Prayer

Lord Jesus as we near the third Sunday in Advent, the Sunday of Joy, we must acknowledge that joy does not fill each heart, that peace is hard fought in the simplest of circumstances, and hope is hard to find let alone recognize. With so much deep seeded pain that is tearing into relationships in families. With the distrust that is welling up and wedging itself between hearts, and lives. Lord we need Your healing love. Come into our lives.

Lord Jesus, as we prepare for the joyous celebrations, let us not forget those that cannot celebrate. Those who are limited by the reality that is their lives, a reality that we share but do not always acknowledged. Open up our eyes Lord so that we might see. Open up our ears so that we might hear, not just Your words of life but the cries of that fill Your ears. Lord help us to walk in the ways of the life that You have for us. Not just a life of self indulgence but a life linked to Your life giving Spirit. Let us draw on Your joy for our strength and reach out into the cracked lives of this world. Help us to bring life that sprouts from the pain of our sin to the wholeness of Your grace. Entering into the darkness of but filled with your light washing over us and filling those around us with Your healing light and love. Lord may Your kingdom come may Your will be done on earth as it is as it is in heaven. Lord we pray this in Your Holy name, Amen.