A Prayer To Be Someone Who Influences Many Generations For Joy

 December 15 – Ten days before Christmas.  Christmas has come for some folks today in Canada as the first individuals receive the vaccination against the COVID-19 virus.  Only a very few at the moment can get vaccinated but more and more will have the opportunity as the weeks move along and in a few months we’ll be looking back on this very long year of 2020 in a different light than we are seeing it today.

We return again for a few moments to the song Mary sang for joy after the announcement that God had chosen her to be the mother of Jesus Christ.

Oh, how my soul praises the Lord.  How my spirit rejoices in God my Savior! For he took notice of his lowly servant girl, and from now on all generations will call me blessed. For the Mighty One is holy, and he has done great things for me. Luke 1:46-49

As we seek to recapture joy during this very different Christmas season of 2020 it’s good to remember that Go has taken notice of us.  The way we respond to what is going on and to God’s care and love for us in the middle of it all can be a lesson and an encouragement for generations to come.  We can show how in the most difficult of seasons, God is mighty and does great things for His people when they reach out to Him.

It’s still true this year as it has been every other year that God didn’t reject us in the darkness of our sin but chose to send us a Saviour.  That’s worth celebrating every day of every year.

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.  Acts 1:8

It’s also true that it has always been God’s plan to express His life through our lives so that those who have no hope this Christmas will find hope as they witness the greatness of God’s love in us.  That’s hasn’t changed in 2020 just because there’s been a pandemic.

God’s agenda for us during these days counting down to Christmas in 2020 is good.  It’s filled with joy.  Our lives lived inside God’s plan are a place where we can find positive focus, a steady place for our feet to stand, and for our hearts to find peace.  Let’s pray and welcome God’s agenda today.

Thank you God for caring for us, for reaching out to us, for building a relationship with us, and for sustaining us through the difficulties You knew we would face in our lives, including this pandemic of 2020.

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13

Thank you for faith that strengthens us and hope that helps us see and enter into the opportunities that even this season offers us. Inspire us, we pray, to reach out for Your purposes during these days.  As dramatically as the coming of Jesus changed everything for all time, so use our little lives in these days to make a difference in the lives of some for eternity. 

Help us to share the joy of our salvation and the courage that comes from knowing that when we live with You and walk in Your will, nothing is impossible with You. 

May your blessing be upon all who encounter us today. Give us grace to live as faithful members of your family, who learn more every day how to better love and serve you.