PrayerMate | Praying through Advent 2018

Daily push notifications to help you focus on Jesus this Advent.

As Christmas approaches, the season of Advent is a time of looking forward - looking forward to the coming of Jesus. As we remember his first coming that very first Christmas day, we also look ahead to his coming again.

This Advent, we are delighted to announce a wonderful selection of Advent devotional feeds to help you fix your eyes on Jesus, available on your mobile devices. We have Sinclair Ferguson’s book of daily devotionals — “Love Came Down At Christmas” — which if you subscribe by 6th December you can get for the discounted price of £1.99, as is the case with Tim Chester’s “The One True Gift”. There’s also a variety of other resources that you can subscribe to completely free of charge — including, for the first time ever, our very own devotional series, “Praying Through Advent”, written especially for PrayerMate, and an Advent Devotional from Cru.

If you are reading this blog post on your phone, simply press any of the links below and your phone should automatically open that feed in the PrayerMate app. Alternatively, to find these devotionals through the app, press the big “Add +” button and find the “Advent 2018” button. There you can read more about each devotional and press the “Subscribe” button at the bottom of each one to sign up.

This Advent, don’t let your phone distract you from Christ — let it lift your eyes to him instead.

Advent Devotionals for 2018

Love Came Down At Christmas — Sinclair Ferguson (£1.99 until 6th Dec)

Love is at the heart of Christmas — it’s the reason behind all our gathering and gift-giving at this time of year. In this Advent devotional, Dr Sinclair B Ferguson refreshes our hearts as we reflect on the source of it all — love incarnate, Jesus Christ.

Over the course of December 2018, this devotional walks through 1 Corinthians 13 phrase-by-phrase, showing us that “love is” the Lord Jesus himself.

Sinclair Ferguson brings the rich theology of the incarnation to life with his trademark warmth and clarity. Drawing on stories from the Gospels, we’ll see what “love” looked like in the life of Christ, and be challenged us to love like him during the Christmas season. Each day’s reading finishes with carols and hymns for reflection and prayer.

However you’re feeling — weary or frantic, lonely or lovesick — your heart will be refreshed as you wonder again at the truth that love came down at Christmas in the person of Jesus Christ.

Praying Through Advent (Free)

We’re really excited for the first time ever to be offering our very own devotional feed, available exclusively through PrayerMate.

This simple advent devotional works through the various “names” given to Jesus, from the prophet Isaiah to the gospel writers. Each day during December we’ll take a short Bible verse, a brief thought, a prompt for personal reflection and a short prayer. Perfect for fixing our eyes on our Saviour Jesus each day during this hectic Advent season.

If it’s useful to use with younger children, you can also download and print out the images for each “name” to cut out and use in an advent calendar here.

Starts 1st December 2018. Subscribe here.

Cru Advent Devotional (Free)

As our awareness for the first coming of Christ is heightened, our longing and expectation for his second advent should increase as well. Beginning four Sundays before Christmas we focus on advent, a season of reflection and longing for the coming King.

Join Cru in celebrating the coming Saviour with this easy-to-follow advent series.

Starts Monday 3rd December.

Content has been provided by Cru. Shared with permission. Subscribe here.

Come Let Us Adore Him — Paul Tripp (Free)

Every time the Christmas season comes around, we look forward to putting up a tree, giving and receiving gifts, and participating in other traditions that make this wonderful time of year so special. But sometimes the most significant aspect of the season — remembering and focusing on the coming of Jesus — grows old and familiar.

In Come Let Us Adore Him: A Daily Advent Devotional, Paul Tripp seeks to recapture our attention and reawaken our awe during Christmastime. Each day is structured like Tripp’s best-selling devotional, New Morning Mercies‚ with a compelling, gospel-centered thought followed by an extended meditation for the day.

Each of the thirty-one devotions also includes a Scripture reading and notes for parents and children, equipping us to do the one thing that matters most each December — celebrate Jesus. Subscribe here.

Isaiah Advent Devotional — Euston Church (Free)

In the craziness of the Christmas season, we often don’t think about Jesus enough. This little advent series, starting 1st December 2018, is to help us reflect on him.

Although Isaiah was written nearly 700 years before Jesus, it is one of the prophets which is quoted a lot in the gospels. Isaiah tells us about a person who is coming to rescue God’s people — and when Jesus turns up it is clear the person Isaiah was talking about is him!

In this series we’re going to try to get know this rescuer better — what he’s like, what he does, what it’s like following him and where he’s leading us to. Subscribe here.

The One True Gift — Tim Chester (£1.99 until 6th Dec)

Christmas is meant to be full of joy and light; but all too often it is spoiled by grumbling and arguing. So this year, prepare to encounter Christ afresh in a way that will make you a bearer of peace and goodwill all season long.

In these 24 short daily readings for Advent, Tim Chester peels back the layers on Philippians 2. Each day includes ideas for reflection, prayer and application, designed to excite you about the One True Gift — the Lord Jesus — in the run-up to Christmas Day.

This collection of inspiring readings also comes with hymns, carols and prayers to help you prepare your heart for Christmas. Subscribe here.

Good News of Great Joy — John Piper (Free)

Good News of Great Joy: Daily Readings for Advent contains 25 short devotional readings beginning December 1 and going through Christmas Day. This book of Advent meditations aims to put Jesus at the center of your holiday season. These readings are excerpted from the works John Piper. Subscribe here.

The Dawning of Indestructible Joy — John Piper (Free)

Advent is for adoring Jesus.

These 25 brief devotional readings from John Piper begin on December 1 and carry us to Christmas Day. Our hope is that God would use these meditations to deepen and sweeten your adoration of Jesus and help you keep him at the center of your Christmas season. Subscribe here.

31 Days of Purity — Tim Challies & Mike Leake (Free)

Through the month of December, you are invited to 31 Days of Purity — thirty-one days of thinking about and praying for sexual purity. Each day features a short passage of Scripture, a reflection on that passage, and a brief prayer. Written by Tim Challies, Mike Leake and others. Subscribe here.

PrayerMate is a free app designed to help you be consistent in praying regularly for yourself, for your loved ones and for God’s world. Get it free on iOS and Android .

Introducing Discipleship Tech

Whilst you’re here… Have you heard yet that PrayerMate is now under the umbrella of a brand new charity called Discipleship Tech, with a vision to use technology to help people grow in their relationship with Christ? We’d love you to watch our video that explains in more detail.