Prayer points with Scriptures · 23 points
New Year Prayer Points for 2027
These New Year prayer points for 2027 are for a church’s watch-night or crossover service on New Year’s Eve, for a family praying at home on January 1, and for anyone beginning the year with prayer and fasting. They move from thanksgiving for 2026, through repentance and surrender, to petitions for the new year, fasting, the church and the nation, and crossing into 2027 with hope.
Because of the loving devotion of the LORD we are not consumed, for His mercies never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness!
Lamentations 3:22-23 (BSB)
At a crossover service, give each section to a different leader and time the last section to finish at midnight. At home, pray the first and third sections around the table and let everyone add a sentence. During a January fast, pray one section a day. Read the verse aloud before each prayer. Verses are from the Berean Standard Bible.
Thanksgiving for 2026
1God crowned the year
God of all goodness, You crown the year with Your bounty. Before 2026 closes, we thank You for every meal, paycheck, friendship and answered prayer. You were good to us in more ways than we noticed.
You crown the year with Your bounty, and Your paths overflow with plenty.
Psalm 65:11 (BSB)2Thus far the Lord has helped us
Lord, like Samuel we set up our stone of remembrance tonight and say that thus far You have helped us. Thank You for carrying us through every week of this year, and the hardest ones most of all.
Afterward, Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer, saying, “Thus far the LORD has helped us.”
1 Samuel 7:12 (BSB)3The great things He has done
Lord, You have done great things for us, and we are filled with joy. Bring to mind the healings, provisions, protection and quiet mercies of this past year, and let us name them out loud with gratitude.
The LORD has done great things for us; we are filled with joy.
Psalm 126:3 (BSB)4Thanks in every circumstance
Father, You call us to give thanks in every circumstance. For the losses and disappointments of this year, too, we thank You that You were present, and we trust that nothing we gave You was wasted.
Give thanks in every circumstance, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
1 Thessalonians 5:18 (BSB)5Those we lost this year
Lord Jesus, we remember those we lost this year. We grieve, but not like those who have no hope, because You died and rose again. Comfort every empty chair at our tables, and keep our hope fixed on You.
Brothers, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you will not grieve like the rest, who are without hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, we also believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in Him.
1 Thessalonians 4:13-14 (BSB)
Repentance and surrender
6Forgiven and cleansed
Father, we confess our sins from this past year, the ones others saw and the ones only You saw. You are faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us. We receive Your forgiveness and begin again.
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
1 John 1:9 (BSB)7Leaving the past behind
Lord Jesus, help us forget what is behind, both our failures and our successes, and strain toward what is ahead. Let us press on toward the goal of knowing You and finishing well.
Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize of God’s heavenly calling in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 3:13-14 (BSB)8Our plans in God’s hands
Lord, we have plans for 2027, but we do not know what tomorrow will bring; our lives are a mist. Teach us to hold every plan loosely and to say from the heart, if You are willing, we will do this or that.
Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business, and make a profit.” You do not even know what will happen tomorrow! What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, “If the Lord is willing, we will live and do this or that.”
James 4:13-15 (BSB)9Living sacrifices for the new year
God of mercy, we offer You our bodies, our time and our plans as living sacrifices for this new year. Keep us from being conformed to this world, and renew our minds so that we may know and do Your will.
Therefore I urge you, brothers, on account of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.
Romans 12:1-2 (BSB)
Petitions for 2027
10Wisdom to number our days
Lord, teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. Help us spend the days of 2027 on what matters most: You, the people You have given us, and the work You have called us to.
So teach us to number our days, that we may present a heart of wisdom.
Psalm 90:12 (BSB)11Guidance for the road ahead
Heavenly Father, You instruct Your people and teach them the way they should go, and You watch over them. As we face decisions about work, family, health and money this year, guide us and give us ears to hear Your counsel.
I will instruct you and teach you the way you should go; I will give you counsel and watch over you.
Psalm 32:8 (BSB)12A hunger for God’s Word
Holy Spirit, make God’s word a lamp to our feet and a light to our path in 2027. Give us a fresh hunger for Scripture, and help us keep our daily time with You long after January ends.
Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.
Psalm 119:105 (BSB)13Work, provision and health
Father, we commit our way to You for 2027: our jobs and studies, our finances, our health and our homes. We trust You to provide what we need and to lead us where You want us to go.
Commit your way to the LORD; trust in Him, and He will do it.
Psalm 37:5 (BSB)14God’s blessing on our families
Lord, bless us and keep us; make Your face shine upon us and be gracious to us; lift up Your countenance toward us and give us peace. We ask this blessing for every family here in the year ahead.
