New Year devotional for young adults: three passages, a SOAP entry and three decisions for 2027
A New Year devotional for young adults: read Lamentations 3, Philippians 3 and Isaiah 43 in 20 minutes, then make three real decisions for 2027.
In this article
A good New Year devotional for young adults takes about 20 minutes: read Lamentations 3:22-24, Philippians 3:13-14 and Isaiah 43:18-19, write one SOAP entry, then make three decisions for 2027 about your Bible reading, your prayer and your church. Together the three passages are only 128 words in the KJV.
New Year devotionals are easy to find. This Crosswalk devotional on Lamentations 3 is a good example, with useful questions about looking back on the year. What many of them leave out is the step from a moving reading to a specific plan.
So this one has an order to it. First, what's behind you, then what's ahead, then what you'll do on the first Sunday of the year. Do it alone on New Year's Eve, on the morning of Friday, January 1, 2027, or with a friend or your small group. All you need is a Bible, a pen and your phone on silent.
The 20-minute plan at a glance
| Minutes | Part | What you do |
|---|---|---|
| 0 to 2 | Get quiet | Silence your phone and ask God to speak through his Word |
| 2 to 6 | What's behind you | Read Lamentations 3:22-24 and answer two questions |
| 6 to 10 | What you're carrying | Read Philippians 3:13-14 and answer two questions |
| 10 to 13 | What's ahead | Read Isaiah 43:18-19 and answer one question |
| 13 to 16 | SOAP | Write one short entry on the passage that hit hardest |
| 16 to 19 | Decide | Fill in the three decisions below |
| 19 to 20 | Pray | Use the closing prayer or your own words |
If you'd rather keep this kind of entry somewhere you can find it next December, the app has a SOAP journal built for it.
Part 1: Mercy for what's behind you
It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. The Lord is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him.
These verses are often quoted as if they were written on a bright morning. They weren't. Lamentations mourns Jerusalem after the Babylonians burned the temple and the city (2 Kings 25:9). Just before this passage, the writer says his affliction and misery are still on his mind (Lamentations 3:19-20). Then comes the turn: "This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope" (Lamentations 3:21).
The city was still in ruins when he wrote that. Nothing had improved except what he chose to remember.
That matters if 2026 wasn't your year. Maybe you moved to a new city and still haven't found your people. Maybe a relationship ended, the job didn't come through, or you drifted from God and felt too embarrassed to come back. This passage doesn't ask you to pretend. It says God's compassions "fail not," and that they arrive again tomorrow morning, whether you've had a good year or not.
Write down your answers:
- Where did you see God's faithfulness in 2026, even in something small?
- What are you still carrying from this year that you need to name honestly before God?
Part 2: Let go of more than your regrets
Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
People usually read "forgetting those things which are behind" as permission to move past their mistakes. Paul's list is more surprising. A few verses earlier, he lists his credentials: his family line, his standing as a Pharisee, his zeal and his record under the law (Philippians 3:4-6). Then he says, "what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ" (Philippians 3:7).
So the things behind Paul include his best achievements, along with the fact that he persecuted the church. He wouldn't rest on his résumé or be ruled by his record. And he wrote this while in chains (Philippians 1:13), which makes "I press toward the mark" a lot less like a motivational poster.
For a young adult, that cuts two ways. If you're stuck on what you did wrong, you're not defined by it, because your standing comes from Christ. And if you're coasting on being the kid who grew up in youth group, the leader at your campus ministry or the one who knows all the answers, that won't carry you into 2027 either. You can see the fuller picture of Paul's life on our Paul character page.
Write down your answers:
- What failure from your past do you keep going back to?
- What success or reputation are you leaning on instead of leaning on Christ?
Part 3: Watch for what God is doing next
Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.
Read the two verses just before this, and it gets startling. Isaiah has just described the Lord as the one who makes "a way in the sea" and defeats chariot and horse (Isaiah 43:16-17). That's the language of the exodus, the greatest rescue in Israel's history. Then God says, "Remember ye not the former things."
This can't mean Israel should forget the exodus, because Scripture elsewhere commands them to remember how God led them (Deuteronomy 8:2). The point is that God isn't limited to repeating the past. Their old rescue wasn't the last one he had in him, and the same God would make "a way in the wilderness."
You might have your own version of the former things: the summer camp when your faith felt alive, your college years, the church you loved back home, the season when reading the Bible came easily. Be thankful for it. But don't spend 2027 trying to get back there. As the book of Isaiah shows, God keeps doing things his people didn't expect.
Write down your answer: Where might God be working right now that you've missed because you were looking for last time to repeat itself?
