Wesley New Year Prayer

Every Year John Wesley would hold a special covenant service at the start of a New Year.  It was a time of surrender and dedication to doing the will of God in the coming year.  It culminated with the following prayer, make it yours...

I am no longer my own, but yours.  Put me to what you will, place me with whom you will.   Put me to doing, put me to suffering.   Let me be put to work for you or set aside for you, praised for you or criticized for you.  Let me be full, let me be empty.  Let me have all things, let me have nothing.  I freely and fully surrender all things to your hope and service. And now, O glorious and blessed God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit You are mine, and I am yours. So be it.  And the covenant which I have made on earth, let it be ratified also in heaven. Amen.

New day

I love new years.  The passing of one season and the begging of another provides a moment in the madness to pause and reflect and re-position myself.  2011 was a massive year for me and my family as I transitioned back into work after 9 months off with depression.  It was a year in which God taught me so much about my weakness and his grace, about my calling and my need of his power.  If there is one resolution I have for 2012 it is that I would trust in and rely on the same Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead... He lives in me!