Last updated: October 26, 2021
Enjoy these beautiful Christmas prayers and take a moment this holiday season to reflect on and celebrate the true meaning of Christmas, the birth and gift of our Savior Jesus Christ.
Maybe you’re looking for a short prayer to pray together with your guests before your Christmas dinner. Or perhaps a bible scripture to reflect on in a quiet moment, or a blessing you can send to a friend. There are a wide variety of prayers on this page, so you should be able to find something just right. Use these links to jump to a particular section or scroll down the page to read all the prayers and blessings.
Christmas Prayers |
Short Christmas Blessings |
Scripture & Bible Verses
Christmas Prayers
As we gather together this Christmas season with family and friends, take a moment to share a Christmas prayer and reflect on the true reason for the season. Some of the prayers are quite traditional, and if these aren’t your style, you can use them as inspiration for your own prayer of praise and thanksgiving for this special time of the year.
Loving Father,
help us remember the birth of Jesus,
that we may share in the song of the angels,
the gladness of the shepherds,
and worship of the wise men.
Close the door of hate
and open the door of love all over the world.
Let kindness come with every gift
and good desires with every greeting.
Deliver us from evil by the blessing which Christ brings,
and teach us to be merry with clear hearts.
May the Christmas morning
make us happy to be thy children,
and Christmas evening bring us to our beds
with grateful thoughts,
forgiving and forgiven,
for Jesus’ sake.
Amen.
~ Robert Louis Stevenson
Let the love that shaped earth and heaven dwell within us this Christmas.
Let the love that created humanity dwell within us this Christmas.
Let the love that overcomes suffering and hatred dwell within us this Christmas.
Let the love that causes us to rejoice with loved ones dwell within us this Christmas.
Let the love that forgives and renews dwell within us this Christmas.
Let the love that brings reconciliation after separation dwell within us this Christmas.
Let the love that brings the blessing of peace dwell within us this Christmas.
And may we share that peace with all people near and far.
Amen.
~ Author Unknown
O sweet Child of Bethlehem, grant that we may share with all our hearts in this profound mystery of Christmas. Put into the hearts of men and women this peace for which they sometimes seek so desperately and which you alone can give to them. Help them to know one another better, and to live as brothers and sisters, children of the same Father. Reveal to them also your beauty, holiness and purity. Awaken in their hearts love and gratitude for your infinite goodness. Join them all together in your love. And give us your heavenly peace. Amen.
~ Prayer of Pope John XXIII
O God, you have caused this holy night to shine with the brightness of the true Light: Grant that we, who have known the mystery of that Light on earth, may also enjoy him perfectly in heaven; where with you and the Holy Spirit he lives and reigns, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.
~ The (Online) Book of Common Prayer
O my Lord Jesus, we gaze on You as a child and believe that You are the Son of God, who became man through the working of the Holy Spirit in the womb of the Virgin Mary. Just as at Bethlehem, we too, adore You, with Mary, Joseph, the angels and the shepherds, and acknowledge You as our only Savior. You became poor to enrich us with Your poverty. Grant that we may never forget the poor and all those who suffer. Protect our families, bless all the children of the world, and grant that the love You have brought us may always reign among us and lead us to a happier life. Grant, O Jesus, that all may recognize the truth of Your birth, so that they may know that You have came to bring to the whole human family light, joy and peace. You are God, who live and reign with God the Father, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.
~ Prayer of Pope Benedict XVI
Almighty God, you have given your only-begotten Son to take our nature upon him, and to be born this day of a pure virgin: Grant that we, who have been born again and made your children by adoption and grace, may daily be renewed by your Holy Spirit; through our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom with you and the same Spirit be honor and glory, now and for ever. Amen.
~ The (Online) Book of Common Prayer
We praise You, O loving God, who gave Your very self in human form,
Your majesty born into our poverty, Your love lying in an out-house.
We thank You that, amidst Bethlehem’s noisy rush, we find in You a focus for our activity, a hope for you humanity, a love for all eternity. But we confess that Christ’s birth has gone unnoticed.
Now, as then, we have not made room in our day to day lives.
Now, as then, we have mislaid Your message of reconciling love.
Now, as then, we have ignored the stillness of Your presence.
Gift-giving God, forgive us. Free us from our self-centeredness.
Help us to accept Your love so freely given that we may live as You have called us to live. Amen.
~ Author Unknown
Like eager children waiting for dawn,
tearing at the wrapping to get to the gift,
waking sleeping parents with shouts of joy,
let our celebrations begin!
May this Christmas morning
find us able to say “Alleluia”
even in the midst of pain and anxiety,
because You are our hope.
