God invites us to wait.
Nobody knows for how long.
Nobody knows what to expect when the wait is over.
God asks us to wait by and in faith.
God, help us to make our waiting time well-spent.
And so we wait.
And we are comforted and strengthened in the knowledge that
we do not wait alone;
we do not wait in vain.
Throughout our history,
across the earth as we know it,
prophets like Isaiah, Amos, Micah, and Hosea,
Lillian Marshall, Murdena Marshall, Raymond Taavel,
(add names of local prophets);
saints like Peter, Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., and Malala Yousafzai
have waited for the world to change.
We wait with the prophets, wise ones,
peacekeepers, and justice seekers,
assured that we do not wait in vain.
For the day will come, God says. Just wait for it.
God, give us the strength and perseverance to wait for your word.
Amen.
—an Advent prayer by Alydia Smith and Adele Halliday, The United Church of Canada, originally written for Behold! An Intercultural Gathering