Luke 1:5-17 - A Christmas Sacrifice of Prayer

We think of Christmas as a time of giving, but genuine giving means sacrifice. And there are plenty stories of sacrifices made when Jesus was born.

One of those sacrifices was made by the priest, Zechariah. Zechariah was married to  Elizabeth, an older relative of Mary's (Luke 1:36). One of the most sacred honors for a priest was to burn incense in the Holy Place within the temple. It was an honor decided by a lottery (Luke 1:9), and when Zechariah was thus selected, it meant that he would sacrifice a week away from home (Luke 1:23, 39-40)  All this happened about fifteen months before Jesus was born (Luke 1:26). 

Zechariah burned incense, and as the smoke rose up, Zechariah offered the prayers of the people up to heaven as well. Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth had their own prayer, once upon a time.

When they were younger, they prayed to have a baby... but Elizabeth couldn't get pregnant. And now they were an elderly couple. Their hopes of having a child were long gone, the prayers seemingly ignored. Ironically, he was praying for everyone else while thinking that God had said "no" to his own prayers.

But it was while Zechariah was praying for the people that the angel Gabriel showed up, to tell Zechariah that "God has heard your prayer. Your wife, Elizabeth, will give you a son, and you are to name him John." (Luke 1:14, New Living Translation) Jesus' cousin, John, would be known John the Baptist--the one sent to prepare people for Jesus' ministry. 

Sometimes the best thing we have to offer to God is our need. That's why we pray. To offer Him our needs, our disappointments, our anguish. Even when we have stopped praying, the prayers are still a "standing request" and they, too, can be a sacrifice this Christmas.

Father, I don't know the deepest desires or needs of those around me, the prayers that people have stopped praying. But we come again, anyway, to say, "Lord, hear our prayer... by Your mercy and in the name of Jesus, Amen."