Jesus Christ, come to us,
fill our hearts with joy in knowing
this deeper truth that life contains,
that because You come, all will be well.
Let us witness not to successful lives,
not to perfect health, faultless families,
highly achieving work, or new possessions,
but to the quiet inner knowing of You.
And as we gather this joyful morning,
let our Alleluias rise from willing lips,
from lives opened to Your gift,
and from hearts filled with Your love.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia,
and Amen!
~ Ann Siddall, Stillpoint Centre
O God, you make us glad by the yearly festival of the birth of your only Son Jesus Christ: Grant that we, who joyfully receive him as our Redeemer, may with sure confidence behold him when he comes to be our Judge; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
~ The (Online) Book of Common Prayer
Let Your goodness Lord appear to us, that we, made in your image, conform ourselves to it. In our own strength we cannot imitate Your majesty, power, and wonder nor is it fitting for us to try. But Your mercy reaches from the heavens through the clouds to the earth below. You have come to us as a small child, but you have brought us the greatest of all gifts, the gift of eternal love. Caress us with Your tiny hands, embrace us with Your tiny arms and pierce our hearts with Your soft, sweet cries.
~ St. Bernard of Clairvaux
Let the just rejoice,
For their Justifier is born.
Let the sick and infirm rejoice,
For their Savior is born.
Let the captives rejoice,
For their Redeemer is born.
Let slaves rejoice,
for their Master is born.
Let free men rejoice,
For their Liberator is born.
Let All Christians rejoice,
For Jesus Christ is born.
~ St. Augustine of Hippo
Father of all men, look upon our family,
Kneeling together before Thee,
And grant us a true Christmas.
With loving heart we bless Thee:
For the gift of Thy dear Son Jesus Christ,
For the peace He brings to human homes,
For the good-will He teaches to sinful men,
For the glory of Thy goodness shining in His face.
With joyful voice we praise Thee:
For His lowly birth and His rest in the manger,
For the pure tenderness of His mother Mary,
For the fatherly care that protected Him,
For the Providence that saved the Holy Child
To be the Savior of the world.
With deep desire we beseech Thee:
Help us to keep His birthday truly,
Help us to offer, in His name, our Christmas prayer.
From the sickness of sin and the darkness of doubt,
From selfish pleasures and sullen pains,
From the frost of pride and the fever of envy,
God save us every one, through the blessing of Jesus.
In the health of purity and the calm of mutual trust,
In the sharing of joy and the bearing of trouble,
In the steady glow of love and the clear light of hope,
God keep us every one, by the blessing of Jesus.
In praying and praising, in giving and receiving,
In eating and drinking, in singing and making merry,
In parents’ gladness and in children’s mirth,
In dear memories of those who have departed,
In good comradeship with those who are here,
In kind wishes for those who are far away,
In patient waiting, sweet contentment, generous cheer,
God bless us every one, with the blessing of Jesus.
By remembering our kinship with all men,
By well-wishing, friendly speaking and kindly doing,
By cheering the downcast and adding sunshine to daylight,
By welcoming strangers (poor shepherds or wise men),
By keeping the music of the angels’ song in this home,
God help us every one to share the blessing of Jesus:
In whose name we keep Christmas:
And in whose words we pray together:
Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name.
Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we
forgive our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil:
For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever.
Amen.
~ A Christmas Prayer for the Home, Henry Van Dyke
Short Christmas Blessings
In this section, you’ll find some short Christmas prayers and blessings to share with Christian family and friends.
God grant you the light in Christmas, which is faith;
the warmth of Christmas, which is love;
the radiance of Christmas, which is purity;
the righteousness of Christmas, which is justice;
the belief in Christmas, which is truth;
the all of Christmas, which is Christ.
~ Wilda English
May the blessing of joy abide within you;
May the blessing of peace rest upon you;
May the blessing of love flow out through you;
May all the blessings of the Lord be yours
at Christmas and in the new year.
~ Author Unknown
The light of the Christmas star to you,
The warmth of home and hearth to you,
The cheer and good will of friends to you,
The hope of a childlike heart to you,
The joy of a thousand angels to you,
The love of the Son and God’s peace to you.
~ Irish Christmas Blessing
Bless us Lord, this Christmas, with quietness of mind;
Teach us to be patient and always to be kind.
~ Helen Steiner Rice
Christmas Scripture & Bible Verses
These bible verses about Christmas are lovely to read with your family as you reflect on the true meaning of Christmas.
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:6
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:14
Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. Luke 2:11
He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end. Luke 1:32-33
And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 1 John 5:11
Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. This is how we know that we live in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God. And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. 1 John 4:7-16
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. John 14:27
Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. James 1:17
Click here for more Christmas Bible Verses & Scripture.
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Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™
