Prayer for Unity at Christmas

Holy Father,

             I know that in times past some people have been able to make peace and reconcile differences during the Christmas season when they found it impossible at all other times of the year. Every year, as the world moves farther along the road of rejecting Your dear Son, it seems that such reconciliations are harder to come to.

            I do not pray for the peace of mankind, for I know there can be no true peace in the world until the Lord Jesus Christ sits upon His throne and the Millennial Kingdom is brought in.

I do not pray for the unity of denominations, for I know that cannot be until all have the true doctrine of Christ without blemish. I do not pray for delusion but for truth.

But Father, I pray for the reconciliation that is possible between friends where the bonds of friendships have been broken, and I pray for the reconciliation of marriages, where the bonds of mutual caring and love have been damaged.

I know that such reconciliation is not only possible in this fallen world but also pleasing in Your sight. I ask that You would send out Your Holy Spirit to work in people’s hearts and lives this season for this noble purpose. Strive in the hearts of men, especially those that are of the household of faith, that they would hold most dear those forms of love that are deepest as a reflection of that perfect love that flows from Your throne.

I ask this that You may be glorified in the healing of hearts that will occur. And, I ask it knowing that I have no true concept of the magnitude of what I ask. I only know that there are those known to me who hurt unnecessarily because they do not reflect Your love in the relationships You have made possible in their lives.

Finally, I want to praise You for the friends, family, children, and not least, the dear wife that You have given me to be blessings in my life. I pray that You will help me to be more appreciative of them and loving towards them in however many days You might see fit to allow me to have remaining. May I always give You the glory for the privilege of knowing them one and all.

In the Name of my Lord Jesus Christ I ask these things. Amen.