A Prayer for Christmas Day

By Bill Pence 

Father in Heaven,

Today we celebrate Your Son on Christmas Day! As we celebrate this joyous day, we look forward to gathering with family and friends to worship at church services, exchange gifts, enjoy meals and our family traditions. But most importantly, we remember the incarnation, the day when everything changed. On that day, Jesus, your only Son, left Heaven and came to earth to live as a man. This was a plan that was made in perfect unity with the Trinity before the foundation of the world. That baby in the manger, the baby that would one day go to the cross for us, was your beloved only Son – truly and fully both God and man. He came to earth to save us from our sins and reconcile us to You, and we are so thankful.

Veiled in flesh, the Godhead see;

Hail, the incarnate Deity:

Pleased, as man, with men to dwell,

Jesus, our Immanuel!

Hark! the herald angels sing, Glory to the new-born King!

Father, we are so lost, so unable to save ourselves, that nothing less than the death of the Son of God Himself could save us. We can’t pull ourselves together and live a moral and good life.  We deserve the penalty of death because of our rebellious hearts, but He took our just punishment for us and gave us eternal life!  Jesus came to earth and lived the perfect life we should have lived, but couldn’t, and died the death that we should have died.  For our sake you made Jesus to be sin who was perfect and knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God. Only the substitutionary death of your Son Jesus could save us.  Such amazing mercy and grace!

As we sing in the lyrics of “Joy to the World”:

No more let sins and sorrows grow,

Nor thorns infest the ground;

He comes to make His blessings flow

Far as the curse is found.

We thank you for the life and death of your Son, who came to earth to live as a perfect man and die for our sins. Thank you for saving those who have already trusted Christ for their lives, salvation and eternal life. We pray that many will trust Jesus this Christmas. He is the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to You except through Him.

And we ask this all in Jesus’ name,

Amen

Bill Pence is a St. Louis Cardinals fan, formerly a manager at a Fortune 50 organization, and in leadership at his local church. He is a life-long learner and his passion is to help people develop, and to use their strengths to their fullest potential.

His favorite book is the Bible. Romans is his favorite book of the Bible, and Colossians 3:23 and 2 Corinthians 5:21 being his favorite verses. Other favorite books are The Holiness of God, and Chosen by God by R.C. Sproul, and Don’t Waste Your Life by John Piper. Bill enjoys music in a variety of genres, including modern hymns, Christian hip-hop and classic rock.

Bill is married to his best friend Tammy, a graduate of Covenant Seminary. Both have written a book. Bill’s book is, Called to Lead: Living and Leading for Jesus in the work place. Tammy’s book is,  Study, Savor and Share Scripture: Becoming What We Behold are available in paperback and Kindle editions on Amazon.

Feature Photo by Wallpaper Use