Week: The Advent Voices - Heaven
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.
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
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.
We REJOICE and celebrate God’s goodness with this week’s memory verse:
Read by Vera Lynn
Luke 2:10
The angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid. I am bringing you good news that will be a great joy to all the people.’
Luke 2:10 (NCV)
God, help us to remember Your Word.
Today, we’re REFLECTING on the story of the wise men who followed an unusual star all the way to Jesus.
Read by Vera Lynn
Matthew 2:1-2
Jesus was born in the town of Bethlehem in Judea during the time when Herod was king. When Jesus was born, some wise men from the east came to Jerusalem. They asked, ‘Where is the baby who was born to be the king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him.’
Matthew 2:1-2 (NCV)
We’ve probably all seen Christmas cards with three wise men on the front, probably riding camels. Maybe weve got a Christmas card just like this on a shelf right now?
Well, the Bible doesn’t actually tell us how many wise men there were – they may have been 5 or even 10 of them – and the Bible doesn’t tell us what they were riding either. In fact, we know very little about these mysterious wise men, except that they searched the skies for clues and signs about things on earth, and one day they saw an unusual star that they knew they had to follow. They believed that it would lead them to the place where a new king had been born, so they packed up all their belongings and set off on their big adventure.
Some people think that the wise men travelled more than 1000km to get to Bethlehem. Let’s press pause and talk about today’s question, which is: If we were going on a 1000km road trip, what essential things would we take with us?
And now, let’s ASK God to help us and others.
God put an unusual star in the sky – a clue for the wise men to follow, a sign pointing towards Jesus. And God still does this today, in lots of small ways. God leaves clues and signs in the world around us – in conversations that we have with people, in movies that we watch and books that we read, even in nature – that all point us towards Jesus.
Loving God, the world is filled with You and Your glory. (Psalm 19) We ASK You to give us eyes that see the clues and signs of Your presence all around us.
In Paul’s letter to the church in Philippi he encourages them to follow Jesus and to live good lives, because then they will ‘shine like stars in a dark world.’ (Philippians 2:15b NCV)
Lord Jesus, we ASK this for ourselves – help us to shine like stars, so that we are like signs pointing others towards You, just like the star of Bethlehem pointed the wise men towards You.
And we also ASK this for the churches in our town or city. May we shine like stars in a dark world too. We pray that many people would be drawn to this light and discover that it is You, Jesus, living in us and through us.
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.
Matthew 2:1-2
Jesus was born in the town of Bethlehem in Judea during the time when Herod was king. When Jesus was born, some wise men from the east came to Jerusalem. They asked, ‘Where is the baby who was born to be the king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him.’
Matthew 2:1-2 (NCV)
What word or phrase stood out from today’s Bible verses?
And now, let’s say YES to God together.
Lord Jesus, You are the Light of the world (John 8:12 NCV), You are the bright morning star (Revelation 22:16 NCV), and so we say YES to following You, wherever You lead us.
After enjoying this time with God and each other, let’s say our memory verse together:
Luke 2:10
The angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid. I am bringing you good news that will be a great joy to all the people.’
Luke 2:10 (NCV)
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.
Phil lives close to a beach in the north of England with his wife, his daughters and his dogs. Phil works for 24-7 Prayer, mostly doing Lectio stuff, and helping to run Prayer Spaces in Schools. He runs a lot, usually for long distances. He likes curry, mountains, reading books and he still plays Pokemon Go.
Vera Lynn is 10 years old and lives in Phoenix, Arizona, USA with her parents, sister, and dog Max. Her favourite hobbies include reading, knitting, sewing, and embroidery. She is very creative. Her favourite book is The Voyage of the Dawn Treader in the Chronicles of Narnia series by CS Lewis.
