Waiting: A Prayer for Advent

Before You came to earth
Your people had to wait

Days...
Weeks...
Months...
Years...
Generations.

Through darkness, uncertainty, struggle and pain
Your children waited
Hoping, believing, praying
So much waiting

 As we now remember this waiting
We recognize that our lives are also filled with waiting -
Waiting for a check to clear,
A traffic light to turn,
A friend to call,
Our plants to grow,
A baby to be born.

In these varied everyday moments, when we find ourselves waiting,
We ask You to meet us anew
Remind us of Your presence, especially when we are tempted to despair

Change us in our waiting
Let us embrace the slow work of Your Spirit
With a bold and unabashed faith

Like the shepherds rejoiced at the angels' proclamation
Prepare our hearts to rejoice as we remember Your arrival
Humble and simple, yet full of glory

Help us in all our waiting
To open our hearts wide
That Your light may come in and fill up every space
Illuminating the darkness both within and around us

We long to not just endure it
But be transformed within it
While we wait

God, sanctify our waiting
Whether it be mundane or extraordinary, painful or easy, long or short
Let waiting do its good work in us
And keep us hoping, believing and praying

In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit
Amen