Welcome to Lectio for Families. It’s the Advent season, the time when we prepare to celebrate the birth of Jesus at Christmas, and we are continuing with our series called ‘Voices of Advent’. This week we are listening to the voices of two very important women, Elizabeth and Mary.

Each day we will simply pray (P.R.A.Y.) together.
P: PAUSING to be still.
R: REJOICING with a Memory Verse and REFLECTING on some verses from the Bible.
A: ASKING God to help us and others.
Y: saying YES to God’s ways.

Pause

We start by pausing and taking a deep breath:
In and out.
In and out.
We remember that God is here, and so together we prepare ourselves to be with God.

Pause

Prayer of Welcome

Lord Jesus, we are excited to be celebrating Your birth this Christmas. Amongst all the busyness of this season – all the planning and the preparations – please help us to pause and be still. We open our ears to hear You now, and we prepare our hearts to receive You once again.

Rejoice

Memory Verse

We REJOICE and celebrate God’s goodness with this week’s memory verse:

God, help us to remember Your Word.

Reflect

Bible Reading

Today, we’re REFLECTING on the moment when an angel told Mary that she was going to give birth to a very special baby.

Read by Ruby
Luke 1:30-34
But the angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favour with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.’ ‘How will this be?’ Mary asked the angel.
Luke 1:30-34a (NIVUK)

Let’s try to imagine this scene for a moment. Mary was just a young girl, probably a teenager, and an angel appeared to her. An ANGEL! (What do we think it looked like?)

And as if this wasn’t shocking enough, the angel then told Mary that she was going to be the mother of a baby who would be God’s own son… WOW! No wonder the first thing the angel said to Mary was, ‘Don’t be afraid!’

However, Mary didn’t seem afraid. She just seemed confused. ‘How will this be?’ she asked. It’s impossible… isn’t it?

Let’s press pause and talk about today’s question, which is: If we could make one impossible thing possible, what would it be? Maybe it would be to meet a dinosaur, or to travel into the future, or something else?

• PAUSE the audio player now

Ask

ASK Prayers

Is there something in our lives – maybe something that we’ve been praying about – that feels impossible at the moment?

Father God, You are good at doing impossible things – we’ve read about so many miracles in the Bible, and maybe we’ve heard about a few from other people too. We ASK You to give us faith to believe and pray for things that seem impossible. Help us to trust You with all our hearts, just like Mary did.

• OPTIONAL: PAUSE the audio player now and pray

Maybe we know someone else who is believing or praying for something that feels impossible – someone who is praying for a miracle right now; maybe it’s a new job, or a sick friend that needs healing, or something else.

Loving God, we ASK You to comfort them and give them strength while they wait on You. And we also join in with their prayers as we ASK for a miracle – please make the impossible possible for them.

• OPTIONAL: PAUSE the audio player now and pray

Yes

Bible Reading

As we read the Bible again, let’s listen for a word or a phrase that the Holy Spirit might want to say to us from today’s verses.

Luke 1:30-34
But the angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favour with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.’ ‘How will this be?’ Mary asked the angel.
Luke 1:30-34a (NIVUK)

What word or phrase stood out from today’s Bible verses?

• OPTIONAL: PAUSE the audio player now and tell each other

YES Prayer

And now, let’s say YES to God together.

Father God, thank You that You are a God who does impossible things. We say YES to putting our faith in You – we will trust You, even when we don’t understand everything.

Memory Verse

After enjoying this time with God and each other, let’s say our memory verse together:

Closing Prayer

Let’s put a hand on our heart.
Father God, fill us with Your love. Help us to love You, and everything that You’ve made.

Let’s point to our eyes.
Lord Jesus, help us to see You, and to see others the way that You see them too.

Let’s point to our ears.
Holy Spirit, help us to hear You, and give us courage to do what You say.