Lynne Baab

Praying about the flow of time: Meeting Jesus as a baby

Lynne Baab • Tuesday January 28 2025

A group of young adults gathers late on a Sunday night in a cathedral. They fill the pews, sprawl on the floor, and sit with their backs against the enormous pillars that hold up the ornate ceiling. They are waiting to begin Compline (pronounced COM•plin), a simple worship service with only a few psalms and prayers, a Scripture reading, and a hymn. The huge cathedral organ will ring out with Bach’s glorious tones at the end of the service.

Christians have been participating in Compline services for more than a thousand years. A brief prayer from Luke 2 is part of the service. It’s a vivid prayer that comes from the heart of an old man, Simeon, who had been watching for God’s salvation.

When the infant Jesus is brought to the temple to be dedicated, as was the custom, Simeon is filled with certainty that here, at last, is God’s salvation for the whole earth. With great joy, Simeon realizes he can now die at peace because of this baby’s birth. Simeon takes the baby in his arms and says:

“Master, now you are dismissing your servant in peace,
   according to your word;
for my eyes have seen your salvation,
   which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples,
a light for revelation to the Gentiles
   and for glory to your people Israel” (Luke 2:29-32).

Simeon’s prayer is only four verses long, but it has been repeated throughout many centuries in the Compline service. It has been a favorite prayer of mine since my early 20s.

On February 2, 40 days after Christmas, Christians in many church traditions celebrate the feast of the Presentation, also called Candlemas. This feast celebrates that moment when Jesus is brought to the temple by Mary and Joseph. The purpose of this visit to the Temple is two-fold: Mary goes for purification 40 days after the birth, and Jesus is presented to God as her first-born. The story appears only in Luke, and two individuals are highlighted in the story: Simeon and Anna. Both had been faithfully waiting for God to act, spending a great deal of time in the Temple.

Simeon’s prayer is one of the eight prayers that I feature in my Bible study guide, Prayers of the New Testament. That study guide and its partner, Prayers of the Old Testament, are still selling after 15 years in print. Recently an old friend contacted me to say that her Bible study group chose it, and only after she ordered her copy did she realize I had written it. That moment was sweet! When I got her email, I realized I almost never mention those study guides in my blog posts.

When we think of prayers in the Bible, the Psalms come to mind and perhaps a few additional prayers like Jeremiah’s passionate tirades to God and Jesus’s prayer in the Upper Room. When I chose prayers for the study guides, I was surprised at how many prayers are in both the Old and New Testaments.

I invite you to read Luke 2:25-38, the story of the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple. Here are the first nine reflection questions from this lesson in Prayers of the New Testament for you to ponder.

1. Imagine you’re walking closely behind Mary and Joseph after these events and overhear their conversation. What do you think they might say to each other or remark about as they leave the temple with Jesus?

2. What do we learn about Mary and Joseph from verses 22 to 24?

3. Luke describes Simeon as “righteous and devout” and says “the Holy Spirit was upon him” (v. 25). What do you think these characteristics look like as they’re lived out in everyday life?

4. In what ways would you like the Holy Spirit to be more present in your life?

5. Paraphrase Simeon’s prayer in verses 29 to 32 to express his main point.

6. What do you think is the significance of Simeon’s inclusion of “all people” in his prayer (v. 31)?

7. Anna and her actions are described in verses 36 to 38. Compare and contrast the description of Anna with the words about Simeon in verses 25 to 28.

8. Describe some of the ways you would like to resemble Simeon and Anna.

9. The combination of obedience to God’s word and openness to the Holy Spirit’s guidance enabled Mary, Joseph, Simeon and Anna to experience this amazing moment. How do obedience to God and openness to the Spirit lay a foundation for prayer?

At the end of each entry in the study guide, I give suggestions for further study. For this lesson, one of my suggestions is Psalm 92:12-15. When I wrote the study guide 15 years ago, these verses sounded aspirational for the future. Now, as I’m older, I cling to them and ask God to make them true for me.

The righteous flourish like the palm tree,
   and grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
They are planted in the house of the Lord;
   they flourish in the courts of our God.
In old age they still produce fruit;
   they are always green and full of sap,
showing that the Lord is upright;
   he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him.

Jesus our Redeemer, how we envy Simeon and Anna. They were in the right place at the right time to meet you. Simeon got to hold you! Thank you for Simeon’s beautiful words, sung by so many Christians over two millennia. For those of us who are younger, like Mary and Joseph, guide us to the places where we can meet you. For those of us who are aging like Simeon and Anna, help us wait for you and bear fruit. Enable our eyes to see your salvation and light like Simeon did.

֍ ֍ ֍

Next week: Praying about Black History Month. Illustration by Dave Baab: First Church of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand.

Related posts:

• Praying about the flow of time: Our Lady of Sorrows
• What Mary might have missed
• Putting limits on our thoughts

֍ ֍ ֍

Two ways to subscribe.

If you’d like to receive an email when I post on this blog, sign up below under “subscribe to updates.” That email and the posts on this blog are free and accessible for all.

If you’d like to help me cover the expenses for this blog and website, plus get a bonus post every month, you can subscribe on Patreon for $3 or $6 per month. My bonus posts focus on one or more of the hundreds of vivid quotations I’ve collected over five decades.

Lynne M. Baab, Ph.D., is an author and adjunct professor. She has written numerous books, Bible study guides, and articles for magazines and journals. Lynne is passionate about prayer and other ways to draw near to God, and her writing conveys encouragement for readers to be their authentic selves before God. She encourages experimentation and lightness in Christians spiritual practices. Read more »

Lynne is pleased to announce the release of her two 2024 books, both of them illustrated with her talented husband Dave's watercolors. She is thrilled at how good the watercolors look in the printed books, and in the kindle versions, if read on a phone, the watercolors glow. Friendship, Listening and Empathy: A Prayer Guide guides the reader into new ways to pray about the topics in the title. Draw Near: A Lenten Devotional guides the reader to a psalm for each day of Lent and offers insightful reflection/discussion questions that can be used alone or in groups. 

Another recent book is Two Hands: Grief and Gratitude in the Christian  Life, available in paperback, audiobook, and for kindle. Lynne's 2018 book is Nurturing Hope: Christian Pastoral Care for the Twenty-First Century, and her most popular book is Sabbath-Keeping: Finding Freedom in the Rhythms of Rest (now available as an audiobook as well as paperback and kindle). You can see her many other book titles here, along with her Bible study guides.

You can listen to Lynne talk about these topics: empathy, bringing spiritual practices to life. Sabbath keeping for recent grads., and Sabbath keeping for families and children.

Lynne was interviewed for the podcast "As the Crow Flies". The first episode focuses on why listening matters and the second one on listening skills. 

Here are two talks Lynne gave on listening (recorded in audio form on YouTube): Listening for Mission and Ministry and Why Listening Matters for Mission and Ministry.

"Lynne's writing is beautiful. Her tone has such a note of hope and excitement about growth. It is gentle and affirming."
— a reader

"Dear Dr. Baab, You changed my life. It is only through God’s gift of the sabbath that I feel in my heart and soul that God loves me apart from anything I do."
— a reader of Sabbath Keeping