Advent, Day Four

Advent, Day Four
Take the gospel of each day and spend ten minutes with it. Read it, and read it again. Walk into the world with the gospel in your heart. The gospel word of the day can become like a painting on the walls of your inner room, the inner room that is your heart... You have chances every second to live this Word, but it had to be in you. It can't be just an idea, it has to sink from the mind into the heart. That's prayer--to let God's Word speak deep within you and tell you, "You are my beloved."

Henri J.M. Nouwen Interview
Liguorian Magazine,October 1992

Scripture:
²⁵ “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? ³² For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. ³³ But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.      Matthew 6:25, 32-33

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First Presbyterian Church Advent - 2020

Prayer

 
A Prayer for the Heartbroken

Merciful Father,

You have always heard the cries of Your children, and our heartbreak has always been Yours, as well.

Today I ask for you to comfort me. I am hurting, exhausted, grieving. Draw close to my brokenheartedness, with the fullness of Your presence and love.
Grant me hope for the path forward even as You tend to the wounds of my heart. Bless me with a community of kindness, friends who are attentive to my needs and longings, who listen well and remind me of Your faithfulness.
I cannot walk alone in this hour of need. Shower me with Your compassion and mercy, Your tenderness and wisdom, Your steadfast love.

And with this love You can bring beauty out of ashes, hope out of despair.
Father, only You can heal the hearts of Your children who are hurting
with Your love that has overcome the grave.

Amen.

Scripture

 Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear. But the angel said to him:“Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John. He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born. He will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”
Luke 1:11-17