Lord, Thanksgiving left us full. Our home was full of our favorite people. Plates were full of delicious meals and desserts. Our hearts were full of gratitude for all you’ve done for our family. You filled us up to overflowing with your love.

Yet as we prepare for Christmas, we can find our “fullness” depleted. The busyness of holiday concerts and parties, decorating, and shopping drains our energy. Striving for a picture-perfect season steals our peace. Extra spending on groceries and gifts saps our bank account. Our kids’ “gimmies” and wish lists push contentment out the door. Stress, pressure, and fatigue leave us empty inside.

As we enter into the Christmas season, we pray your Word for our family:

I pray that out of [your] glorious riches
[you] may strengthen [our family] with power
through [your] Spirit in [our] inner being,
so that Christ may dwell in [our] hearts through faith.

And I pray that [our family],
being rooted and established in love,
may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people,
to grasp how wide and long and high and deep
is the love of Christ,

and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—
that [we] may be filled to the measure
of all the fullness of God.
(Ephesians 3:16-19)

Lord, you are the one who fills our lives with every good thing. You–and only you–can satisy the hopes and desires of our hearts. In you we find peace that no amount of trouble, worry, or stress can take away. You  are the One who makes this season beautiful, as we remember the incredible gift of Christ coming to love and save us all.

Keep us filled, Lord, with your love. Expand our hearts and minds to take it in. Let this be a season of strength for our family, power by your Spirit, and an overflowing measure of your love in each of us.

Come, Lord Jesus. Amen.