November 28 - January 5
Our Advent & Christmas Daily Prayer Guide will run from November 28 – January 5. Join us wherever you find yourself over Advent and Christmas as we read and pray together.
We will spend time reading through the Psalms together. Get to know the words here, and you will better know Jesus Himself. The other Scripture Readings for this season are drawn from various passages in the Old and New Testaments that outline the unfolding work of God’s grace in redeeming a people for Himself. These passages establish our need for a Messiah and celebrate Jesus Christ as our Redeemer and King. May the story of God’s Word fill us with a vibrant hope in Jesus Christ this Advent & Christmas season.
We've made this Prayer Guide available through the new PCPC app (download via Apple App Store or Google Play Store for free), so you can have access wherever you are throughout the day.
Introduction
November 28 - January 5
Our Advent & Christmas Daily Prayer Guide will run from November 28 – January 5. Join us wherever you find yourself over Advent and Christmas as we read and pray together.
We will spend time reading through the Psalms together. Get to know the words here, and you will better know Jesus Himself. The other Scripture Readings for this season are drawn from various passages in the Old and New Testaments that outline the unfolding work of God’s grace in redeeming a people for Himself. These passages establish our need for a Messiah and celebrate Jesus Christ as our Redeemer and King. May the story of God’s Word fill us with a vibrant hope in Jesus Christ this Advent & Christmas season.
Why Daily Prayer
Why set aside fixed times every day for prayer? Why not simply pray unprompted, when the stirring comes? Practically speaking, we are creatures attuned to rhythms. We order our lives by sunrises and sunsets, by hours, weeks, seasons, and years. Daily prayer is a way of consecrating our ordinary rhythms to God, ensuring that all of life is offered to Him. C.S. Lewis once wrote, “Relying on God has to begin all over again every day as if nothing had yet been done.” And so it must. Our relationship with God should take hold of our schedules, as well as our hearts.
Why a Prayer Guide
Here are a few compelling reasons to use a prayer guide:
1. It helps us to pray regularly.
Sometimes we may not pray regularly because we may not know where to begin. A prayer guide takes the pressure off needing to make that decision anew every day. It repeatedly says, “Start here” and let God’s Word lead you into prayer.
2. It helps us to pray biblically.
The majority of the reading is from Scripture. We will read through the Psalms, a book of the Bible meant, especially for prayer and worship. One of the encouraging messages reiterated in the Psalms is that you do not have to put on a happy face to live the Christian life. Praying biblically allows us to pray the truth of who we are while growing in the hope of who we might yet become.
3. It helps us to pray communally.
Though we are praying individually, we are doing so together, specifically as a church body. This book is meant for this flock, in this time and place. To know that others with whom God has joined us are reading and praying the same words encourages us in our common journey. Prayer is a communal activity as much as an individual one.