Here’s the prayer I included in my opening prayer for Week 3 of Advent on Joy from the Austin Stone Story Team:
O GIVER OF LIFE AND GOD OF INFINITE JOY,
Long ago we hid our faces in pity and fear, terrified at the reach of Your holiness.
Our overburdened hearts lay heavy with despair, aching with the lack of Your presence.
We were bathed in wickedness and shadowed by fear,
A hopeless people, drunk on worldly pride and self-indulgent pleasures.
We sought to gratify our desires with everything but You
Until we had only tears and foolishness as our feeble companions.
And yet,
You wrote a story of joy eternal before we even drew a breath,
That a human baby, born to the world in straw and dust
Would carry the name of salvation and the mantle of triumphant peace.
You have set our King before us, and His name is Jesus.
And all the lowly and exalted of the earth rejoice together
That a miracle was birthed for us
On a starry night foretold by prophets.
And now, through Him, You have made a way for all Your children
To fall headlong into the grace You freely supplied.
O God of our Salvation, Your love flows unabated and all-consuming.
Your love never fails and forever mends our hearts,
To swell with the fullness of joy.
His kingdom is of everlasting joy, founded on unshakeable truth.
All His ways are peace, and there is no shame in them.
All His ways are joy, and we are enriched by His promises.
He is the Rock upon which we are built; and He will not be moved.
He is mighty, and He is gentle; He is power, and He is joy!
You have set our King before us, and His name is Jesus.
Amen.