When the hustle and bustle of the season threaten to take my mind off the true meaning of Christmas, I need practical ways to help me pause, ponder, and reflect. After all, Christmas is so much more than the picture-perfect decorations, Pinterest-inspired holiday feasts, and all the Hallmark movie feels.
I decided to be proactive and search for the best Christmas prayers, poems, and quotations that reflect the season’s true meaning. I created coloring sheets for each of the seven reflections (free for you to download and print!), so if you want to take to the time to meditate on the words that will touch your heart and soul, you can stop, sit, and soak it all in as you color. (I know that this helps me!)
These inspirational and faith-filled prayers and poems can be helpful in moments when you need to press pause and ponder. Also, feel free to use them as fun activities for the whole family!
Would you please use these Christmas prayers and poems in any way that will allow you to focus on Christ and the deeper truths of the season? You can say a prayer or poem before you start a busy day, as you seek to reflect before going to sleep, around the dinner table for family devotions, or before opening presents. You can also download, print, and share one of these prayers or poems with family members or friends by sending them in your Christmas cards or using them during a holiday gathering.
No matter what your Christmas celebration looks like this year, I hope that these inspirational prayers and prayers will add depth, meaning, and a little bit of fun to your holiday season.
A CHRISTMAS ADVENT REFLECTION
Use this simple reflection to remind yourself that the waiting Advent teaches us to do during the Christmas season applies to our entire faith journey. Advent means being courageous and strong enough to exist in the place of “in-between,” where we are no longer what we once were because of the miracle of Jesus’ birth, but we are “not yet” what we will one day be when Christ returns to make all things new.
What is Advent?
The courage to find
JOY & PEACE
between
“no longer” and
“not yet.”
Carla Gasser
A CHRISTMAS TREE BLESSING
Use this prayer as you decorate your home or Christmas tree. We can waste valuable time and energy making sure that the lights twinkle, the ornaments sparkle, the evergreens are fragrant without ever considering the symbols of joy, love, and grace that they can represent.
Holy Creator of Trees, bless with your abundant grace this our Christmas tree as a symbol of joy.
May its evergreen branches be a sign of your never-fading promises.
May its colorful lights and ornaments call us to decorate with love our home and our world.
May the gifts that surround this tree be symbols of the gifts we have received from the Tree of Christ’s Cross.
Holy Christmas tree
within our home,
may Joy and Peace
come and nest in
your branches and
in our hearts.
Amen.
Author Unknown
A CHRISTMAS PRAYER TO FILL YOU
There are so many ways we can fill our hearts, minds, and souls this Christmas season. Use this prayer to focus on how the key players at the Nativity (Mary, Joseph, the shepherds, and the wise men) allowed God to fill them with wonder, obedience, eagerness, determination, and peace. All good things to fill us up this Christmas!
May you be filled with the wonder of Mary,
the obedience of Joseph,
the joy of the angels,
the eagerness of the shepherds,
the determination of the magi,
and the peace of the Christ child.
Almighty God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit bless you now and forever.
Ray Pritchard
A CHRISTMAS PRAYER OF JOY
How about taking the time to thank God for the most amazing unexpected gift of Christmas: Jesus? This beautiful heartfelt prayer from Martin Luther enables us to lift words of praise and thanksgiving for the joy and peace that Immanuel, God with us, brings. Let’s make room in our hearts for Him.
Ah, dearest Jesus, holy Child, make thee a bed, soft, undefiled, within my heart, that it may be a quiet chamber kept for Thee.
My heart for very joy doth leap, my lips no more can silence keep, I too must sing, with joyful tongue, that sweetest ancient song.
Glory to God in highest heaven, who unto man His Son hath given, while angels sing with pious mirth, a glad new year to all the earth! Amen.
Martin Luther
A CHRISTMAS POEM ABOUT THE BETHLEHEM STAR
“O Star of wonder, star of night, Star with royal beauty bright. Westward leading, still proceeding, guide us to Thy perfect light.” As the lyrics of the famous Christmas carol, “We Three Kings,” remind us to follow the Star, the words of this poem encourage us to seek the One to whom the Star leads.
But the Bethlehem star may lead me
To the sight of Him Who freed me
From the self that I have been.
Make me pure, Lord: Thou art Holy;
Make me meek, Lord:
Thou wert lowly;
Now beginning, and always,
Now begin, on Christmas day.
Gerard Manley Hopkins
A REFLECTION ON THE PERFECT GIFT OF CHRISTMAS
While we try to add our traditions, tinsel, and tidings to Christmas, only one thing is truly needed. As this reflection from Corrie Ten Boom reminds us, we can add nothing to Christmas! God gave the world the most perfect gift with the most perfect motive: love. And the only thing required of us is the believe and accept this gift by faith.
Who can add to Christmas?
The perfect motive is that God so loved the world.
The perfect gift is that He gave His only Son.
The only requirement is to believe in Him.
The reward of faith is that you shall have everlasting life.
Corrie Ten Boom
A POEM TO EMBRACE THE REAL WORK OF CHRISTMAS
When the festivities end, the family and friends return home, and all the decorations removed, we may think it is time to put Christmas away too…at least until next year. But that is when the “real work of” Christmas should begin. The work of taking the hope and joy that Jesus brings and using it to heal the broken, provide for the needy, bring peace to our communities, and share light in the darkness. After Christmas is over, the real work of the season begins!
When the song of the angels is stilled, when the star in the sky is gone, when the kings and princes are home, when the shepherds are back with the flocks, then the work of Christmas begins:
To find the lost, to heal those broken in spirit, to feed the hungry, to release the oppressed, to rebuild the nations, to bring peace among all peoples, to make a little music with the heart. And to radiate the Light of Christ, every day, in every way, in all that we do and
in all that we say.
Then the work of Christmas begins.
Howard Thurman
SHARE THESE CHRISTMAS PRAYERS & POEMS
I hope the resources in this post help you embrace the true meaning of the Christmas season. All of the downloads are my gift to you to show my appreciation for joining me here At the Crossroads. I pray they bless, encourage, and inspire you during Advent, Christmas, and in the coming year!
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If this post spoke to you in any way, would you mind leaving a comment, sharing it on social media, or even letting a friend know? My heart is to reach as many people as possible with the hope, love, and peace that only Jesus can bring!
May I have permission to use the Howard Thurman poem for my teacher group newsletter.
Thank you.
Vicki Maline
Delta Kappa Gamma, Beta Iota chapter newsletter editor
Absolutely! Thank you for asking.
We would like to request to use the poem from Martin Luther for our Sunday morning church bulletin.
Thank you,
FM
Hello, I thought I’d ask again for permission to use Howard Thurman’s poem in my Christmas card message. Will this be OK?
I sent you an email. Please check and see if you received it.
I received a reply but did not see your approval to my request.
Absolutely! If you are using the sheet as I created it, could you please also include my website (www.carlagasser.com)? Blessings!