Dear Lord,

Forgive me the damage that I’ve done to myself and to my family in this last year: the promises I’ve broken, the time I’ve wasted, and the energy I’ve dissipated. Please help me to fulfil the promises I made to you again, this morning, so that I don’t fall into the same sins again and again. Please help me to use the time you’ve given me, rather than wasting it in doing things that are of no value. 

Help me to do my work well and fruitfully and give me strength and grace to become what you want me to become. Overcome my cowardice and my lethargy. Please help me to get a job next year, so that I can pay my own student fees, and to get my research done efficiently so that I can become financially independent and a support to my parents instead of a drain on them. Have mercy upon me, a sinner.