Features - Prayer for Reason

New Years Traditions Largely Faith-Based

Happy new year! How will you celebrate? Fancy parties? Bubbling champagne? Short-lived resolutions? If you're in line with the majority of Americans, that won't be the case.

You'll celebrate with prayer.

A recent Rasmussen Report found that an 66 percent of individuals polled will ring in the new year with a prayer for the coming 365 days. Only just over 40 percent will be drinking, with even less going out to parties or dinners with friends.

The report revealed several other interesting facts. Men were more likely than their female counterparts to party, and women were more likely than men to pray. African Americans were more likely to pray for the new year than any other demographics.

What conclusions can be drawn from these statistics? Loose ones to be sure. In a time where the economy is in the toilet, jobs are hard to come by and people are coming off of holiday depression, prayer makes sense. A University of Wisconsin-Madison study found that prayer is effective in helping people deal with negative emotions, giving people something to turn to when things are rough... like, right now.

There's reason to have hope during the next year. Consumer spending was up during this holiday season compared to the past several years, which bodes well for economic growth in the coming months. Unemployment is down in some of the hardest hit states, like Michigan, which may indicate that we're close to the bottom of this economic dip. It can't hurt to pray that we're right about that prediction.

No one can truly predict what the next year will hold. Political instability in the international community can affect America in unexpected ways. Here's praying that any changes that take place are for the better.

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