Dear God,

As Christmas is upon us, there is a heaviness in my heart. Our world is broken. People are lost. Families are severed. Financial heartache has created a hopeless state, while sickness and natural disasters have left a wake of destruction unequaled.

Never have I seen so much emotional instability, isolation, and fear. My heart breaks as I hear of more and more lives lost to suicide—overwhelmed by the loss and hopelessness of the last two years. So many families have holes left by Covid. Nothing seems solid.

I see our children and the world they are growing up in. TikTok, Youtube, and other video-based social media are driving and steering these young minds. Real conversations and relationships have been replaced by faces on a screen and grammatically stilted conversations in texts and messages. Video and photo editing create false realities that our children try to emulate and attain. Will they know truth? Will they want to know truth? Oh, how my heart aches for this generation.

Marriages are breaking. Addiction runs rampant. People have lost touch with church families and true community. Is there hope? Can you reach this dying population of broken-hearted people?

I think about the great lengths you went to grab my straying heart. I know you are big enough. I know you can.

So, this Christmas, I ask you to show up in the lives of those around me. Heal the broken hearts of the ones who have lost their families. Mend fearful minds who seem happier in isolation than in community. Repair severed homes who have lost all hope of brighter days. Reveal your truth to the lies this world has fed us and restore our minds to peaceful places. Rebuild beaten down self-worth of a population stuck in the trap of comparison. And bring peace to the places that are ravaged in fear and trepidation.

God, these prayers seem so big, but I know you hear and can answer. Through the kindness of strangers, remind us of your love. Through situations that should demolish and devastate us, bring transformative peace. Through our physical pain, sickness, and hardship, teach us to turn to you and trust in your healing hand. We need you, God, in more ways than we even understand.

Thank you for all your blessings, and may we never forget your goodness, mercy, and grace. We will never make it without you. Soften the hearts of this generation as we celebrate Jesus this Christmas. Please use the baby in a manger to open the door to salvation for a multitude who have never met you.

Use me. Use us. Do what only you can do. Amen.