A Prayer about Hope, Joy, and Peace at Christmas
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.
![When’s the last time you highlighted your weakness?
Therefore I will boast all the more gladly in my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 2 Cor. 12:10
All-Powerful God,
We confess,
we in Western culture
crave power, control, and independence.
The last thing we want
is to be seen as weak.
And yet, weakness is the way of Christ,
so it must be our way as well.
The apostle Paul understood that,
so in the face of accusations
that he wasn’t an apostle,
he countered the boasting of the “super-apostles”
with some boasting of his own:
“If I must boast,
I will boast of the things
that show my weakness” (2 Cor. 11:30).
And then he mentions how he was lowered in a basket through the window of a wall in Damascus, of all places,
a place he went to persecute Jews only to be knocked down on the road,
struck blind, by his Lord and Savior himself.
Paul shares many other weaknesses in 2 Corinthians,
a book that’s all about weakness as the way
of followers of Christ.
He asked that you would relieve him from a “thorn in the flesh,”
but you did not.
Instead, you said,
“My grace is sufficient for you,
for my power is made perfect in your weakness” (2 Cor. 12:9).
Lord, we know we really are weak —
[for each of these areas, name any weaknesses you have]
weak in our bodies,
weak in our work,
weak in our wills,
Weak in our faith,
Weak in our hope,
Weak in our love.
We believe
that you your power is made perfect
in and through our weakness.
Help our unbelief.
In Jesus’s name. Amen.
Read 2 Corinthians 11:30-12:10.
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