Merry Christmas Eve friend!
I don’t know how your plans are going but I wanted to encourage you with something I wrote for Proverbs 31 Ministries today and share a Christmas prayer I post each year, in hopes that it will calm and connect your heart with Jesus, the way it does for me each December.
The Manger of My Heart
This Christmas, Lord, come to the manger of my heart,
and fill me with your presence from the very start.
As I prepare for the holidays and gifts to be given,
Remind me of the gift You gave when you sent Your Son from Heaven.
The first Christmas gift was the greatest Gift ever,
When You came as a baby born in a manger.
Wrapped like the gifts I find under my tree,
Waiting to be opened; to reveal Your love to me.
This Christmas, Lord, come to the manger of my heart.
Search me and know the most intimate parts.
Reveal to me the ways I have hung a sign within,
Claiming it off-limits, implying “no room at the Inn.”
Restore to me the wonder that came with Jesus’ birth,
when He left the riches of Heaven and wrapped Himself in rags of earth.
Emmanuel, God with us, Your presence came that night.
As angels announced, “Into your darkness, God brings His Light.”
“Do not be afraid,” they said, to shepherds in the field.
Speak to my heart today, Lord, and help me to yield.
Make me like those shepherd boys, obedient to your call.
Casting distractions and worries aside, to You I surrender them all.
Surround me with Your presence, Lord, I long to hear your voice.
Clear my mind of concerns and all the holiday noise.
Slow me down this Christmas, Lord, let me not be in a rush.
In the midst of shopping and planning, I want to feel Your hush.
This Christmas, Jesus, come to the manger of my heart.
Invade my soul like Bethlehem, bringing peace to every part.
Dwell within and around me, as I unwrap Your presence each day.
Keep me close to You, Lord. It’s in your wonderful Name I pray.
~Renee Swope, Copyright 2007, 2021, 2025 . All rights reserved.
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