A Journey Through Advent: Day 17
Day 17
December 15, 2020
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Advent Prayer of Joy
Rev. Dr. Greg Smith
Practice of Prayerful Listening
Find a time and place where you can allow the peace of God’s presence to come over you. Allow your attention to center on your breath, inhaling deeply the Spirit of God, exhaling the anxiety and stress of your life. When your mind wanders (our busy minds always wander), simply return your attention to your peaceful focus.
As you become centered on God’s presence, lift to God a concern that blocks your experience of God’s joy. Let your prayer be few in words and abundant in listening. In your silence, listen for God’s still, small voice of comfort, guidance, and peace.
What gifts does God offer to you? Inner peace in the midst of your anxiety? Deep joy that sustains you in your sorrow? Insights or discernment? Hope for a new beginning?
In what way is God calling you to respond to your concerns? Is God calling you to action or to rest, to give an offering of your hands or of your heart? Is God leading you to speak or to silently wait and ponder?
As you feel led, conclude your listening prayer with this prayer of peace and joy.
Prayer of Peaceful Joy
God of peace, love, and joy,
In the quiet spaces of my heart I interrupt my ceaseless activity to sit peacefully in your presence. Let your Spirit cover all that would distract me from you, and disturb the peace you offer to my anxious mind.
In this season of Advent, I wait for the joy of your new beginning. This has been a year of overwhelming sorrow and grief, and of intense fear and division. The joy of the life you give has been hard to find in the midst of such pain and anxiety. Help me to center my longings in the joy of walking with you through each day.
Your peace surrounds me and your love fills my heart. May this peace be the air I breathe to calm my fearful and anxious moments. May your love so shape my life that every thought, every word, and every action be a reflection of your presence within.
For it is only through your peace that I am sustained in my sorrow. It is only through your love that I am able to love my neighbors, and even those who would be my enemies. And, it is only when I am filled with your joy that I can know joy in the midst of the anxieties of my life.
Yes, O God, this time of Advent is a time to return to your way, that I may know your peace, live by your love, and be filled with your joy. Come, Emmanuel, God with us.
Amen.
About a Journey Through Advent
This year is unprecedented in its challenges to our global, national, and local communities, let alone the challenges to our own church community and personal spiritual growth. And yet, the rhythm of the church calendar continues to hold us in a life-giving refrain: hope is alive!
This series of devotional readings, scripture readings, and prayers is designed to give you an opportunity to pause and reflect on the hope, peace, joy, and love that the Advent season brings.
We challenge you to set aside time each day to read, reflect, and pray through these offerings presented by our pastoral staff.
May you find encouragement in the remarkable hope this season provides us!