Pocket Prayers for Advent and Christmas. Jan McFarlane

us on and invites us to resolve to do better in the light of all we have learned from the Christmas story. The wise men travel on to Bethlehem with their gifts and call us to offer all that we have in the service of this tiny, life-changing king. We step out into the future with the Light of the World as our guide, ready for all the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.

       HOW TO USE THIS BOOK

      For those who like structure, the first chapter offers a prayer a day for the first three weeks of Advent. The second chapter has prayers for the fourth week of Advent, and a prayer a day for the seven days covered by the Advent Antiphons (17–23 December). The third and fourth chapters give a wealth of material to take us from Christmas Eve to New Year’s Eve. The final chapter offers a prayer a day from New Year’s Eve until the feast of the Epiphany on 6 January, followed by prayers to ponder until the season ends on 2 February.

      Please don’t feel bound by the structure. Many of us lead gently chaotic lives and we may find that days go by when we are simply too busy or tired to offer more than a brief arrow prayer to God. Don’t feel guilty. God understands. But there may suddenly be a moment when the train is delayed or the children’s nativity rehearsal overruns. These are golden opportunities to find a prayer that resonates and to read it slowly, perhaps several times, letting the imagery unfold and allowing God to speak to us wherever we are. If we allow him to speak, he will. We simply need to listen.

       Jan McFarlane

       WAITING...THE SEASON OF ADVENT

       We’re not very good at waiting. If you need evidence, see how early the mince pies arrive on the supermarket shelves. Some supermarkets now stock them all year round. Why? Because we don’t want to wait for Christmas.

       And yet the season of Advent – the four weeks leading up to Christmas Eve – is all about waiting. And watching. And reflecting. Amid the frantic shopping and the laden lists and the parties and the present wrapping, we’re asked to pause for a moment to think. We’re asked to prepare ourselves, not just practically but spiritually, to welcome the new-born Christ child.

       We’re asked to look past the outward trappings of the preparations for Christmas – to look at ourselves, our own lives. And to see them in the light of the God who is to be born in a messy stable, turning all our values upside down. And the God who will come again at the end of time to ask us how we did.

      THE FIRST WEEK OF ADVENT

       The Collect for Advent Sunday

      Almighty God,

      give us grace that we may cast away

      the works of darkness,

      and put upon us the armour of light,

      now in the time of this mortal life,

      in which thy Son Jesus Christ

      came to visit us in great humility;

      that in the last day,

      when he shall come again in his glorious Majesty

      to judge both the quick and the dead,

      we may rise to the life immortal,

      through him who liveth and reigneth

      with thee and the Holy Ghost,

      now and ever. Amen.

       The Book of Common Prayer

      Lo, he comes with clouds descending,

      once for favoured sinners slain;

      thousand thousand saints attending

      swell the triumph of his train:

      Alleluia!

      God appears on earth to reign.

      Yea, Amen, let all adore thee,

      high on thy eternal throne;

      Saviour, take the power and glory,

      claim the kingdom for thine own:

      Alleluia!

      Thou shalt reign, and thou alone.

       Charles Wesley (1707–88)

       and John Cennick (1718–55)

      Our heavenly Father,

      as once again we prepare for Christmas,

      help us to find time in our busy lives

      for quiet thought and prayer;

      that we may reflect upon the wonder of your love

      and allow the story of the Saviour’s birth

      to penetrate our hearts and minds.

      So may our joy be deeper,

      our worship more real,

      and our lives worthier of all that you have done for us

      through the coming of your Son,

      Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

       Frank Colquhoun (1909–97)

      God of Abraham and Sarah

      and all the patriarchs of old,

      you are our Father too.

      Your love is revealed to us in Jesus Christ,

      Son of God and Son of David.

      Help us in preparing to celebrate his birth

      to make our hearts ready for your Holy Spirit

      to make his home among us.

      We ask this through Jesus Christ,

      the light who is coming into the world. Amen.

       Common Worship: Times and Seasons

      Heavenly Father, you have created a universe of light:

      forgive us when we return to darkness.

      Lord, have mercy.

      Lord Jesus, you are the light of the world:

      cleanse and heal our blinded sight.

      Christ, have mercy.

      Holy Spirit, you give us light in our hearts:

      renew us in faith and love.

      Lord, have mercy.

       Common Worship: Times and Seasons

      You keep us waiting.

      You, the God of all time,

      want us to wait

      for the right time in which to discover

      who we are, where we must go,

      who will be with us, and what we must do.

      So thank you . . . for the waiting time.

       Iona Community Worship Book

      Lord,

      I turn my thoughts

      to you.

      Within the whirlwind of my day

      I stop

      and think of you.

      It’s far too easy to forget you

      in the busyness and bustle

      of