‘May the LORD bless you and keep you; may the LORD cause His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; may the LORD lift up His countenance toward you and give you peace.’
Numbers 6:24-26 (BSB)
Fasting and seeking God
15Returning with all our hearts
Gracious God, You call Your people to return to You with all their hearts, with fasting, weeping and mourning. As we fast this January, tear open our hearts, not just our routines, for You are compassionate and slow to anger.
“Yet even now,” declares the LORD, “return to Me with all your heart, with fasting, weeping, and mourning.” So rend your hearts and not your garments, and return to the LORD your God. For He is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion. And He relents from sending disaster.
Joel 2:12-13 (BSB)16Fasting before the Father who sees
Father, as some of us fast in these first days of the year, keep us from fasting to be seen. Let our hunger turn us to prayer, and meet us in secret, where You see what is done.
When you fast, do not be somber like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they already have their full reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that your fasting will not be obvious to men, but only to your Father, who is unseen. And your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
Matthew 6:16-18 (BSB)17Humbling ourselves for the journey
God, like Ezra at the Ahava Canal, we humble ourselves before You and ask for a safe journey for ourselves and our children. Go before us into this year, and guard everything You have entrusted to us.
And there by the Ahava Canal I proclaimed a fast, so that we might humble ourselves before our God and ask Him for a safe journey for us and our children, with all our possessions.
Ezra 8:21 (BSB)
Our church, our nation and the world
18Our church in 2027
Lord Jesus, make our church devoted to the apostles’ teaching, to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer this year. Draw new people to faith in Jesus, heal what is broken among us, and keep us faithful.
They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.
Acts 2:42 (BSB)19Leaders of our nation
Father, as this year begins we pray for the President, governors, mayors and all in authority, of every party. Give them wisdom and integrity, and grant us tranquil and quiet lives in all godliness and dignity.
First of all, then, I urge that petitions, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgiving be offered for everyone— for kings and all those in authority—so that we may lead tranquil and quiet lives in all godliness and dignity.
1 Timothy 2:1-2 (BSB)20The gospel among the nations
God, let Your glory be declared among the nations and Your wonders among all peoples in 2027. Protect the persecuted church, bless those who serve as missionaries, and send the gospel where Jesus is not yet known.
Declare His glory among the nations, His wonders among all peoples.
Psalm 96:3 (BSB)
Crossing into the new year
21The same Jesus in 2027
Lord Jesus, You are the same yesterday and today and forever. Everything about 2027 is unknown to us, but You are not. We step into this new year holding on to You.
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
Hebrews 13:8 (BSB)22Not afraid of what lies ahead
Lord, as You went before Joshua and Israel, go before us into this year and be with us. Thank You that You will never leave us or forsake us. Take away our fear and discouragement, and give us courage to follow You.
The LORD Himself goes before you; He will be with you. He will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid or discouraged.”
Deuteronomy 31:8 (BSB)23Goodness and mercy all year long
Good Shepherd, let Your goodness and mercy follow us all the days of this new year, and every year after it, until we dwell in Your house forever.
Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.
Psalm 23:6 (BSB)
A closing prayer
Faithful God, Your mercies are new every morning, and great is Your faithfulness. Thank You for carrying us through 2026. Forgive what we got wrong, and take our plans for 2027 into Your hands. Go before us, guide our steps, bless our homes and our church, and keep our eyes on Jesus, who is the same yesterday, today and forever. We give You this new year. In His name we pray. Amen.
Pray with a voice
Short prayers with a voice to pray along with, each drawn from one passage.
Questions
What is a watch-night or crossover service?
It is a church service on New Year’s Eve that runs past midnight, so the congregation crosses into the new year in prayer and worship. John Wesley’s early Methodists held watch-night services in the 1700s. In African American churches, Watch Night also recalls December 31, 1862, when believers gathered to wait for the Emancipation Proclamation to take effect at midnight. Many churches call it a crossover service.
How long should a New Year fast be?
Scripture does not set a length. Esther called for three days without food or drink (Esther 4:16), Daniel ate no rich food, meat or wine for three weeks (Daniel 10:2-3), and Jesus fasted forty days (Matthew 4:2). Many churches hold a 21-day fast in January, often a partial fast. If you are pregnant, diabetic, on medication or have a history of eating disorders, talk to your doctor first.
How can a family pray together on New Year’s Day?
Keep it simple. Around the table, let each person share one thing God did in 2026 and one hope for 2027, then pray the thanksgiving section together and ask the blessing of Numbers 6:24-26 for each other. Some families write their prayers down and read them again next New Year’s Eve to see how God answered.
More prayer points
Every verse on this page is quoted word for word from the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), which its publishers dedicated to the public domain. Copy, print and share these prayer points freely with your church.