Lindisfarne Island, Chris Combe from York, UK, CC BY 2.0 Wikimedia Commons
Come, Lord Jesus, Come as King. Rule in our hearts, Come as love. Rule in our minds, Come as peace. Rule in our actions, Come as power. Rule in our days, Come as joy. Rule in our darkness, Come as light. Rule in our bodies, Come as health. Rule in our labors, Come as hope. Thy Kingdom come Among us.
David Adam 1936-2020 British Anglican priest, served at Lindisfarne
In our secret yearnings we wait for your coming, and in our grinding despair we doubt that you will.
And in this privileged place we are surrounded by witnesses who yearn more than do we and by those who despair more deeply than do we. Look upon your church and its pastors in this season of hope which runs so quickly to fatigue and this season of yearning which becomes so easily quarrelsome. Give us the grace and the impatience to wait for you coming to the bottom of our toes, to the edges of our finger tips. We do not want our several worlds to end.
Come in your power and come in your weakness in any case and make all things new. Amen.
Walter Brueggemann 1933-2025 American Old Testament theologian
I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.
O come, faithful God, who empowers the weak, who encourages the fearful, who enlightens the blind, who intones the deaf, who energizes the lame, who emancipates the speechless, who enriches the poor, who invigorates the dead;
O come, faithful God, come and enable us, right now, to worship you and work for your Kingdom, filled with your strength, your hope, your vision, your melody, your motivation, your Word, your inheritance, your Life!
All this we pray, through him who came to be our Savior, who lives to be our Lord, who will return and fully make all things new;
“My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me— holy is his name. His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation. He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts. He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble. He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty. He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful to Abraham and his descendants forever, just as he promised our ancestors.”
Isaiah of old prayed, “Let the earth open wide her mouth; as justice descends, O heavens,
like the dew from above, like gentle showers, let salvation fall from the skies; let justice spring up and salvation bud forth.” Come gentle rain of Advent-tide, soak deep into my heart, calling forth signs of an early spring. Make buds appear on my heart’s barren rosebush and blooms on its dried flower stalks. Come showers of silence and wet my soul; soak deeply with your fertile fingers, dripping heaven’s dew. May I come forth from my times of prayer as from a bath: dripping wet from a sacred soaking,
refreshed, renewed, revitalized. Advent prayer of December stillness, dampen my dry soul, coax forth green leaves of the Spirit
and bring forth buds of bright flowers
as green trees flicker with magic lights
and green wreath circles whirl on front doors, red-bowed in festive joy. May soggy souls ooze out awesome gifts, for Emmanuel, God-among-us, is awakened from a yearlong slumber
by gentle mists of Advent longing
and is eager to give gifts of love,
presents of your presence. Radiant Rain God, make me your brimful cloud, ready to shower down Emmanuel’s justice and peace
upon all I meet.
Edward Hayes, 1931 – 2016, Catholic Priest, Kansas City
Loving God when we stand in our own wildernesses when we stand in the midst of our questions when we stand surrounded by our hurts and darknesses may we meet you in the same place a God not scared to meet us in that which is liminal shadowy uncomfortable and imagine a God who dares breathe new life in the arid moments
God may we live in such an advent a moment of life a place of promise that takes all we are the cracks and bruises and speaks with promise with vision reimagining everything we are and says you are renewed you are reborn you are alive again
In such a place as this where deserts bloom and new roadways are made may we grow again dare believe in something more and live into such a way and that we begin here this moment this place this community
a birthing place a promise place an unconditional place of love in skin and among us
May we live within that promise forever So be it Amen
Roddy Hamilton, New Kilpatrick Parish Church Scotland
Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.
A voice cries: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain.
Image from Art4TheGlryOfGod by Sharon under Creative Commons license
Our world carries the scars of the way we live, Jesus; the preferential treatment given to the few who are wealthy and powerful and famous leaves the rest ignored and neglected; the desperate quest for more leaves all of us feeling less, enjoying less; the self-protective aggression we embrace to feel safe leaves us and others wounded and frightened; the apathetic disregard for the suffering, the grieving, the dying leaves us disconnected from our own humanity, from our ability to feel and to care.
We need our world turned upside down, Jesus; We need our self-importance and self-sufficiency to be undermined; We need a new way of being that is built on a whole new set of values:
Humble the powerful and exalt the humble, we pray; Fill the hungry with good things, and keep the satisfied from taking even more; Give us the wisdom to let a Child lead us into a world of justice and love; into the joy of sacrifice and service and simplicity.
O come, Emmanuel, and ransom your captive people. Amen.
John van de Laar, South African Methodist worship minster
A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him— the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of might, the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord— and he will delight in the fear of the Lord.
He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears; but with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked. Righteousness will be his belt and faithfulness the sash around his waist.
The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them. The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. The infant will play near the cobra’s den, and the young child will put its hand into the viper’s nest. They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.
prayer & verse 
