I can remember at the Watch night service a week later, thanking God and re-committing myself to Him. I remember listening to the prayers of older Christians as we approached that new year. A year in which, unforeseen by us, inflation would reach a high of 17.2% and there would be two general elections with Labour regaining power in the second. We were facing a three-day week and fuel concerns due to the coal miners’ strike and controversy over immigration leading to Enoch Powell’s controversial ‘Rivers of Blood’ speech. The year to come was peppered by IRA bombs and terrorism. The first Mc Donald’s restaurant was opened in London, Abba’s Waterloo won the Eurovision song contest and there was a new Dr Who. Lots of similarities with the situation we find ourselves in as we approach 2023.
There are many reasons why Watch night services aren’t held so much now. It was a tradition inspired by Jesus’ example of praying all night before important decisions. The Moravian church held a love feast on New Year’s Eve followed by a watchnight service in the evening which could last three hours. John Wesley encouraged such meetings having emphasised that it was “customary with the ancient Christians to spend whole nights in prayer.”
As we approach 2023, which we know is going to be a difficult year, let’s immerse and swamp it in prayer. Let’s recommit ourselves and rededicate our lives. Let’s ask for God’s guidance, provision and protection. Let’s ask God for greater opportunities to serve and glorify Him. Amen.