In a few days it will be 2019! I remember as a child thinking that the year 2000 seemed a long time away. I remember all the fear around the millennium bug. It seems hard to believe that 19 years have passed since then.
It is understandable that the Roman God Janus gave his name to the first month of the year – January. Janus has two faces – one looking back and one looking forward.
New Year is the time we look back over the previous year, thinking over all that has happened. It is a chance to reflect on all the good and bad that has happened. All that we have gained and all that we have lost. This is what often leads us to set resolutions for the coming year, to ensure that something that has already happened doesn’t happen again, or to start something new that was missing from the previous year.
It is also the time we look forward to the future. What will happen in 2019? What will be the highs and lows? Of course, we can never really know what will happen next year, but we know what we hope for. As you sit and think over the previous year and begin to look forward to the next year, spend a moment looking back over your journey with God, where it has been and where you would like it to go.
Lord of the years,
we thank you for being with us in this past year,
for laughing in our joy and comforting in our sorrow.
We ask that you be with us in the year to come,
to walk beside us as we face the unknown.
Share all our experiences,
and help us to develop further our relationship with you.
Amen.
I pray that you all have a peaceful and joyful New Year.
You can download this Prayer for the Week here
Prayers for December written by Revd Claire Rawlinson
Image by NordWood Themes on Unsplash
