A Prayer for Those Who Accept Christ This Christmas - Your Daily Prayer - December 24

Every year my wife and I head downtown to watch our local Christmas parade. We stand, bundled up in the snow, as the high school bands march by. We sip our festive drinks and marvel at the ornately decorated floats. Our city comes en-mass to this celebration. It’s a joyous occasion, and it kicks off the holiday season in our area. But inevitably, the parade ends, and we have to fight the traffic as we make our way back home. See, as majestic or magical as the parade may be, you can’t take the parade with you. Parades exist only for a moment.

Yet so often, what we long for in the depths of our souls is healing and peace that touches the realness of our lives. We long for a message that meets us in the messiness of life and transforms it. Is this why so many people find themselves in church on Christmas Eve? For many, whether they believe in the message of the angels or not, they will find themselves filing into their local church pews to celebrate the birth of the Christ child. Some may be there because it’s expected of them. Devout parents or grandparents require church attendance as a function of family celebrations.

Others go because it is something they have done since childhood. Others may be entering the joyous season through the lens of grief. They are experiencing a loss, a heartache, and in that space, all the tinsel and the bows, the snowmen and the snow angels don’t seem to ease the hurt they are feeling. They cry out for something more expansive, something larger, something more eternal than just the yearly parade. And then there are those who are in the pews on Christmas Eve because somewhere deep within them, there is the feeling that Christmas must be about something more than just what can be crammed under the tree. There is an indescribable feeling that if Christmas is only about parties and tinsel and commercial deals, then it is, somehow, an empty holiday. They yearn for a deeper satisfaction, a connection to the God who calls out to them from the manger. 

So many find themselves, perhaps for the first time, surrounding themselves with the angelic message of Christ’s birth. It is into this world of lostness and confusion that the angels declare their message. The Christmas message never occurs in tidy ways. Angels come to rag-tag shepherds, struggling to make ends meet. The birth of Christ is witnessed by those who sidestep the halls of power and prestige. And Jesus comes not to the powerful and the put-together but to the lowly of heart. Such is the audaciousness of Christmas. Not that God calls to us from afar – beckoning our perfection. In Jesus, God comes to us – as poor as we might be, as questioning as we are, as lost as we might feel. The angels announce to us all, “To you is born this day a savior.” This good news is for all people.

The fact is, all around us, there are many people, for many reasons, who are searching for Christ this Christmas. We may not see the choir of angels around us, but the heavenly host still proclaims Christ’s birth. It occurs all around us. It happens in the carols that are played in coffee shops and in malls. It happens in the pageants and hallmark movies that inevitably show the nativity and declare the coming of the Savior. And it happens in us. It happens in our hearts as we reflect on Jesus, the Savior who comes into the messiness of our lives.

What might it look like to proclaim that message to others? How might we pray that those who are searching for something more than presents under the tree might find themselves kneeling at the manger?

Let’s Pray:

Gracious God,
The message of the angels rings about us. We hear frequently the good news, proclaimed to all people, that our Savior comes. We lift to you all those who are searching for you and all those who are entering this Christmas season with a heart that is longing for deeper satisfaction. Your Word reminds us that no one can come to Christ unless you call them. And so, I pray that you open their ears to hear the angelic message proclaimed. Help them hear the good news of Jesus as a message that pertains to them, their world, their heart, and their soul. Turn their ears to recognize the hymns and carols sung around them, and turn their eyes to recognize the displays of Christ’s birth. Open their heart to your presence in a new way.

Father, in your grace, you proclaimed your message to the angels, but then you confirmed that message by leading the shepherds to you. For all those searching for you this Christmas, may you show yourself in an irrefutable way. May this Christmas be one where they find you and begin to walk with you.
We pray for this in the name of our loving, eternal Savior. Amen.

Photo credit: ©Getty Images/Narumon Bowonkitwanchai

The Reverend Dr. Kyle Norman is the Rector of St. Paul’s Cathedral, located in Kamloops BC, Canada.  He holds a doctorate in Spiritual formation and is a sought-after writer, speaker, and retreat leader. His writing can be found at Christianity.com, crosswalk.com, ibelieve.com, Renovare Canada, and many others.  He also maintains his own blog revkylenorman.ca.  He has 20 years of pastoral experience, and his ministry focuses on helping people overcome times of spiritual discouragement.

Editor's Note: We're proud to announce we've just launched a new nighttime companion to Your Daily Prayer: the Your Nightly Prayer devotional. You'll soon be able to subscribe to receive Your Nightly Prayer via email, or as a podcast, but for now you can find it on the website at crosswalk.com/devotionals/your-nightly-prayer. We hope it's a relaxing and soothing way to wind down your day with rich meditations on who God is.

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