Write one SOAP entry
SOAP stands for Scripture, Observation, Application and Prayer. Pick the passage that hit you hardest and spend three minutes on it. If you've never done this before, read our SOAP Bible study method guide, or see more SOAP examples on different kinds of passages. Here's one sample showing the format. Yours will be different, and it should be.
| Step | Sample entry on Lamentations 3:22-23 |
|---|---|
| Scripture | "his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness." |
| Observation | The writer says this while Jerusalem is in ruins. His hope rests on who God is, not on what has changed. |
| Application | I've been waiting to feel better before I come back to prayer. Tomorrow morning I'll start with five minutes, as I am. |
| Prayer | Lord, thank you that your mercy doesn't wait for me to get my life together. Help me come to you tomorrow. |
Be as specific as you can in the application line. "Pray more" won't change much, but "five minutes tomorrow at 7, before I check my phone" might. If you're doing this with friends, share one line of your entry instead of the whole thing.
Three decisions for 2027
Before you make plans, read what James says about them:
Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.
James isn't against calendars. He's against planning as if your life were in your own hands. So write these three decisions down in pencil, and start with "If the Lord will."
| Decision | Passage | Fill in | Make it small enough |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reading | Joshua 1:8 | "In January I'll read ___ at ___ (time)." | One chapter a day beats a plan you'll drop by February |
| Prayer | Matthew 6:6 | "I'll pray for ___ minutes at ___ (place)." | Five minutes, with your phone in another room |
| Church | Hebrews 10:24-25 | "On Sunday, January 3, I'll be at ___, and I'll talk to ___ about ___." | One service, one person, one small group visit |
Your Bible reading
Pick one plan, not three. Our New Year Bible reading challenge has four levels with dates, and the 2027 Bible reading plan covers the whole year. If you've struggled to stick with a plan before, start with one chapter a day. The Lamentations quiz and Philippians quiz are a quick way to see how much of today's reading stayed with you.
Quick quiz: Philippians
Complete: “For to me to live is Christ, and to die…”
In prison, Paul does not know which to choose: to live is Christ; to die is gain, for it is to be with him. Philippians 1:21
Complete the exhortation Paul repeats: “… in the Lord alway: and again I say, …”
“Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice”: joy runs through this whole letter written in chains. Philippians 4:4
What has Paul learned, he who can do all things “through Christ which strengtheneth me”?
“I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content… both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” Philippians 4:11–13
There are many more questions like these in Bible Academy, each with its explanation and verse. Start free, no card needed.
Your prayer life
Jesus told his listeners to enter a "closet" and shut the door (Matthew 6:6). In a shared apartment, that might be your car, a walk around the block or the 10 minutes before your roommate wakes up. Choose your place now. A set time and place save you from having to decide all over again every morning.
Your church
You weren't meant to do this alone. Hebrews 10:24-25 assumes that believers will stir each other up and keep meeting together. If you've moved and never settled into a church, make that your decision for January: go somewhere on Sunday the 3rd and go back the next week. If you already belong to a church, join a small group, or ask one person to check in on your reading. Our list of Bible study topics for young adults can help if your group needs somewhere to start.
A closing prayer
Read this aloud, or use your own words:
Lord, thank you for this past year, including the parts I wouldn't have chosen. Your compassions didn't fail, and they won't fail tomorrow. Forgive me for ___. I let go of ___, and I won't lean on it anymore. Show me what you're doing that I've been too distracted to see. I give you these three decisions, and I hold them with open hands. If you will, I'll keep them. Help me know you better this year. In Jesus's name, amen.
If you'd like one verse to take with you all year, our New Year Bible verses are grouped by theme, with a plan for memorizing twelve. The app's memory verses can keep your verse in review, and its calendar and streak help you see how January is really going.
Frequently asked questions
What is a good New Year devotional for young adults?
A good New Year devotional for young adults is short, honest about the past year and specific about the next one. This one takes about 20 minutes: Lamentations 3:22-24, Philippians 3:13-14 and Isaiah 43:18-19, one SOAP journal entry, and three decisions for 2027 about Bible reading, prayer and church.
What Bible verse is good for starting a new year?
Lamentations 3:22-23 is a strong choice because it says God's compassions are "new every morning," and it was written in grief, so its hope doesn't depend on a good year. Philippians 3:13-14 fits if you need to stop looking back, and Isaiah 43:19 fits if you're waiting on something new.
What should I pray on New Year's Eve?
Thank God for specific ways he was faithful during the year, confess what you need to, and bring your plans to him with the attitude of James 4:15, "If the Lord will." You don't need special wording. Short, honest sentences are enough. The closing prayer above has blanks you can fill in if you'd like a starting point.
Should Christians make New Year's resolutions?
Scripture doesn't command or forbid them. The year's start is a useful moment to take stock, and James 4:13-15 allows for planning as long as you plan humbly, under God's will. Small, specific decisions usually work better than big promises, and God's mercy doesn't depend on whether you keep them.
Can I do this devotional with my small group?
Yes. Read the three passages aloud, give everyone five minutes of quiet to write, then discuss one question from each part. Have each person share one of their three decisions, and pair people up to check in during January. Plan on about 45 minutes for a group, and let people pass if they'd rather not share.
What if I'm starting the year far from God?
Then Lamentations 3 is a good place to begin, because it was written by someone at a very low point. You don't need to clean up first. Talk to God honestly, read one short passage tomorrow, and find one other believer to tell. Salvation and restoration rest on God's grace, not on how well your last year went.