With Christmas just around the corner, there is much to distract and divide our attention: gift buying and wrapping, meal preparation, baking, concerts, card writing and sending, travel arrangements, decorating (both inside and outside), parties, and get-togethers. It happens every year, this battle to keep the joy in our hearts and worship centered on what really matters rather than on all the seasonal trappings.
Please understand, celebrating Christmas isn’t wrong or a sin. Far from it. God himself tells us that the birth of His Son, Jesus, is “good news of great joy” (Luke 2:10). And good news is worth celebrating. It is just that our American culture has absconded Jesus’s birthday and turned into a season of commercialism and consumerism, and the greatest gift of all—Jesus—is ignored completely.
So, how can we, as believers, maintain our focus on the substance and sacredness of Christ and His Advent? With intentional and specific (yet simple) prayers.
Prayer #1: Lord, Keep Me Focused
It seems so obvious, yet so little prayed. It takes intention and a daily decision to set our minds and hearts on Jesus, specifically on who He is, why God sent Him, what His birth means for us and all of mankind, and how this first Advent will gloriously culminate in the second Advent: Christ’s triumphal return.
Aside from the simple prayer “Lord, keep me focused,” here are a few practical ways to help with fixing our hearts on Christ this Christmas season:
Focus through daily Scripture readings: Read the entirety of the Christmas story, beginning in Isaiah and ending with Jesus’ birth in the Gospels. Divide the story up into four-week readings, as Christianity.com suggests.
Focus by meditating on the names of Jesus: There are certainly enough wonderful names associated with Jesus—Prince of Peace, Shalom, Messiah, Advocate, Truth, etc. There are so many, in fact, you can meditate on one per day. For a complete list, go to BibleResources.org. For you creative types, you could make special ornaments or decorative cards of each name and hang them on your tree or place them around your house.
Focus through singing: Rather than popping in a CD at home or in the car, why not sing the songs yourself? Choose one song to sing each day that focuses on the coming of Christ: “O Little Town of Bethlehem, “Angels We Have Heard on High,” “Come, Thou Long-expected Jesus,” “Go Tell it on the Mountain,” and many others. For a list of 25 of the most Christ-exalting songs, click here.
Focus using devotionals and books: There are many wonderful Christmas-related publications that can help to anchor your heart on Jesus’ Advent. Just a quick Google brought up these: “Daily Guideposts: 25 devotions for Advent,” “Hidden Christmas” by Timothy Keller, “Joy to the World” by John Piper, “The Cradle, Cross, and Crown,” by Billy Graham, all of which are reasonably priced. For more options, check out Garments of Splendor’s list.
Prayer #2: Lord, Keep Me Content
Too often, commercialism and consumerism sabotage our sense of contentment during the Christmas season. We can’t turn on the television without being barraged with commercials advertising the newest, biggest, brightest toy or electronic, even vehicles, with gargantuan bows atop their roofs. None of these is wrong to want or own, unless you believe they alone will bring you satisfaction and happiness. Christ alone provides that, with all that He has given you and gives you still.
To help cultivate contentment (Greek, autárkeia, “satisfaction, sufficiency”) over the next month, try these suggestions:
Counting your blessings: Yes, this really is a suggestion, and it works. It works best if your blessings are written out. Seeing them in black and white has a way of redirecting your thoughts, your heart, and your priorities when you can “see” on paper how much you already have, beginning with the “free gift” of salvation and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, who gifts you every day with sanctity and spiritual wholeness.
Memorizing Scripture: One way to combat discontentment (dissatisfaction) is to recite certain verses that will remind you of God’s already-given provisions. God’s truth has a way of eliminating the desire to compete with the “Jones,” and brings freedom for you to enjoy his present blessings. Here are a few verses worth memorizing, and even personalizing them (which I have done here).
- 1 Timothy 6:17, “Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.”
- Hebrews 13:5, “Keep [my] life free from the love of money [or material things] and [help me] be content with what [I] have. For God has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you’.”
- Exodus 20:17 (abridged version), “[I] shall not covet…anything that is [my] neighbor’s.”
- 1 Timothy 6:6-8, “But godliness with contentment is great gain. For [I] brought nothing into the world, and [I] can take nothing out of it. But if [I] have food and clothing, [I] will be content with that.”
- Philippians 4:11b, “…for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.”
Say with the reformer Martin Luther, “I have held many things in my hands, and have lost them all; but whatever I have placed in God's hands, that I still possess.”
Prayer #3: Lord, Keep Me Grateful
The holidays are often a natural time of expressing gratitude, and not just for the gifts we receive. So, this prayer pairs well with Prayer #2. Contentment naturally espouses gratefulness and thankfulness.
“Christmas should remind us of all the reasons we have to be thankful. Not least of these is the grace that extends to us from the cross,” writes Meredith Cook at Lifeway research. “A former pastor of mine often reminded his congregation that in Christ, our greatest need has already been met. Our biggest problem—being separated from God—is solved through Christ’s death and resurrection. This truth is especially important for us to consider this time of year as we celebrate all we have to be thankful for and the joy of Jesus’ birth.”
Interestingly, our gratefulness can actually thwart Satan from stealing our joy this season. For this reason, Pastor John Piper calls gratitude “a guardian of the soul.”
“Unless the song of thanksgiving is being sung in our hearts,” he says. “The enemy outside will deceive his way into the city of our soul.”
Similar to counting your blessings, you can make a gratitude list (or journal) and keep it handy as a continual reminder throughout the season.
Daily Expressions: There are inexhaustible things and people to be grateful for, beginning with God himself and all he has done for your. “Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love, for his wondrous works to the children of men” (Psalm 107:15, ESV). For starters, take the list you created from Prayer #2 and use it as an active way of expressing your gratitude. Choose one “blessing” a day and pray a prayer of thanksgiving for it (or them, as the case may be).
Complimenting and Encouraging: Proverbs 15:23 says, “Everyone enjoys a fitting reply; it is wonderful to say the right thing at the right time.” It takes so little to say a kind word of encouragement or pass along a compliment, even a sincere “thank you” or “I appreciate you.” Words are affirmation of a grateful heart, of what you feel about and toward someone. Expressing your gratitude for them (whether verbally or in writing) is a lovely and godly way of building them up.
Giving Back: Giving back, whether it is a physical gift or your time, talent, or tithe, is yet another way of expressing gratitude. God loves a cheerful giver, and our giving back to others is simply an outpouring of gratitude for the gifts we have received from Him.
Furthermore, expressing thankfulness and gratitude does a wonderful work in us, as well. Says C.S. Lewis, “We ought to give thanks for all fortune: if it is ‘good,’ because it is good, if ‘bad’ because it works in us patience, humility and the contempt of this world and the hope of our eternal country.”
Rejoice in the birth of Christ with this FREE 25 Days to a Joyful Christmas Prayer Guide!
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Denise is a former newspaper reporter and current freelance writer. She has been published in numerous online and print publications. She is also a former Women's Bible Study teacher. Denise's passion is to use her writing to bless, encourage, and inform others. She lives outside of Chicago with her husband and two children (another has grown and flown). You can find Denise at denisekohlmeyer.com.