The Gift of Your Presence
God,
the present of your presence in our present circumstance
is what we want most this Christmas
and throughout this coming year.
Wrap it in your peace that goes beyond our understanding
and in Your joy that runs deeper than our circumstances.
Provide, with this gift, Your grace
so that we may relate graciously to those around us.
Shed Your light that reveals truth on us and our circumstances.
We desire to see Your faithfulness
even when things are not what we would want them to be.
We want Your Spirit of wisdom to direct us
and Your strength that carries us beyond our own,
over the rocky, desert terrain that so readily saps our energy.
You are the Giver of all good gifts.
Your love for us has caused You pain
but You saw it as the only way to provide us the opportunity
of life with You forever in heaven,
and we will be eternally grateful for that gift!
God,
as children, we don’t always understand Your ways,
but we are learning to trust
that You know best what we need most.
Reveal those things that hinder our awareness
of Your presence in our present
so that we can move beyond them
and more fully experience and rejoice in Your present presence!
By Twila Charles Leichty