December 21, 2021 - Psalms‬ ‭68:5-6a

“The God who is in his holy dwelling place is the father of the fatherless and the defender of widows. God places lonely people in families.”

Psalms 68:5-6a GW

Lord, we thank you so much for the wonderful blessing Christmas is to us. We thank you for sending your son to come to earth and fill in the divide between humanity and you. What a tremendous blessing! That definitely gives us reason to celebrate during this holiday. We thank you for the fact that you love to celebrate and have us set aside holidays as a time to remember what you have done for us. Please help us to stop regularly, in the craziness that so often comes with this holiday, to remember what it is truly about. Every time we see a decoration, or we have a thought about Christmas, we want to take a moment and thank you for what you did for us. It is such a wonderful time of year because of the gift you gave us.

Lord, with that said, for some, Christmas time can also be a sad time. For those who have lost a family member or close friend that they normally celebrate with, it can highlight that loss. For those without a family, for those who are single and wanting a spouse, for those couples without children who long to have them, it can be a time that makes these places of lack stand out even more. It can be an extra lonely season for some. Lord, we pray this verse over those people. Fill the lonely places. For those who are without family where they are, place them in another family for Christmas. For those who are grieving a loss or the lack of someone they want, dwell extra close to them this season. Lord, if any of us are in that place, show us how to balance experiencing the appropriate grief for those missing, but help us not to get stuck in that grief. Help us not to get our eyes so focused on the grief that we can’t see anything else. Show us if there is anything that you want us to do that will help us get past the hurt or loneliness.

Lord, we also ask that you open our eyes to anyone around us that is lonely or hurting this holiday season. Give us your insight to anything that we can do to help those situations. Show us if there is anyone that we need to invite into our families’ celebrations this year. Show us if there is any one we just need to make the time to stop by and visit or invite out for a meal or coffee. Show us if there is any one we need to buy a present for, bake some cookies for, or just write an encouraging note. Help us see beyond the craziness of our own lives in this season to see those around us who really need to be seen. Give us your divine revelation on exactly what they need that we can offer. Lord, thank you for how you see us all and know exactly what we need. You are such an amazing God, and we want to be your representatives to the hurting and lonely this season.

In Jesus name, amen.