Today's Advent readings invite you to watch in stillness and wait in silence for God's ever-present love to enter your heart and bring you peace that passes understanding.
We pray these readings will deepen your sense of connection to the Holy during these days of hopeful anticipation of Christ's coming at Christmas.
If every one of our subscribers made a donation of just $10, explorefaith could fund itsentire operating budget for next year! No gift is too large or too small. Give today and help ensure our future.
The Divine Hours for Christmas
The final volume in Phyllis Tickle's acclaimed trilogy of prayer manuals, this contemporary Book of Hours gently guides you through the daily offices for Advent, Christmas and Epiphany.
Support explorefaith when you purchase Christmastide or any other item from amazon.com!
Shop amazon for all your holiday gifts and help our ministry when you do!
Do your holiday shopping at explorefaith.org and support our ministry at no extra cost to you! Click thru to amazon.com from the link below or anywhere you see this logo on our site, and we'll receive a percentage of your purchase no matter what you buy.
"Likewise the spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words."
—Romans 8:26
In our prayer life, when we struggle with how or what to pray, or we're weary or doubtful about prayer, or we simply lose our excitement for prayer and do not pray, our soul is still praying, because the Spirit within us is helping us in our prayer weakness. The Spirit is praying in words we can't seem to find.
Even in those moments when we fail to be all that we can be, God never turns away from us. God's love and care for us are unfailing, so we can never really lose in the game of life.
Winter's Gold
Gracious God,
The leaves have fallen, the air has become cold, and bare trees now seem to open the sky. Remind me that this is a time to slow down in order to be attentive to the stark stillness winter brings. Help me breathe deeply the frigid air and know myself to be held in the warmth of your love.
There is a way of being and knowing that dimly remembers that waiting in hope is an attitude of faith.
Waiting in silence, creating space for steadfast love to grow within, may be the most essential practice of all. It is in many ways the spirit of Advent, that time of the the Christian liturgical year when we practice the waiting of gestation
