ABIDE Prayer: The Gift of God’s Love
The purpose of ABIDE is to seek God through prayer, rely on the Spirit as we gather together, and pray with unity and purpose. ABIDE prayers are Scripture-led and Spirit-focused prayers.
Christmas is the time of the year when we celebrate the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Scripture tells us, “Today in the city of David a Savior is born for you, who is the Messiah, the Lord” (Luke 2:11). God gave us the greatest gift we could possibly receive when He gave us Jesus.
Prayers of Thanksgiving
Let’s begin our ABIDE time by taking a moment to pray silently and thank God for the gift of Jesus. Ask God to help you receive all that He wants to give you through His Son.
“I will praise you, LORD, among the peoples; I will sing praises to you among the nations. For your faithful love is higher than the heavens, and your faithfulness reaches to the clouds” (Psalm 108: 3-4).
God’s faithful love is higher than the heavens! Christmas and the gift of Jesus is evidence of just how vast God’s faithful love is for us. Let’s thank God for His faithful love.
Prayer: God, we praise you for your faithful love. Thank you for showing your faithful love to us in _____________ (fill in the blank with specific times in your life when God showed His faithful love to you).
Prayers to Refocus on the Gift of Christmas
The enemy does not take a break during the Christmas Season. As God’s children, the enemy does not want us to celebrate the gift of Jesus that our Father gave to us. The enemy would prefer God’s children to be distracted, overwhelmed, busy and striving during the Christmas season in hopes of stealing our joy, peace and our celebration of Jesus.
Take a moment and ask God to show you how the enemy is working in your life to take your focus off receiving God’s love and His amazing gift of Jesus.
Prayer: Father, forgive me/us for ________________ (fill in the blank with whatever is driving your heart and mind away from focusing on the gift of Jesus).
Now let’s ask our Father to help us receive what our hearts truly need this Christmas.
Prayer: Father, help me receive your _____________ ( fill in the blank with what your heart needs – God’s love peace, hope, comfort, strength, etc).
Prayers to Thank God for Changing our Lives
God’s love changed our lives. Scripture tells us, “See what great love the Father has given us that we should be called God’s children – and we are!” (1 John 3:1a) We are God’s children and His Christmas gift proves His love to us!
“But God proves his own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).
Prayer: God, thank you that your child and your love for me is great. Because I am your greatly loved child, my life is changed. Thank you for ____________(fill in the blank with specific ways your life has been changed in the past and how your future is changed because of the gift of Jesus).
Prayer for Others to Receive God’s Love
“For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him” (John 3:16-17).
We all have people in our lives who either have never received God’s gift of Jesus or perhaps do not feel loved by God. Let’s take a moment and pray for anyone the Spirit brings to mind and ask God to help them receive the gift of His love this Christmas.
Prayer: God, we lift up to you in prayer _____________ and ask that you help him/her to receive your love. Open his/her eyes to the truth of Christmas and what the gift of Jesus means for their life. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
