Biblical Prayer Meditation for Advent Week 3

Dec. 11, 2016 ~ Prev | Intro | Next

James 5:7-10 New Revised Standard Version

Use the meditation below to pray on the James 5 text this week or imagine your own way into the text.

God of Patience, Open my heart to the words of James. Help me to cultivate hope for your advent.

⁷Be patient, therefore, beloved, until the coming of the Lord.

In Advent we prepare ourselves for the coming of the Lord.
Take a moment and breathe. Patience.

What are you hoping for when God comes?
What transformations do you want to see in your own life?

How do you want to see Jesus come into Christ UMC? What is your hope for the church?

What are your concerns about the world? In what specific places do you see the need for God’s presence?

The farmer waits for the precious crop from the earth, being patient with it until it receives the early and the late rains.

Picture the cultivated soil, sown with seed, how it lies silent on the surface. Imagine the seed dormant in the earth, dry and enclosed. It is waiting. The rains come, seeping slowly into the soil. The water soaks into the seed coat, softening the tough exterior, and awakening the germ of the plant inside. The plant absorbs rains, sending out roots into the soil and pushing a shoot up through the soil. Soon it will surface. The farmer watches, as yet not seeing the sprout, but trusting the processes at work within the soil. Patient.

⁸You also must be patient. Strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near.

What dormant parts is the rain of the Lord awakening in your soul? Wait for it. If you don’t see anything, continue the patient cultivation. Continue the watering. Open your heart. The Lord is near. Patience.

⁹Beloved, do not grumble against one another, so that you may not be judged. See, the Judge is standing at the doors!

What are you doing to cultivate a community that welcomes the Lord? Are you building up those around you or are you grumbling against them, wearing them down with complaints? Breathe. Imagine a grudge you have against someone, maybe in your family, or in the church, or in your workplace. How is this creating separation between you? What effect does it have on those around you? Imagine Jesus coming to you. Hand your grudge to Jesus. Let him carry it away. Imagine reconciliation in the place of resentment. How would your community be transformed?

¹⁰As an example of suffering and patience, beloved, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.

Picture the prophets waiting for a word from God. They see the suffering of the poor, discord in the community, injustice sprouting like thorns on the earth, the way that evil can seem to triumph. Yet they wait on God. Trust that God will speak life into the death-dealing world. Hope in the rains that will restore the parched land. Patience.
God of the early and the late rains, help me to seek patience during the dormant times. Open my awareness to the ways you work quietly within the world, unseen but growing. Make me what you want me to be. Amen.