THE GLORY OF THE LORD A Christmas Prayer

Here's a prayer that Jesus prayed the night he was betrayed, a prayer that is still being answered, even as you read these words:

"Father, I desire that they also, whom thou hast given me, may be with me where I am, to behold my glory, which thou hast given me in they love for me before the foundation of the world."

John 17:24

"That they may behold my glory."

If you look back over your life, you will probably find that there was a moment, somewhere back there, when God spoke to you in some way….when you were sure that God was showing you something new, opening your eyes to see something you never saw before---about yourself, or about someone you love.

You probably found, as I did, that that moment, when God broke through the darkness of our hard heart with his light, was a turning point in our life.

That's what happened with those shepherds. They weren't expecting anything. They were just taking care of business, watching over their sheep when suddenly….

An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear. And the angel said to them, "Don't be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will come to all people; for to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find the baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger." And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,

"Glory to God in the highest,

and on earth peace, good will to men."

Luke 2:9-14

It was a moment that changed their lives, gave them eyes to see glory, even in a dark, smelly stable, where there was no blinding light.

Of course, such moments of vision occur only when God chooses. We cannot make them happen. But there's nothing wrong with our asking God to send us a fresh taste of his glory this Christmas, beginning this moment.

If you read through scripture, you discover that the people who were visited by the glory of God were always ordinary, lowly, humble people, like those shepherds. Even when King David or King Solomon saw God's glory, it only happened when they became broken and humble and child-like.

So let's humble ourselves before God right now. Let's turn this moment into a prayer, rising from our hearts, that this Christmas, for all the uncertainty that surrounds us, and all the troubles which may afflict our own souls….that this Christmas, God will visit us, as he visited those shepherds, with a sign of hope. A vision of glory. Light from heaven!

"Ask, and it will be given you," is the promise.

So we ask that somehow this Christmas will be different. That this Christmas will be flooded in each of our lives with something clean, something holy, something eternal, that will give us a clearer vision of the path, and fresh power to stay on the path in the days ahead.

May God make this Christmas for us what it was for those shepherds: a time when heaven breaks into our darkness with light, and draws us nearer than ever to the gift of his Incarnate Word.

"Father, I desire that they also, whom thou hast given me, may be with me where I am, to behold my glory."

May the Father answer that prayer in our lives this Christmas season, beginning now. May he give us eyes to see and hearts to receive his glory---

---and grace to reflect that glory in the way we treat each other,

and all people.