Our most gracious God, we pray for your blessings as we begin our Advent journey. Turn our hearts toward You. Forgive us our selfish preoccupations. Quiet us with Your words of comfort and peace and hope. And as we anticipate Your coming in glory, remind us of Your humble ‘comings’—as a baby in a manger, on a donkey into Jerusalem, as our Savior on a cross, in ordinary bread and wine at Your table, in the waters of baptism, and in Your most Holy Word.
Why do you come to us in such lowly means? Because You come in mercy. To restore us and reconcile us to Yourself. To show Your boundless love and compassion for wretched and miserable sinners like us. You come to bring us life and peace and forgiveness.
In our sin, we often take Your ‘coming’ for granted. We fail to receive the instruction of Your Word. We doubt You at the supper. Our hearts are hardened toward You and closed to our neighbor. We beg You to come—to find us, to rescue us from sin and death, to pursue us in our depravity and wandering. O come O come Emmanuel.
