Post-Christmas Prayers

December 26, 2007 at 11:19 pm · Filed under church, prayer, worship and tagged: Christmas, Christmas Eve, God's Glory, prayer, Scripture, worship

Friends,

I am glad Christmas is over this year. It has been a very long season. I’m glad there was no snow and that the Christmas Eve worship was well attended. We had a great variety of participants this year: A family of bell ringers, a guitar soloist, a young female vocalist, a poet read her original work, one young man (my son) played The First Noel on the piano, one woman read a short work by Peter Marshall and another read the story of Christmas Bells. The congregation sang just about every Christmas hymn in our hymn books (and we did not even have to turn on the video projector!) We lit our candles near the end from the Advent wreath Christ candle. We read Scripture. And we prayed. It was one of my favorite Christmas eve worship services ever. It was sort of strange, however, reading Scripture that evening. One of our regular worshipers is married to a Jewish man who was in attendance. I wondered, as we read from Scripture–especially Isaiah, how those Scriptures sounded to him. I wondered how he felt hearing Christians claim the promises that God made to Israel as their own. Later on that evening I prayed, “Father, I want you to be glorified through the events of this evening.”

Yesterday, we visited with my in-laws. It was a nice afternoon. I was blessed near the end of the day to pray with my brother in law, Bob, who is now going through a second round of chemotherapy to treat a tumor. I was ashamed of myself. I prayed with him, his wife, and my wife in a quiet room in the house before he left. He is about seven years my junior. I don’t normally pray for miracles, but yesterday I did. I felt sort of strange praying for such intervention, but I don’t regret doing so. Then when I finished he said he wanted to add something, so he prayed: “Lord, I want my life to glorify you.” That’s what he said. Bob is a special man. I just don’t have words to describe the change that has taken place in his life since his baptism several years ago. You wouldn’t know that Bob has a tumor growing in his body and that the experimental treatments he is receiving may or may not work. He really is only concerned with God’s glory.

Christmas is a difficult time of year. I have been struggling mightily with the idea of God’s blessing. I’m trying to understand how to receive all things with thanksgiving and, at the same time, give everything away so that I don’t have to feel guilty for enjoying with thanksgiving all that God gives to us. In other words, I don’t want to give away just so that I won’t feel guilty. I want to give away because I want to give away. I don’t even want to give away because someone needs something. I just want to give away regardless of the person receiving. I don’t want to do so because I feel guilty. I do not want to do so because it does something for me. I want to give away because I can.

I prayed at the end of the worship Christmas Eve: “Lord, remind us that Christmas doesn’t end tomorrow. Help us remember that the work of Jesus didn’t end in the manger any more than it began in the manger. Lord let us always keep before us the cross whence comes the victory. Lord teach us that Christmas doesn’t end in a manger.” I’m glad the season is over–the holiday aspect of Christmas. I’m also glad that I have today to enjoy every blessing that comes from the Father.

Father, my prayer is simple, but not easy. Lord, I want to be the type of Christian who blesses others. I don’t just mean with money. Instead, I want to be one who blesses others with my actions, my words, my writing, my kindness, my faith–indeed Lord, I want my entire life to be a blessing to someone, given in faith and hope and expectation that I am pleasing You and Bringing glory to Your Name. As we passed the light from the Christ Candle on Christmas Eve so enable us and strengthen us to pass on that same light to others the other 364 days that will exist between this year’s Christmas eve and next year’s. Lord, I give myself to you; make me an offering acceptable and pleasing in Thy sight. Amen. Amen.

Soli Deo Gloria!

jerry

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