New Year prayer for family: a blessing, a family prayer time, and a plan for 2027
A New Year prayer for your family does two things: it thanks God for carrying you through the year that's ending, and it asks him to lead each of you through the one that's starting. Here is one to pray together tonight, then a 15-minute family prayer time for New Year's Eve or New Year's Day (with parts for kids), prayers for each person in the house, a blessing to speak over your children, and a simple way to keep praying for your family all through 2027.
A New Year prayer for family to pray together
Lord God, thank you for this past year.
Thank you for every meal on our table, every morning we woke up, and every time you kept us safe.
Thank you for each other.
Forgive us for the times we were impatient, unkind or too busy for you and for one another.
As this new year begins, we give it to you.
Lead us in every decision. Guard our home, our health and our hearts.
Help us to love each other well, to forgive quickly and to laugh often.
Make our family a place where people feel welcome and where you are honored.
Whatever this year brings, help us to trust you together.
"As for me and my house, we will serve Yahweh" (Joshua 24:15, WEB).
In Jesus' name, amen.
It takes about a minute to read aloud. If you have children who can read, give each one a line.
Why pray as a family at the new year?
The turn of the year is one of the few nights most families are home together, awake and thinking about time. That makes it a natural moment to stop and say, as a family, who you belong to.
The Bible gives God's people many moments of looking back before going forward. Joshua had Israel pile up twelve stones from the Jordan so their children would ask what they meant (Joshua 4:6-7). Samuel set up a stone and called it Ebenezer, saying "Yahweh helped us until now" (1 Samuel 7:12, WEB). A New Year prayer is your family's stone: a memory of what God did, and a choice about the year ahead.
"So teach us to count our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom" (Psalm 90:12, WEB) is a good verse to read at midnight, or at breakfast on January 1.
A 15-minute family prayer time for New Year's Eve or Day
New Year's Eve 2026 falls on a Thursday; January 1, 2027 is a Friday. If midnight is too late for small children, do this at dinner on the 31st or at breakfast on the 1st. Light a candle in the middle of the table if you like.
- Look back (4 minutes). Each person answers: "What was the best thing that happened to you this year?" and "When did God help us?" Write the answers on one sheet of paper.
- Read (1 minute). Read Lamentations 3:22-23 aloud: "It is because of Yahweh's loving kindnesses that we are not consumed, because his mercies don't fail. They are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness" (WEB).
- Say sorry (2 minutes). A parent prays a short prayer of confession for the family: "Lord, forgive us for the ways we hurt each other this year." Leave a quiet moment for each person to tell God their own.
- Thank God (3 minutes). Go round the table. Each person thanks God for one thing from the sheet. Small children can say "Thank you, God, for ______."
- Ask for the new year (3 minutes). Each person names one thing they want God's help with in 2027. The person on their left prays for it in one sentence.
- Bless (2 minutes). Parents put a hand on each child's head or shoulder and say the blessing below. Children can bless their parents back.
Keep the sheet of paper. Next New Year's Eve, read it again before you start. Over a few years it becomes your family's record of God's faithfulness.
A New Year blessing to speak over your children
The oldest blessing in the Bible is the one God gave Aaron to speak over Israel:
"Yahweh bless you, and keep you. Yahweh make his face to shine on you, and be gracious to you. Yahweh lift up his face toward you, and give you peace." (Numbers 6:24-26, WEB)
Say it with each child's name: "Emma, the Lord bless you and keep you…" Then add one sentence of your own for the year ahead: "May you make a good friend at your new school," or "May you know God is with you when you're scared."
Many families who start this at New Year carry it on at bedtime. Our guide to evening prayer for family has more bedtime blessings and a 10-minute family prayer time for ordinary nights.
New Year prayers for each person in your family
For your marriage
Lord, thank you for our marriage, and for the ways we carried each other this year. Forgive us for the words we shouldn't have said and the time we didn't make for each other. In this new year, make us kind, patient and on the same side. Help us to pray together. Keep our marriage close to you. Amen.
For your children
Father, I give my children to you for this new year. Protect their bodies and their minds. Give them good friends and wise teachers. Help them to know you for themselves, not only because we told them. When they fail, catch them. When they're afraid, be near them. Help me to be a patient parent. Amen.
For teenagers and grown children
Lord, my child is growing up and away, as you made them to. Go where I can't go. Guide their choices this year: friends, school, work, love. Bring them home to you if they've wandered. Help me to know when to speak and when to just pray. Amen.
For parents and grandparents
God, thank you for my parents and grandparents. Give them health and strength this year, and peace in the years they have. Where there's distance or hurt between us, bring us closer. Help me to honor them. Amen.
For family members who don't know God
Lord, you love ______ more than I do. Open their heart to you this year. Put good people in their path. Help me to love them without pushing, and to be ready to answer gently when they ask (1 Peter 3:15). Amen.
For a family member who is sick
Lord, we bring ______ to you at the start of this year. You know their body and what it needs. Give their doctors wisdom, give them strength for each treatment, and give all of us patience and hope. Heal them, Lord, and hold them close whatever comes. Amen.
For more on this one, see how to pray for someone who is sick.
A New Year prayer kids can say
For children from about four to ten. Let them say it after you, line by line:
Dear God, thank you for last year.
