threaten our business, financial, social, and personal interactions.
Lord, so much around us clamors for our attention—seeking to draw us in, beckoning us to follow. We encounter blurred lines, unbalanced ideas, and muddled thinking at every level of our interactions—in our jobs, in our studies, in our entertainment, in our recreation, and in our churches. In the midst of cunning deceptions and subtle deceits we are lost without You.
Give us perspective, clarity, and discernment to follow the right path. Keep us from confusion. Teach us wisdom in the secret place (Psalm 51:6). Teach us how to value what is worthwhile, and lasting, and genuine, so that we do not try to gain the whole world, yet forfeit [our] soul (Matthew 16:26). Keep us from the dazzle of shallow pursuits and counterfeit treasures.
In this new year, give us new vison so we can follow You where You lead. Thank You that You go ahead of us. Thank You that Your presence makes all the difference in the dark of the unknown.
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