A Prayer of Gratitude for 2024 - Your Daily Prayer - December 31

A Prayer of Gratitude for 2024
By Emma Danzey

Bible Reading:
“Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever.” - Psalm 118:29

Listen or Read Below:

What have you encountered in the year 2024? Has it been an incredible time of blessings, celebrations, and milestones? Has it been full of healing, grief, and unknowns? Has it be a little bit of everything? How are you feeling as this year wraps up? Many times I am not ready to see a year go by and embrace the next one. However, there is a beauty in the end of a chapter and the beginning of a new one. But one of the most important things that we can do is to have gratitude and acknowledge what the Lord has done in a year before saying goodbye to it.

Whether this is an easy thank you or a difficult one, God see you and knows every detail of your story. Some things may have happened to us that were sinful and not in God’s good will. We do not have to thank Him for things such as abuse or betrayal. But He does teach us in Romans 8:28 that He is working all things together for our good and His glory, so we can thank Him that nothing is wasted for those who follow Him and thank Him for His steadfast faithfulness and love even in the hardships and the hurt that we have faced.

If you are coming out of the trial of a lifetime and something horrible has been done to you this year, know that you loved and seen. Remember that you do not have to be thankful for sin committed against to you, but you can be thankful in who your God has always been and how He will carry you through this and give you strength to face each day, and even use your pain to help others.

Take a moment before we pray, even hit pause if you are listening, and stop and write down some specific things that you are grateful for this year. I love to write down highlights from each month and then look over the entire year of God’s faithfulness. Even if it seems small, your gratitude is valuable and will strengthen your joy in Christ.

Let's Pray:

Dear Lord,
Thank You for the year 2024. We come before you with hearts full of thanksgiving over the ways that You have worked with new lives, new opportunities, family time, memories made, new believers in You, church growth, outreach, community building, friendships deepening, fears overcome, health, lessons learned, and the gorgeous changes of the seasons.
Father we also thank You for being with us in the hardships, losses, grief, pain, anxieties, depression, doubts, struggles, authentic prayers, sinful decisions, sickness, and more. Thank You that You never waste a situation or a circumstance for those who love You. We pray that even if we are not thankful for what has happened to us, that we are thankful for Who is getting us through. Thank You for being the God of all comfort who comforts us so that we can comfort others. Thank you for turning beauty from the ashes.
We are grateful for the spiritual growth that we have encountered through Your Word, in prayer, and with the church community. We are grateful for the ways that Your Spirit has strengthened us, taught us more of who You are, and revealed great wisdom in challenging decisions. Thank You for walking with us each day and helping us to have victories over the enemy. We praise You for the many times that we were able to choose the Spirit over the flesh by Your power this year. Forgive us for the times when we sinned in 2024, but thank You for Your grace upon grace. Your mercies have been new every morning, great is Your faithfulness.
We celebrate the ending of this year and ask that You would help different memories come to our mind of the unique ways in which You worked in 2024. We thank You for being our Savior and for calling us Your children. We ask that just like You have been faithful this past year, that you will reveal Your faithfulness again in 2025. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Photo Credit: ©GettyImages/AaronAmat 

Emma Danzey’s mission in life stems from Ephesians 3:20-21, to embrace the extraordinary. One of her greatest joys is to journey with the Lord in His Scriptures. She is wife to Drew and mom to Graham. Emma serves alongside her husband in ministry, she focuses most of her time in the home, but loves to provide articles on the Bible, life questions, and Christian lifestyle. Her article on Interracial Marriage was the number 1 on Crosswalk in 2021. Most recently, Emma released Treasures for Tots, (Scripture memory songs) and multiple books and devotionals for young children. During her ministry career, Emma has released Wildflower: Blooming Through Singleness, two worship EP albums, founded and led Polished Conference Ministries, and ran the Refined Magazine. You can view her articles on her blog at emmadanzey.wordpress.com and check out her Instagram @Emmadanzey.

Editor's Note: We're proud to announce we've just launched a new nighttime companion to Your Daily Prayer: the Your Nightly Prayer devotional. You can find it on the website at crosswalk.com/devotionals/your-nightly-prayer, where you can sign up to receive it every evening in your inbox. We are also offering it in podcast form at https://www.lifeaudio.com/your-nightly-prayer/. We hope it's a relaxing and soothing way to wind down your day with rich meditations on God.

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