Prayer For Advent
Jesus, protector,
I long for your coming.
The promise of new light is there
if only I can believe.
Protect me from dangers
and lead me through the gloom and darkness
to the joy I so long to find in you.
Lift me from my lowly sins
and give me the promise of salvation
with no more shame,
only the light and saving grace of your love.
Let the ancient dream be fulfilled in you
and peace come to this life and world.
Loving God,
I sense that all is your creation
and everything, and all of us,
are being drawn back toward your loving heart.
Help me to be a person of peace,
To speak about it in an uneasy world,
And to live it among the people
you have put into my life every day.
Light in me a desire to prepare for your coming
to stand in the darkness, waiting, eager and filled with joy.
Lord God,
only you can see into my heart and know
that under all the busy-ness of my life,
there is a deep longing
to make this Advent one that welcomes you
more deeply into my own life.
My heart desires the warmth of your love
and my mind searches for your Light
in the midst of the darkness.
Help me to be a peacemaker this Advent
and to give special love to those
who disagree with me.
Give me the strength and courage
to forgive those who have hurt me.
Help me to free my heart
from the prison of my anger and hurt.
A cold coming we had of it,
Just the worst time of the year
For a journey, and such a long journey;
The ways deep and the weather sharp,
The very dead of winter.
And the Camels galled, sore-footed, refractory,
lying down in the melting snow.
There were times we regretted
The Summer palaces on slopes, the terraces,
And the silken girls bringing sherbet.
Then the camel men cursing and grumbling
And running away, and wanting their liquor and women,
And the night-fires going out, and the lack of shelters,
And the cities hostile and the towns unfriendly
And the villages dirty and charging high prices;
A hard time we had of it.
At the end we preferred to travel all night,
Sleeping in snatches,
With the voices singing in our ears, saying
That this was all folly.
Then at dawn we came down to temperate valley,
Wet, below the snow line, smelling of vegetation,
With a running stream and a water-mil beating the darkness,
And three trees on the low sky.
And an old white horse galloped away in the meadow.
Then we came to a tavern with vine-leaves over the lintel,
Six hands at an open door dicing for pieces of silver,
And feet kicking the empty wine-skins.
But there was no information, and so we continued
And arrived at evening, not a moment too soon
Finding the place; it was (you may say) satisfactory.
All this was a long time ago, I remember.
And I would do it again, but set down
This set down
This: were we led all that way for
Birth or Death? There was a Birth certainly,
We had evidence and no doubt. I had seen birth and death,
But had thought they were different; this Birth was
Hard and bitter agony for us, like Death, our death.
We returned to our places, these Kingdoms,
But no longer at ease here, in the old dispensation,
With an alien people clutching their dogs.
I should be glad of another death.
Lord Jesus,
Master of both the light and the darkness, send your Holy Spirit upon our preparations for Christmas.
We who have so much to do and seek quiet spaces to hear your voice each day,
We who are anxious over many things look forward to your coming among us.
We who are blessed in so many ways long for the complete joy of your kingdom.
We whose hearts are heavy seek the joy of your presence.
We are your people, walking in darkness, yet seeking the light.
To you we say, "Come Lord Jesus!'
Amen.
Father, in the wilderness of the Jordan you sent a messenger to prepare people's hearts for the coming of your Son. Help me to hear his words and repent of my sins, so that I may clearly see the way to walk, the truth to speak, and the life to live for Him, our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
Come, long-expected Jesus. Excite in me a wonder at the wisdom and power of Your Father and ours. Receive my prayer as part of my service of the Lord who enlists me in God's own work for justice.
Come, long-expected Jesus. Excite in me a hunger for peace: peace in the world, peace in my home, peace in myself.
Come, long-expected Jesus. Excite in me a joy responsive to the Father's joy. I seek His will so I can serve with gladness, singing and love.
Come, long-expected Jesus. Excite in me the joy and love and peace it is right to bring to the manger of my Lord. Raise in me, too, sober reverence for the God who acted there, hearty gratitude for the life begun there,
and spirited resolution to serve the Father and Son.
I pray in the name of Jesus Christ, whose advent I hail. Amen.
Dear Heavenly Father, at this time of the year when the Church remembers the first coming of our Lord and Saviour into the world, we want to lift up our hearts and voices in prayer and praise to You, for sending the Lord Jesus Christ into the world to
be our Saviour, so that through his blood we may be brought back into a right relationship with Yourself and receive the gift of eternal life by grace through faith in Jesus Christ.
At this time, our thoughts are especially drawn in remembrance to the wonderful time, so long ago, when God in His grace sent the eternal Son of His love into the world to become the propitiation for our sins. How we
rejoice when we recall that He set aside His glory and great majesty to take on the form of a man and be born into this world as a tiny baby, in such humble circumstances.
Lord, in a world that is become more secular, I pray that the people of God who are called by Your name would take time to reflect with awe and wonder on this amazing truth, and to prepare our hearts for the time when
Jesus Christ will return again in power and great glory at His second Advent.
Purify our hearts we pray, and sanctify our lives so they we may serve you in newness of life, not only in this special season of Advent but every day of our lives, until You come to take us to be with You forever.
In Jesus' name we pray,
Amen.