My New Year's Prayer

I wanted to kick off 2013 with a rant based on an encounter I had with my local police yesterday, but instead, I'll post on that next time.

Today is January 1, and it's halfway over. In fact, you may not even see this post until January 2 or 3, but that's ok, because it will still be fresh and relevant.

I was reading the Psalms this morning and as usual, I was praying certain portions of scripture back to the Lord. That inspired me to want to launch the New Year on a positive note with a prayer for this year of 2013. So here is my prayer (cobbled together from Psalms 24-26):

Lord, I start off this new year by declaring that it is in You that I trust. Even as I say that, I know that all too often, I don't really trust you or lean on You. Help me to trust in You this year. Make me to know your ways, O Lord. Teach me your paths. Lead me in your truth and teach me. Help me to walk in faithfulness to You, O Lord.

Test my heart and mind and show me what I am made of. Help me to walk in integrity and uprightness this year. Lord, decimate all the religiosity and hypocrisy from my life so that I can truly be a man of integrity. Fill my heart and mind with your words of truth and cause me to be a doer of your word and not just a "hearer." Help me to put Your words into practice daily.

O Lord, You are the King of Glory. You are the Lord who is strong and mighty, mighty in battle.

Show yourself strong to those who are weak and needy, to the lonely and fainthearted, to those who have been persecuted, to those who are in pain and need your healing touch. Lord, show yourself to be their Healer, their Savior, their Deliverer, a Strong Tower to run to in times of trouble and despair.

Lord, as the Word declares, "The earth is the Yours and the fullness thereof." It all belongs to you.
Lord, raise up a generation that will seek your face, a generation that will worship You and want to be in your presence. Raise up a generation that will give you the glory and honor that You so rightly deserve. Lord, I want to be part of that generation.

Lord, I get so caught up with material things, wanting this new toy and that new thing, but Lord, work in my life so that I am satisfied with You. That You would be my daily portion. That You alone would be the One I seek to satisfy and give my life worth, value, purpose and enjoyment!
You are El-Shaddai, the God of more than enough. Lord, I want to daily know you as the God who is more than enough to meet my every need, to help me face the challenges of 2013. Lord, You alone are able to save me and keep me.

Finally Lord, as I learn to wait on You this year, I pray that you would redeem Israel out of all her troubles. Deliver Israel from all her enemies, those who surround her and are bent on her destruction. Lord, I pray that you would turn the hearts of the Jewish people back to You, that they would trust in You as their Shield and Defender, and their God and Savior.