Advent Prayer Challenge Day 1 - November 27
Welcome to the first day of our Advent Prayer Challenge for 2022. Use this resource to enter into Advent this season. This resource can be used for your personal prayer or for family/group prayer. Each day we’ll share verses from Scripture which will be hyperlinked so you can easily find the passage. If you are reading these passages aloud to children, consider changing the translation, which you can easily do on the website that is linked. (NCV or the NIvR are written at a 3rd-grade level. NLT is written at a 6th-grade level.)
This resource can be really impactful when paired with candlelight, so consider setting up four candles. Each day there will be a verse to pray aloud while lighting the candle(s). The written reflection can be used to connect the Scripture passages to your current experience. This is followed by reflection questions that can be used as discussion questions or journaling prompts. Finally, each day will end with a prayer and an action suggestion to live out the experience of Advent. These activities are a great way to help kids enter into this Advent Challenge.
Use the parts of this resource that work best to help you or the group you are doing this with enter into prayer, and leave the rest. Don't worry about missed days or trying to catch up when that happens. Simply start fresh on the newest day available and keep going.
Walk in the Light
Read Isaiah 2:1-5 & Romans 13:11-12
Light one candle and say together
Come, let us walk in the light of the Lord!
(Isaiah 2:5)
Reflection
You know what darkness feels like, don't you? Maybe you've been scared of the dark before. Or perhaps on a camping trip, you've stumbled over a root while walking to the bathroom on a dark night. Likely, you have experienced power outages that have lasted for days on end. Darkness is often felt.
Between now and Christmas, those of us in the northern hemisphere are going to experience the longest night of the year. On that day, later in December, we will experience the most darkness in one 24-hour period than on any other day of the year. Between now and then, our nights are getting longer and longer. We are entering a dark season.
Sometimes, dark seasons can go deeper than scientific sunset times. Mental health becomes a concern for many people during winter. Holidays can bring on experiences of stress, overwhelm, anxiety, conflict, sadness, and loneliness. All around us are holly-jolly fa-la-las, but inside many of us, the cold, dark winter is creeping in.
Arguably, darkness isn't all bad. Sleeping is much easier in dark bedrooms. And, have you ever experienced the light of the night sky in a place with very little light pollution? It is literally because of the darkness that we get to experience the immense wonder and beauty of the expanse of space. When we look at the stars, we are seeing light that has traveled for hundreds, even thousands of years, to reach our eyes. Stars are still in the sky in the daytime, but we cannot experience them without darkness.
Welcome to Advent.
Advent doesn't shy away from darkness, it acknowledges it. Advent acknowledges the darkness that was present from the first moment of strife in the world, and it acknowledges the darkness we still experience today. That is why one of the primary symbols of Advent is candles. A candle is best experienced when the flame can shine into the darkness. A candle flicker does little to illuminate our daytime, but in darkness, a candle is a beacon. In the darkness, a candle can illuminate.
Today and for the rest of this week, light one candle in a dark room. Reflect on what you feel when the candle brings light to the darkness. Consider hope. Hope is a feeling of expectation, despite the circumstances. Hope is that first flicker of light in an otherwise dark room.
Reflect and Discuss
- What do you feel when you light one candle in a dark room?
- Are you experiencing the feeling of darkness in your life this season?
- What does “hope” mean to you?
- Can you identify hope in the dark parts of your life? Ask God to brighten these parts of your life with hope.
Pray
Lord, help us walk on the paths you illuminate for us through the hope you give. Let us begin this Advent season eagerly anticipating your presence. Be born in us anew.
Amen.
Advent in Action
Prepare Advent candles to be used all Advent long. You can use a traditional Advent wreath or simply find four or five candles. Place these in a central location in the room where you will mostly be doing these Advent reflections. We will start by lighting the same one candle during the first week of Advent, and each week we will add a new candle, adding more light as we get closer to Christmas. The fifth optional candle represents the light of Christ which was given to us on Christmas.
More information about our Advent Prayer Challenge can be found here. Click here to subscribe to daily reminders.
