By the river

By the River - A Prayer for the New Year

Plant me like a tree by the River. May the life I live in the day to day - the morning tea and the evening hush, the daily grind and the hourly strain, the day’s lists and the evening sighs - all of it, may I be planted, entwined, and knotted up in the soils of You (Psalm 1:3-6).

Plant me by the River where wisdom is plentiful. Like fruit plucked, or treasure found in a field, or an adorning necklace. May You be the Way I walk and the One I know (John 14:6). 

You promise my paths to be pleasant. Peaceful. May this new year be soaked in the light of Your presence even in the most dusty moments. Even as resolutions fail, You do not (Proverbs 3:17, Psalm 103:14).

For You are the Light we need. You are the Path we walk. You are the River we are beside. You are the Vine that nourishes. You are the Direction we need (John 15). 

We humbly come full of weakness and failure, full of fears and waning hope, and place it all in Your hands. Place us, plant us here, near the River. We are weak, but You are strong. We carry far more than we can lift. Little lives blooming and troubles looming. 

We’re mothers and we know we don’t have enough. But You do. And Your path is peace, even in our storm. You are gentle as we lead our littles (Isaiah 40:11).

May this year’s storm bend us but not break us. Be our Peace. Be our River. Strengthen us as we reach down into You (Ephesians 3:17-19).

Amen.