10 Ways to Nurture Your Spirit With Prayer This Christmas
Let's face it—the hustle and bustle of Christmas can easily distract you from needed prayer. Scary—because prayer connects you to the Holy Spirit who gives life (see John 6:63). No Spirit connection = little life. Your spirit becomes weak and hollow. Once a week prayer at church isn't enough. You crave the kind of life that only comes from communion with the Holy Spirit.So, let's get practical. How do you weave prayer into your busy life, especially with all you still have left to do before Christmas? Becoming a monk is out of the question, and you never were really good at multitasking when it came to spiritual things. So here's 10 easy ways you can nurture your spirit with prayer this Christmas season.
10 Ways to Nurture Your Spirit
1. Ask someone to pray for you—your spouse, a child, a friend, or a prayer group. Every Saturday morning Tom and I meet with our friends Doc and Lonnie who pray for us. It makes a difference.2. Practice listening prayer by praying about something and pausing to wait and listen for the Lord's response. (You know—don't do all the talking in the relationship.)3. Pray with your children or grandchildren. Praying together nurtures everyone involved.4. Pray a favorite Scripture passage.5. Pray in your spiritual language, which according to Jude 1:20 strengthens your faith.6. Pray when you first wake up in the morning and before you fall asleep at night.7. Pray at meal times, when you walk the dog, and while you drive to and from work.8. Pray for each person as you wrap their Christmas gift or address their Christmas card.9. Pray in the shower and while you do a daily chore.10. Pray the Daily Office or use the lyrics of a Christmas carol to sing your prayer, as in this hymn, O Come, O Come, Immanuel:
O come, Thou rod of Jesse, free thine own from Satan's tyranny; from depths of hell Thy people save, and give them vict'ry o'er the grave: Rejoice! Rejoice! Immanuel shall come to thee, O Israel. O come, Thou Key of David, come, and open wide our heav'nly home; make safe the way that leads on high, and close the path to misery: Rejoice! Rejoice! Immanuel shall come to thee, O Israel. O come, Thou Day-spring, come and cheer our spirits by Thine advent here; disperse the gloomy clouds of night, and death's dark shadows put to flight: Rejoice! Rejoice! Immanuel shall come to thee, O Israel. O come; Desire of Nations, bind all peoples in one heart and mind. Bid the strife and quarrels cease. Fill all the world with heaven's peace. Rejoice! Rejoice! Immanuel shall come to thee, O Israel. O come, O come Immanuel, and ransom captive Israel that mourns in lonely exile here until the Son of God appear: Rejoice! Rejoice! Immanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.
(I just had to fit that in this post. It's my favorite Christmas hymn. My blog—my rules.) Ahem . . . now what was I saying? Oh yes, what's your favorite way to weave prayer into your Christmas activities?Enjoy the season . . . and pray! Susan"Jesus likes it when we share." -Adelaide, age 3: Pass this along to everybody and their brother. OK, maybe not everybody's brother, but you know . . . all your friends would be nice.