Thank you for my family and my friends.
I'm sorry for the times I wasn't kind.
Please be with us this new year.
Keep us safe and help us love each other.
Help me to learn and grow and know you more.
Amen.
Older kids like to write their own. Give them three prompts: "This year, thank you for… I'm sorry for… In the new year, please help me with…" Some families put the kids' prayers in an envelope and open it next New Year's Eve.
A New Year prayer after a hard year
Not every family is glad to see the new year. If this was the year of a loss, an illness, a divorce, a lost job or a child who's struggling, a cheerful prayer can feel wrong. Pray this instead:
Lord, this year was hard. You know what we lost and what it cost us. We're tired. Some of us are angry, and some of us are still sad. We don't know what next year holds, and we're afraid of more of the same. But you were with us in it, even when it didn't feel that way. Carry us into this new year. Give us enough for each day. Heal what can be healed, and help us live with what can't. "Behold, I will do a new thing. It springs out now. Don't you know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert" (Isaiah 43:19, WEB). Do that for us, Lord. Amen.
It is fine to leave the "look back" question out of the family prayer time this year, or to ask a gentler one: "Where did we see a little bit of good?" If someone in your family is struggling to cope, it's worth talking to a pastor, a counselor or a doctor as well as praying. Our guide to prayer for strength during difficult times has more for a long, hard season.
Bible verses for a family New Year
| Verse | What it says to your family |
|---|---|
| Lamentations 3:22-23 | God's mercies are new every morning, and every year |
| Isaiah 43:18-19 | Don't stay stuck in the past; God is doing something new |
| Psalm 90:12 | Count your days and ask for wisdom |
| Proverbs 16:3 | "Commit your deeds to Yahweh, and your plans shall succeed" (WEB) |
| Joshua 24:15 | Decide as a household whom you'll serve |
| Numbers 6:24-26 | The blessing to speak over each other |
| Psalm 65:11 | "You crown the year with your bounty" (WEB) |
| Philippians 3:13-14 | Forget what is behind; press on |
| Deuteronomy 31:8 | God goes ahead of you and won't leave you |
| Ephesians 4:2-3 | Be patient with each other and keep the peace at home |
Pick one as your family's verse for the year. Write it on a card on the fridge and read it at dinner on the first of every month.
How to keep praying for your family all year
A New Year prayer is easy to pray once and forget. A few ways to keep it going:
- One prayer focus a month. On the first of each month, read your family verse and pray for one area of family life.
- A family prayer list. Keep a list on the fridge: who you're praying for, and a column for answers. Our prayer list template has a family layout to copy.
- Same time every week. Sunday dinner or Friday breakfast: five minutes, one prayer each.
- A daily prayer time for you. Family prayer lasts longer when at least one parent prays alone each day. If you'd like help with that, answer a few questions to build your own daily prayer plan.
A month-by-month family prayer plan for 2027
| Month | Pray for |
|---|---|
| January | The year ahead: plans, decisions, the family verse |
| February | Your marriage, or the closest relationships at home; Lent begins February 10 |
| March | Forgiveness at home; Easter is March 28 |
| April | Each child by name: friends, school, faith |
| May | Parents and grandparents |
| June | Rest, summer, travel safety |
| July | Neighbors and your street |
| August | The new school year: teachers, classmates, courage |
| September | Work, money and provision |
| October | Family members far from God |
| November | Gratitude: a thankful list for the whole year |
| December | Advent, and getting ready for next New Year's Eve |
The church year gives you prayers along the way: our 40-day Lent prayer challenge for adults, Lent prayers for kids, a Thanksgiving prayer for the table in November, and Advent prayers for each week in December.
Common questions
What is a good New Year prayer for family?
One that thanks God for the past year, asks forgiveness for how you treated each other, and asks him to lead your home in the next. The prayer at the top of this page does all three in about a minute.
What Bible verse is good for a family New Year?
Lamentations 3:22-23 ("his mercies… are new every morning") and Joshua 24:15 ("as for me and my house, we will serve Yahweh") are the two most families pick. Numbers 6:24-26 is the blessing to say over each other.
How do you pray in the new year as a family with small children?
Keep it short and early. Do it at dinner on New Year's Eve rather than at midnight, let each child say one thank-you, and finish by blessing each child by name.
Is it biblical to make New Year's resolutions?
The Bible doesn't mention New Year's resolutions, but it does encourage making plans while trusting God with them (Proverbs 16:3, James 4:13-15). Praying over your goals as a family is a good way to hold them loosely.
What do you pray at midnight on New Year's Eve?
Something short: "Lord, thank you for carrying us through this year. We give you the next one. Amen." Some churches hold a watch night service on December 31 with prayer through midnight.
Tonight, write down three things God did for your family this year, and read them at your New Year table. When you'd like a daily prayer time of your own to carry into 2027, start your prayer plan here. More in our prayer guides.
Sources
Scripture: World English Bible (public domain), eBible.org. 2027 dates: Western calendar (Ash Wednesday February 10, Easter Sunday March 28, 2027). Pages read for this guide: Bible Study Tools, "7 Prayers to Cover Your Family in the New Year"; Minno, "5 Family Prayers for the New Year"; The Better Mom, "3 Family Prayers for the New Year".