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Pat Hannon @phannon December 24, 2010 Leave a Comment

Family Prayer for the 12 Days of Christmas

Today (Christmas Eve) is the final day of Advent. Tomorrow (Christmas Day) begins the celebration of Christmas, which lasts for 12 days: Dec 25-Jan 5. Here is the prayer guide my family will be using for prayer before meals as we celebrate the birth of Christ for 12 days. We’d love it if you used the prayer guide to pray along with us!

Family Prayer for the 12 Days of Christmas
Note: Sections with italicized text are read as call and response, with one person reading the normal text and everyone reading the italicized text. Other sections are read in unison.

Greeting
I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people:
to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. (Luke 2:10-11)

Candle Lighting
We light this candle as a reminder that the light of Christ has come into the world.
Christ’s light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it. (John 1:15)

Scripture Reading
See: Suggested Bible Readings for the 12 Days of Christmas

Response
The Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory. (John 1:14)

Prayer Before the Meal
Note: A prayer for needs in the family and giving thanks for the meal may be offered.
God our Father,
whose Word has come among us
in the Holy Child of Bethlehem:
may the light of faith illumine our hearts
and shine in our words and deeds;
through him who is Christ the Lord. Amen.

Sharing the Meal

Prayer After the Meal
Joy to the world! the Lord is come;
Let earth receive her King;
Let every heart prepare him room,
And heaven and nature sing. Amen.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Christian Year, christmas, family, prayer, spiritual formation

Pat Hannon @phannon December 1, 2010 Leave a Comment

Advent Family Prayer

Here is a guide for prayer that I compiled for my family to using this Advent. I’m happy to share it with you. I’d love to hear if you find it useful as well.

Advent Family Prayer

Greeting
Lord, let your faithful love be with us,
because we wait for you. (Psalm 33:22)

Advent Candle Lighting
We light this candle as a sign of the coming light of Christ.
Tonight we light the candle of Hope.
We wait in hope for the LORD; he is our help and our shield. (Psalm 33:20)
Week 2 add
We light the candle of Peace.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. (Matthew 5:9)
Week 3 add
We light the candle of Love.
We love because God first loved us. (1 John 4:19)
Week 4 add
We light the candle of Joy.
Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! (Philippians 4:4)

Scripture Reading

Response
Even so, come, Lord Jesus.

Prayer before the meal
God of grace, ever faithful to your promises,
the earth rejoices in hope of our Saviour’s coming
and looks forward with longing to his return at the end of time.
Prepare our hearts to receive him when he comes,
for he is Lord forever and ever. Amen.

Sharing the meal
Mealtime question: What does the Scripture reading say? For what do we wait?

Prayer after the meal
Come, Thou long expected Jesus
Born to set Thy people free;
From our fears and sins release us,
Let us find our rest in Thee. Amen.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: advent, family, prayer, spiritual formation

Family Prayer at the Evening Meal

Pat Hannon @phannon November 9, 2010 Leave a Comment

Family Prayer at the Evening Meal

My family has recently begun an intentional prayer and scripture time modeled after the daily office that we use each evening before dinner. Still a work in progress, here is the format we are currently following.

A few notes:

1. This format was intentionally chosen to be simple to allow our young readers and not-yet-reader to fully participate. They memorized the entire format rather quickly.

2. The text for the Candle Lighting and Prayer Before the Meal come from The Convent and Vineyard Central Church.

3. After the first week we began including a spontaneous prayer as part of the Prayer Before the Meal.

4. For the Scripture Reading we have been using the gospel lesson from the day’s morning office as found in The Dive Hours. It seems to be the perfect length for a family with young children.

Family Prayer at the Evening Meal

Greeting (Psalm 107:1)
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
his love endures forever.

Candle Lighting
We light this candle, reminding ourselves of the Spirit’s presence and our desire to reflect Christ’s light to others.

Scripture Reading

Response
This is the Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

Prayer Before the Meal
Lord, we thank you for this food and receive your gift with joy. We welcome you at this table with us. Be present in our conversation, helping us to listen to one another and notice your work in us and through us. Lead us to bless you, our community, and our neighbors. Amen.

Sharing the Meal

Prayer After the Meal (from Mark 12:29-31)
Lord, help us to love you
with all our heart and with all our soul
and with all our mind and with all our strength,
and then to love our neighbor as ourselves. Amen.

Filed Under: Family, Spiritual Formation Tagged With: daily office, family, prayer, spiritual formation, Top Posts

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