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An Advent Prayer for Our Children and Grandchildren

     And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace. Luke 1:76-79 (NIV)

     Dear heavenly Father, it’s easy to forget the other child of promise you sent as an important part of the Advent story—John the Baptist, the forerunner of the Messiah and friend of the Bridegroom. His birth and life are such a testimony to the way, the gospel.

     Grant us John’s joy of growing small in the world’s eye, that Jesus might be greater in the world’s gaze. And grant us the joy of John’s parents, Elizabeth and Zechariah, who only wanted what you wanted for their son. May the same be true as we consider the lives of our children and our grandchildren.

    What more could we want for our kids than for them to love Jesus more than anything or anyone else in the world? What other story would we write for them, than a story of serving you with everything they have and are?

     Father, we lift our children and grandchildren to you. For those who don’t know you, please bring them to a saving knowledge of Jesus. Make the gospel beautiful and irresistible to them. For those who do know you, take them into even greater intimacy with yourself. Don’t let their affection for Jesus grow cool, or their passion for your kingdom grow weak.

     Our prayer for our children and grandchildren is the same one we offer for ourselves: Father, guide our hearts deeper into the habits of the gospel, and guide our feet more surely onto paths of peace. Free us to live and love well between the two Advents of Jesus—loving mercy, doing justice, and walking humbly with you. So very Amen we pray, in Jesus’ holy and loving name.  

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