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A Prayer for the Beginning of Advent 2019

In the crazy rush of Christmas all around me... 
   help me prepare a way for you, Lord...

Help me remember that Christmas is your birthday, 
   that I need to find gifts fitting to offer you...

Help me remember the poverty of your nativity, Lord:
   make your way into my wallet and help me spend generously
      on those whose needs are so much greater than my own...

Help me remember that of all the that gifts I might receive,
  none is greater than the love you have for me...

Help me prepare a way for you to enter my life decisively:
   a way for you to take me as your own,
   to set your seal upon my heart
   and summon out what I shall be...

Help me prepare a way for you 
   to take possession of my desires,
   to fill me with the gifts I truly need,
      gifts that satisfy my longing for your peace...

In the quiet of my prayer, Lord,
   help me clear a path 
      for you to walk into my heart, into my day...

Help me want to clear that path, Lord,
   lest anything or anyone keep me from your advent,
      your coming to my heart with healing mercy...

In the stillness of my prayer, Lord,
  help me to clear and make a path for you,
      free of the roadblocks I often run into, 
  a path for you to enter and come in
      to make your home within my heart...

Help me prepare a way for you, Lord:
   prepare my heart for all the many ways you choose 
      to come into my life...

Amen.