A Year of Prayer: Season One Weekday DevotionalsSample

Have you heard of a ‘birthday month’? Similar to the season of Christmas, some people have adopted the idea of stretching a birthday to four whole weeks to enjoy the attention further! Many of us will be feeling tired just reading that. Like any large celebration or gathering, or event we may organise, we imagine the postage, parcels, packing, presentations, potlucks, parties, and a partridge in a pear tree!

Christmas, for example, is one of the busiest times for most people, and most Christians' year. The word Christmas comes from ‘Christ’s Mass’, a liturgical church event centred around the Anointed Messiah’s arrival on earth as a human child. Christmas, in its most public understanding, is a public holiday time for giving and receiving gifts on December 25. For many Christians, it is this PLUS the former. But what would the Christ that we know and celebrate like to have happen over this season?

If you’ve ever had a party or celebration organised on your behalf, but the party planner has chosen the cake they want, not invited your friends but their own, and has chosen food and colours and sounds they like - you begin to get the picture. If you’re in a busy season right now and you need more peace, a slower pace, and a loving Christ at the centre - then come back to the Jesus who gives strength and power, who has infinite wisdom, who doesn’t tire or weary of you, or us, or encountering us in fresh ways this time of year.

Prayer: Jesus, show me how to love and see you with fresh eyes this season. Let us encounter your unexpected love.

Action: Spend some time quietly observing today. What do you notice?