Week: Voices of Advent
As usual, 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’re looking forward to celebrating Your birth this Christmas. Help us to be still amongst all the planning and the preparations, to rest in Your presence and remember what and who we are celebrating.
We REJOICE and celebrate God’s goodness with this week’s memory verse:
Read by Jackson R
Matthew 1:23
‘She will have a son, and they will name him Immanuel,’ which means ‘God is with us.’
Matthew 1:23b (NCV)
God, help us to remember Your Word.
Today, we’re REFLECTING on the story of Zechariah. Zechariah was a priest and he worked in the Temple. Zechariah lost his voice because he didn’t believe an angel’s promise – that his wife, Elizabeth, would give birth, even though she was very old. We’re reflecting on what happened when the time came to name the baby.
Read by Jackson R
Luke 1:59-64
They wanted to name him Zechariah because this was his father’s name, but his mother said, ‘No! He will be named John.’ The people said to Elizabeth, ‘But no one in your family has this name.’ Then they made signs to his father to find out what he would like to name him. Zechariah asked for a writing tablet and wrote, ‘His name is John,’ and everyone was surprised. Immediately Zechariah could talk again, and he began praising God.
Luke 1:59b-64 (NCV)
Names were really important in Zechariah’s day and it was really common for parents to name their baby after a family member. However, God had already told Zechariah about the baby’s identity, and about God’s plans for him.
This baby was special. Not only was his birth a miracle, but he was Jesus’ cousin – he was the one who would set the scene for Jesus, and prepare people for Jesus’ arrival. So, Zechariah and Elizabeth did what the angel had said and they called their baby John, which means ‘God is gracious’. When Zechariah listened to God his voice came back and the very first thing he did was praise God!
Let’s press pause and talk about today’s questions which are: How were our names chosen? Were we named after anyone or do our names mean anything?
Let’s close our eyes and be quiet for a moment.
Loving God, sometimes we find it hard to believe that there are good things in store for us. We ASK You to remind us of Your promises to us; that You love us, have great plans for us, and want us to speak out about Your goodness.
We also ASK God to help those we know who feel like their voices aren’t being heard by God.
Heavenly Father, for those whose prayers haven’t been answered as they were expecting or at the exact time they were hoping, we pray that they won’t lose hope in their prayers and that they will keep bringing them to You. We ASK you to speak your promises to them too.
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 1:59-64
They wanted to name him Zechariah because this was his father’s name, but his mother said, ‘No! He will be named John.’ The people said to Elizabeth, ‘But no one in your family has this name.’ Then they made signs to his father to find out what he would like to name him. Zechariah asked for a writing tablet and wrote, ‘His name is John,’ and everyone was surprised. Immediately Zechariah could talk again, and he began praising God.
Luke 1:59b-64 (NCV)
What word or phrase stood out from today’s Bible verses?
And now, let’s say YES to God together.
Loving God, we say YES to using our voices, both to praise you and to encourage those around us. We choose to speak about Your love, Your truth, and Your hope to those around us this Advent.
After enjoying this time with God and each other, let’s say our memory verse together:
Matthew 1:23
‘She will have a son, and they will name him Immanuel,’ which means ‘God is with us.’
Matthew 1:23b (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.
Unathi lives in Johannesburg, South Africa, with her husband and 5 kids; and has a passion for seeing families thriving.
You’ll most likely find her homeschooling the tribe, reading, writing, or dreaming about the next DIY project.
She also loves good coffee, dark chocolate and hiking.
Jackson is 11 and lives with his younger brother and parents in Surrey. He loves pretty much all sport but his favourites are football, golf and jumping off high stuff into water! He enjoys gaming and is always ready to build something on Minecraft.
