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A Prayer about Seeing Our Salvation

by | Dec 29, 2022 | Christmas, Christmas, Daily Prayer, kingdom living

A Prayer about Seeing Our Salvation

Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation…Luke 2:29

Merciful God,

As we revisit this scene between Simeon 

and the eight-day-old Jesus, 

we pray you would write in us stories like Simeon’s:

Filled with the Holy Spirit…

Made righteous by Christ…

Waiting for your consolation…

Watching for our Savior…

Seeing him as our one and only salvation…

Illuminating his glory to all the peoples…

Believing that he alone makes us ready to die in peace.

Knowing our Savior has come, 

may we wait with confident hope 

for the day he will come again 

and restore us to himself. 

In Jesus’ saving name,

Amen.

Read Luke 2:25-32. 

A Prayer about Jesus’ Tears

by | Dec 28, 2022 | Christmas, Christmas, Daily Prayer, Grief

A Prayer about Jesus’ Tears

Jesus wept. John 11:35

Compassionate Lord,

Even though the day most people exchange gifts 

has come and gone,

 or maybe especially because that day 

has come and gone, it’s a good time 

to contemplate this baby in the manger. 

Many of us love the Christmas lullaby 

“Away in a Manger,” 

but I do think the authors got one thing wrong: 

“The little Lord Jesus, 

no crying he makes….” 

That can’t be right.

Babies cry. 

They express their need for food, 

clean diapers, 

and sleep 

by crying. 

Jesus was fully human, 

and he likely cried when he was a baby, 

especially if cows were mooing in his ear. 

Heavenly Father, may we never forget Jesus’ true humanity, 

but also may we believe in his deep sympathy, 

his passion for and with us. 

Not only did he cry as a baby, 

he wept as a man 

over his friend Lazarus’ death. 

He came to reverse the curse of sin 

by submitting to death on a cross. 

He sweated blood  

as he agonized in the garden 

over his impending death. 

Yes, Lord, Jesus wept. 

May we affirm the cries of the baby Jesus 

and may we trace the tears of our Savior. 

In his sacrificial name we pray. Amen. 

Read John 11:28-44; Luke 22:39-46.

A Prayer about Drawing Near to the Throne of Grace

by | Dec 27, 2022 | Christmas, Christmas, Daily Prayer, Gospel living, gratitude

A Prayer about Drawing Near to the Throne of Grace

Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Hebrews 4:16.

Gracious Father,

In these days between Christmas and New Year’s, 

some of us find ourselves in seasons of doubt. 

Some feel regret over Christmas conflicts, 

others feel remorse over sins habitually committed.

Wherever we find ourselves,

may we hear you calling us 

to confidence:

Draw near to the throne of grace!

There you will find your sympathetic priest, 

“who was tempted in every way and yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15)

He became the perfect sacrifice 

and presented this sacrifice to me, 

and now, united with him, 

you are cleansed from your sins.

Come to me with confidence.

You will find mercy and grace 

to help you in your time of need.”

Forgiving Father, of all the invitations 

we may receive this holiday season, 

none is so generous and comforting as this one. 

Thank you! 

May we receive and believe it.

In the name of our sympathetic priest, Jesus, we pray. Amen.

Read Hebrews 4:14-16.

A Prayer about Christ’s Humanity and Ours

by | Dec 26, 2022 | Christmas, Christmas, Daily Prayer

A Prayer about Christ’s Humanity and Ours

[Christ Jesus]…made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. Philippians 2:7

 Holy God,

I love how creeds and confessions

help us see new things about our faith. 

The Belgic Confession, 

in confessing the truth of the incarnation 

reminds us that both the body and the soul 

are essential to our humanity:

“And he not only assumed human nature 

as far as the body is concerned 

but also a real human soul, 

in order that he might be a real human being. 

For since the soul had been lost as well as the body, 

he had to assume them both to save them both together.”*

Thank you, Lord, 

for sending Christ in the flesh, 

to remind us that our bodies 

belong to you and are beloved by you.

Thank you, Lord, for making Christ 

a real human being, 

and yet without sin.

who, though without sin, 

can fully sympathize with our weaknesses, 

in heart, soul, mind, and body.

Being sinless, he was the perfect sacrifice

for our sins, 

and died

that we might live eternally 

with and for you.

In gratitude for the greatest gift of Christmas, 

may we glorify you with all of our being.

In Christ’s fully human, fully divine name. Amen.

Read Philippians 2:5-11; Hebrews 4:15; Matthew 22:37.

*(From Belgic Confession of Faith for Advent and Christmas).

A Prayer about the God Who Lives with Us

by | Dec 25, 2022 | Christmas, Christmas, Daily Prayer, gratitude, kingdom living

A Prayer about the God Who Lives with Us

And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. Revelation 21:3

Faith-full God, Hope-filling God, Fully-loving God,

We celebrate your glory

as the shepherds celebrated before the manger 

and the wise men celebrated before the little one.

You have richly blessed us with

your arrival on earth, in earthy reality, 

coming to a stable,

sleeping with the sheep,

disrupting our expectations

 about the way things should be, 

showing us that your glory is clothed in your humility.

Thank you. May we never forget.

May we never romanticize 

the Christ out of Christmas.

Thank you, God, 

that you are coming again once-and-for-all, 

to end our

hearts’ waywardness.

Thank you that one day 

we will rest utterly in your Presence, 

never wandering off

down our own little kingdom paths. 

We look forward to the day 

when we will worship and delight in you

as we were created to do.

This Christmas season, 

may we wait well,

with an eye toward the future, 

the hope of the one day when all 

will finally and forever be well.

Come quickly, Lord Jesus! Amen!

Read Revelation 21:1-5. 

A Prayer about Hope, Joy, and Peace at Christmas

by | Dec 24, 2022 | Advent, Christmas, Christmas, Daily Prayer, Gospel living, Joy, Seasons & Holidays

A Prayer about Hope, Joy, and Peace at Christmas

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. Romans 15:13

Lord of Hope,

You know one of our children’s favorite seasonal movies 

is The Polar Express,

though they’re long past 

imagining that the North Pole 

is where the main action of Christmas takes place. 

The movie, based on the wonderful book by Chris Van Allsburg, 

is about belief, 

but the belief is in a myth. 

Unlike  “Hero Boy,” 

we need a different kind of believing—

we need to believe that you, 

the true hero of our truest story, 

were born as a baby, 

grew as a child, 

taught in the temple, 

turned water into wine, 

raised people from the dead, 

died on a cross, 

and rose from the dead. 

It is in this belief 

that we find our deepest hope, 

our longed-for joy, 

and our perfect peace. 

By your Holy Spirit, 

grant us this belief 

today and every day.

In Jesus’ trustworthy name. Amen.

Read Romans 15:1-13.

Get Elizabeth’s Advent devotional for free here: https://dl.bookfunnel.com/34no8c805q.