Family Prayer for Advent

Heavenly Father,

we come with thanksgiving
for the lives You have given us,
for the lives You have sustained
through Word and Sacrament,
for the lives You have redeemed
through Jesus Christ.
Send now Your Spirit to guide us
as we pray in Advent and every day.
Come, Lord Jesus.
Come into our hearts,
repair the brokenness of sin,
heal the wounds of mind and spirit,
comfort the sick and grieving,
warm the cold-hearted,
fill the lonely and empty.
Come into our homes,
make them grace places,
places of forgiveness,
of safety,
of joy,
of peace.
Come to our children,
babies,
teenagers,
adult children
and all the ages in between,
protect them from anything
that would harm them,
guide their learning
and increase their wisdom
as well as knowledge.
Let them know love
from those around them
and the perfect love from You.

Come to our parents,
new parents,
stepparents,
single parents,
foster parents,
grandparents,
and to all who do,
did or would care for others.
Give them wisdom,
courage and the assurance
that You are with them every minute
as they nurture the lives entrusted to them.
Come to our loved ones,
our extended families,
our church family,
our friends and our neighbors.
Thank You for the blessing
they are to us
and let them experience
and extend Your grace
into their homes,
to their children and their parents.
Come to all hearts and homes,
in every country and culture.
We ask for their families
all the blessings
we seek for our own,
especially the gift of Your grace.
Come, Lord Jesus, come. AMEN.