Daily Prayers for December 24

Christmas Eve

O Lord, let my soul rise up to meet you

as the day rises to meet the sun.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit,

as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.

Come, let us bow down and bend the knee : let us kneel before the Lord our Maker.

Song “Amazing Grace”

O Light that shines in our darkness : come and free us from our sin.

Psalm 118:19 – 24

Open for me the gates of righteous-ness : I will enter them; I will offer thanks to the Lord.

“This is the gate of the Lord : he who is righteous may enter.”

I will give thanks to you, for you answered me : and have become my salvation.

The same stone which the builders rejected : has become the chief cornerstone.

This is the Lord’s doing : and it is marvelous in our eyes.

On this day the Lord has acted : we will rejoice and be glad in it.

O Light that shines in our darkness : come and free us from our sin.

Isaiah 59:15b – 21 Philippians 2:5 – 11

O Light that shines in our darkness : come and free us from our sin.

Early church father Epiphanius wrote, “The righteous person will shine a hundred times more brightly than the sun, and once saved, even the smallest among you will shine a hundred times more brightly than the moon.”

Prayers for Others

Our Father

We await your coming, Lord, with eagerness and thanksgiving and a fair amount of fear. Shine your true light in the corners of our hearts and in the vast wastelands of our society that we might see more clearly the glory of the creation you have come to redeem. Amen.

May the peace of the Lord Christ go with you : wherever he may send you;

may he guide you through the wilderness : protect you through the storm;

may he bring you home rejoicing : at the wonders he has shown you;

may he bring you home rejoicing : once again into our doors.