Prayer for the Third Sunday of Advent

This was my closing prayer for my message about joy on the third Sunday of Advent:

Let us pray. Father we bring before you today all of our anguish and all of our fears and all of our brokenness. We bring before you our suffering at how dark the world is. We confess that we have failed to take your Word seriously and so we find ourselves surprised when confronted with unspeakable evil. We confess that we have become lost and confused in our pursuit of joy in things outside of you, in things that can never bring real joy. We confess that we sometimes wonder where you are in all of the tragedy we see around us. And we confess that we have lost sight of our calling to make disciples by shining your light on the world around us. Lord, in the midst of all of this brokenness, we pray that you would remind us of your presence. We ask that you would once again fill this community and each of us individually with your Holy Spirit, not only so that we ourselves might be comforted, but so that we can bring your comfort and your joy to those who are still waiting for you in darkness. We look forward with great anticipation to the Advent of your son Jesus, bursting forth in light upon this gloomy world. We pray that we can recapture the joy of your apostles, and rejoice in such a way that we bring all nations into you in a kingdom of righteousness, justice, and love. And we pray all of these things in the name of your son and our mighty savior Jesus.

And all God's people said...