A Slow Advent Prayer
Four quiet weeks to get your heart ready
SaveEvery year it's the same. Advent is supposed to be a season of waiting, and somehow it turns into the busiest month of the year. By Christmas Eve you're worn out, and the quiet you hoped for never came.
A slow Advent starts before December. Here is a prayer to pray now, a simple plan for the four weeks before Advent begins on November 29, and ten King James verses about waiting quietly on God.
The prayer
Lord,
I don't want to rush through another Advent. Every year I mean to slow down, and every year the lists win. This year, start with my heart before the calendar fills up.
Teach me to wait the way Your people waited for the first Christmas: watching, hoping and not in a hurry. In returning and rest, let me find my strength. In quietness and confidence, let me find You.
Show me what I can leave undone. Give me the courage to say no to good things so I can say yes to You. When I feel behind, remind me that the first Christmas came to people who weren't ready either.
Let my home be a little quieter this year, my words a little softer, and my heart open enough to notice You.
In Jesus' name, Amen.
How to pray it
- Pray the prayer once now, and again each Sunday until Christmas.
- Write down the three things you most want December to hold, and the three you could let go of.
- Take one verse from the plan below each week and read it slowly every morning.
- Keep ten minutes a day that the holiday list can't touch.
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Four weeks to slow down before Advent
Week 1 (Nov 2): Isaiah 30:15 (KJV)
For thus saith the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel; In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength: and ye would not.
Rest is not laziness. Ask God what you're rushing toward, and what you're running from.
Week 2 (Nov 9): Psalm 62:1 (KJV)
Truly my soul waiteth upon God: from him cometh my salvation.
Practice waiting in small ways: one quiet cup of coffee, no phone, just you and Him.
Week 3 (Nov 16): Psalm 103:2 (KJV)
Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits:
Thanksgiving week is coming. Make a slow list of what God has done this year.
Week 4 (Nov 23): Habakkuk 2:20 (KJV)
But the LORD is in his holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before him.
Advent starts Sunday. Clear a little space, in your home and on your calendar, for Him.
Ten verses for waiting quietly
5. Psalm 31:14-15 (KJV)
14But I trusted in thee, O LORD: I said, Thou art my God. 15My times are in thy hand: deliver me from the hand of mine enemies, and from them that persecute me.
My times are in Your hand, including December.
6. Psalm 143:8 (KJV)
Cause me to hear thy lovingkindness in the morning; for in thee do I trust: cause me to know the way wherein I should walk; for I lift up my soul unto thee.
A morning prayer for the way you should walk today.
7. Isaiah 64:4 (KJV)
For since the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen, O God, beside thee, what he hath prepared for him that waiteth for him.
God works for the one who waits for Him.
8. Micah 7:7 (KJV)
Therefore I will look unto the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation: my God will hear me.
I will look unto the LORD; I will wait.
9. Psalm 37:7 (KJV)
Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass.
Rest in the LORD, and don't fret over what others are doing.
10. Isaiah 40:29 (KJV)
He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.
For the tired heart before the season even starts.
11. Luke 2:25 (KJV)
And, behold, there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon; and the same man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel: and the Holy Ghost was upon him.
Simeon waited his whole life, and he was not too late.
12. Romans 8:25 (KJV)
But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.
Hope that waits with patience.
13. James 5:7-8 (KJV)
7Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain. 8Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.
Wait like a farmer: patient, steady, expecting.
14. Psalm 46:1 (KJV)
God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
A very present help, even in the busiest month.
A slow Advent doesn't mean doing nothing. It means doing fewer things with your whole heart, and leaving room for God to meet you there. If you'd like a guide for the 25 days themselves, The Light Is Coming gives you one KJV reading and one short prayer for each morning of Advent, about ten minutes a day.
Go deeper
The Light Is Coming: 25-Day KJV Advent Devotional & Prayer JournalTen quiet minutes with Jesus each morning until Christmas, without the December rush crowding Him out.
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