It is only one month until Christmas and our celebration of the birth of Jesus’ God’s Son. This coming Sunday, we will light the first of our 4 Advent candles leading up to Christmas. I want to tell you that I am eager to light that first candle because it is the candle of HOPE. This year 2020, with all that we have faced and continue to face, we so need to be reminded that Jesus brings HOPE. We already have our house decorated for Christmas and a wreath on our front door. At the top of our Christmas wreath is the word HOPE. I am finding that the single word HOPE on the wreath, has been taking my attention and I am drawn to notice that word HOPE whenever I return from a walk or pull into our driveway with the car. This has got me thinking about how we as Christian believers are to draw attention to the HOPE that Jesus provides. How will HOPE, expressed in the way that we live our lives depending on Jesus, be drawing people to recognize Jesus’ offer of HOPE? We can read in the Scripture from Matthew 1:23 quoting the prophecy from Isaiah, ‘“The virgin will conceive and give birth to a Son, and they will call Him Immanuel (which means “God with us”)’. This week, we will pray together that we will be the means of reminding people of the HOPE that only Jesus can give as He is “God with us.” We can choose to keep Christ in Christmas, as we faithfully demonstrate His HOPE every day! Please plan to be part of our WEDNESDAY PRAYER TOGETHER today at 1 pm.
Our God of infinite mercy and love, You have known from the beginning of time how much we would need HOPE in our world and in our day to day lives. We thank You that in knowing that we would search for HOPE, You arranged for the most powerful demonstration of HOPE ever, and that is Jesus, Your Son. Thank You God that You sent Jesus to be ‘God with us.” We find HOPE in knowing this reality that You are with us! We pray in times of waiting and wondering that we will hold tightly to the certainty of our HOPE in You. We pray that in places in our lives where the flame of HOPE has grown dim that You will reignite our HOPE in You and Your Presence with us. It is such a reassurance to know that in our times of waiting, You wait with us. This gives us courage to keep on hoping. Today, we hold in our prayers, others we know who are in difficult times of waiting. We pray for people who have potentially been exposed to the Covid virus and are waiting for test results. We pray for those who are experiencing mounting anxiety at the thoughts of a still longer period of time before they can safely be with family and friends again. We pray for those caught in not knowing how they will meet day to day needs. And our God, as we are anticipating Christmas, we need to remind ourselves of this miracle of Jesus being, “God With Us.” We ask You to prepare our hearts to once again celebrate the HOPE of Christmas in knowing ”God with us.” When we can remember this truth, we can push aside fear and let HOPE take its’ rightful place in our lives. We want to welcome the warmth of HOPE in hearts that have grown cold and cynical. We choose to expect HOPE to appear and to grow in its’ influence and in its’ promise of You revealing Yourself to us and through us. Burn brightly with HOPE for all those who are physically exhausted by the demands and changes that Covid has brought about. Reveal Your HOPE for those who are trying to make wise and important decisions that will affect many other people in these times. We think now of all that Christmas has meant for us in the past. We thank You for memories of love and laughter and happy times shared with family and friends. We thank you for the gift of music and the ways that the music of Christmas lifts our spirits and inspires HOPE in You. We pray for those who find Christmas a painful and difficult time. We are asking for sensitivity and awareness that will permit us to offer the HOPE of Jesus in gentle and loving ways for those who are struggling. When we think of all that we will need to rearrange and do differently in our celebrations of Christmas this year, we are grateful that we are not looking at a Christmas without HOPE. We will each one have things we will need to live without, but we will not have to live without HOPE. We will not have to live without You and the promise of “God with us.” May this time leading up to Christmas, be a time of growing ever closer with You. May we take more time to pray. We pray that we will begin each day with a fresh awareness of You and our HOPE in who You are. Our lives sometimes get so complicated with all that we are trying to manage and to figure out. Please trim away the things that get in the way of us seeing You and of others seeing You working in us. Our God You have been and continue to be generous with us in providing reasons for HOPE. We ask that we will be generous in causing HOPE in You to be believable for others. As the light of HOPE illumines our path, we trust You that Your HOPE will help others to also find their way. We do not want to stop expecting good things to happen. We do not want to forget Your redeeming power of HOPE. We pray against attitudes of pessimism and hopelessness. Where thoughts of HOPE seem distant and unfamiliar, we are praying that the HOPE that Jesus provides will again be our close companion. We long for Jesus, Immanuel to be our close Companion. Please forgive us for our sometimes tendency to make time for everyone and everything else except Jesus. We recognize that Jesus is meant to be right at the center of everything about Christmas. Our eyes are drawn to You Jesus and the HOPE that was born when You entered our world. We invite You to be exactly who You are, “Immanuel, God with us.” You alone Jesus, are the HOPE of all the earth and we offer this prayer of HOPE now in Jesus’ matchless Name. AMEN.