Excerpted from To Light Their Way by Kayla Craig

A Prayer for Advent

O come, Emmanuel.

We enter this time of Advent

With holy anticipation.

We enter this sacred season

With bated breath.

 

O come, Emmanuel.

We’re prone to get tangled

In sparkling lights and glittering tinsel,

Lost in to-do lists

Swallowed in the seas

Of ribbons and restless hearts and weary souls.

 

O come, Emmanuel.

Our nights have not been silent,

Calm, or bright.

We have been up late

Squinting at the stars,

Trying to make sense

Of the hurting world our children will inherit,

And our weary hearts in it all.

 

O come, Emmanuel.

We see the wonder etched in our children’s eyes,

And we ask for our grown-up anxieties

To be set free

As we await the day

To celebrate

The God who made a way.

 

O come, Emmanuel.

Ignite in us the awe of a child,

Looking into a manger scene

As we wait on the promise

Of the coming infant King

In a humble stable.

 

O come, Emmanuel.

The whole world waits for You.

We are at war with each other

And ourselves.

We have clung to our idols

Of power and pocketbooks,

And we cry out for the ways

We have reflected King Herod,

Even as we ache for You,

Prince of Peace.

 

O come, Emmanuel.

Help us light the candles

And illuminate the darkness

Within us.

O Light of the world,

Be with us as we recite these stories

With our children—

Of shepherds and angels and

Peace for all people.

Ring the bells

Of righteousness, of justice, of hope.

 

O come, Emmanuel.

Help us prepare the way

In our hearts and in our home,

In our family and in our children.

As we hang stockings and ornaments,

As we frost cookies and tie bows,

We know Your peace

Can’t be bought or packaged.

 

O come, Emmanuel.

We anticipate great news

That we so desperately need.

Break into this world

Again and again and again.

Like You did so many years ago.

Bring joy to the people,

Hope to the hopeless,

Light to the darkness.

And may we and our children

Prepare You room

So that we may be instruments

Of Your peace.

 

O come, Emmanuel.

We thank You for this time of anticipation

And for the glimmers of Your light

Spilling in even now

Among the ornaments and the candy canes.

We thank You for this time of together.

Help us to get quiet, to get small

So we can make space in our souls

For the Newborn

Who will illuminate the darkness

And change everything.

 

O come,

O come,

Emmanuel.

 

“God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him. The Word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.” John 1: 3-5, NLT