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It’s Advent season! Many are getting ready to celebrate Advent in order to embrace the real meaning of this season. While there are many books and websites on advent, there isn’t much to be found on simple Advent prayers.
Many beautiful prayers and liturgies can be located in books and articles on this revered ritual. Some are quite poetic. Some are awfully long too!
Not that there is anything wrong with long prayers. At all. However, if celebrating Advent is new to you, those types of prayers could be overwhelming. Or perhaps even feel unauthentic to who you are or where you are in your Jesus journey.
Simple prayers help us focus in on a few key topics that we can use to learn and lean into Jesus. Advent prayers should be a mix of repentance, celebration, and thanksgiving. Especially celebration as we think of how Jesus came to redeem us. And how He will one day come again to take us home with Him.
What exactly is Advent?
For those unfamiliar with Advent, let’s briefly look at its origins before we look at Advent prayers.
Advent comes from the Latin word Adventus meaning “coming”. Celebrating Advent can be traced back to the 4th and 5th centuries. The Advent wreath was first introduced in Germany in 1839 by a Lutheran minister.
Celebrating Advent is a time where we reflect on preparing our hearts and homes for Christ’s birth in the world we live in today. We use this time to remember what the true meaning of the birth of Jesus is using prayer, meditation, special music, and good deeds.
How do we celebrate Advent?
Those who celebrate Advent typically utilize candles as part of an Advent wreath. The lighting of the Advent candles symbolizes hope, faith, joy, and peace. One is lit each week as we progress towards the 25th when we mark the birth of Christ.
Let’s look at the significance of each candle:
Hope signifies the hope the Old Testament prophecies and Hebrew nation placed in the promise of a coming Messiah.
Faith holds the prophecy Micah and Isaiah foretold of Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem and a coming Messiah. Bethlehem was the birthplace of King David, from whose lineage Jesus came.
Joy is representative of the joy of the shepherds in receiving the news that the promise had come to life!
Peace reminds us of the angels’ message to the shepherds that Emmanuel, God with us, had come to bring peace to His people by uniting them back to the Father.
Some celebrate Advent by lighting a fifth candle which is white, signifying the pureness of Jesus and his victory over sin.
Additionally, the wreath itself holds symbolism with the evergreen signifying new life, and red berries, if used, symbolizing the sacrifice to come from the blood of Jesus.
Simple Advent Prayers
As stated earlier, Advent prayers are a big part of this celebration. Anyone like me who struggles with regular daily prayer? I thought so.
That is why I am including some simple prayers here. You can use these with your whole family (or even a small group) to gather near to God this holiday season.
And you don’t have to pray exactly as they are written. Use these as jumping off points for your own simple prayers to take shape as you talk with your heavenly Father.
10 Simple Advent Prayers
- Thank you for your sacrifice. Jesus, I am so appreciative of your sacrifice on the cross for me. Because of your willingness to take on my sin, I can have relationship with the Father. It is so good to know that I am made new and whole as I have placed my faith in you.
- Thank you for your mercy. Lord, I messed up again. Daily I try to do the right things, yet sometimes my emotions get the best of me, and I make wrong choices. Thanks for your mercy that covers my mistakes and restores me again and again. Keep helping me to listen to your will so I don’t keep straying onto wrong paths.
- Comfort for others. Lord, the holidays are hard for many people for various reasons. They may be mourning a loss of a loved one, a relationship or a job. Or they may miss family and friends they are unable to visit. Whatever the reason for their sadness, comfort them, ease their depression and anxiety and bring them peace.
- Help me keep learning. I want to understand more about you and grow in my journey Jesus. Give me an open mind and heart to learn what you want me to know and to go where you want me to go. Teach me in ways that I will be able to teach others. Give me a desire for the Word.
- Remaining joyful. Jesus help me keep a good sense of humor and remain joyful despite circumstances. Help me not to let the chaos of the world or my own personal trials get me down. Give me that joy and peace that passes all understanding as I keep my hope in You.
- Thank you for family and friends. I am grateful for those around me that I do life with. Let our bonds of love continue to grow strong. Let us be quick to forgive one another and remain in community always.
- Freedom from hurts and bad habits. The enemy keeps reminding me of hurtful things…mistakes I’ve made, people who have hurt me, habits that are destructive to me. Lord free me of the burden of these things. Help me remember you love me no matter what and you have made me to be an overcomer. I don’t have to listen to the lies of the enemy. Free my mind and spirit to walk in your ways God and live the life you meant me to.
- Thank you for the birth of Christ. Without your son Jesus, we couldn’t be redeemed to you God, so we thank you for His birth. We praise you for your plan to save us, for love that allowed you to send your only son for our sake. Presents and twinkling lights are nice, but it is you we truly celebrate this season.
- Prepare our hearts to give you room. Lord we don’t want to be like the Innkeeper. Let us make room for you, not only at the holidays but through every season of our lives. Let our hearts make space for you to live, guide and teach us each day. May the spirit of Christmas remain in our hearts all year.
- Compassion for lost souls. Father let us not forget that we too once were lost. That the saving grace that covers us can and will cover others. May we be slow to get angry or judge others who do not know you as their Savior. Allow our words and actions to show them your love and light.
As you celebrate Advent with your family and friends, I hope these simple prayers set you on a path that highlights the reason for the season.
It is an exciting and yet melancholy time for me as I am experiencing many firsts this holiday. Knowing that I can turn to the Word and the promises written there bring me hope and peace though.
They restore to me the desire to celebrate Advent and remember all that is good. And they remind me that I am created by a loving Creator who made me on purpose and for a purpose.
May these simple Advent prayers be the start of something big as you celebrate Advent this year!
Want to save these 10 simple Advent prayers? Click here for the PDF!