# The one you long for

Advent devotional for Friday, December 18, 2026. Day 20 of 27.

> Look, I am sending my messenger, and he will clear a path ahead of me. Then suddenly the Lord you are looking for will come to his temple. The messenger of the covenant, the one you long for—look, he is coming, says Yahweh of Armies. ([Malachi 3:1](https://www.lumin.faith/read/malachi/3#1), Lumin Translation)

Malachi is the last book of the Old Testament in Christian Bibles. After it come about four hundred years with no new prophet.

It ends with a promise: a messenger will clear the road, and then the Lord himself will come to his temple. The one you long for is coming.

Then the silence. Generations lived and died waiting. When the New Testament story opens, an angel appears in the temple to an old priest named Zechariah, to tell him about a son who will prepare the way ([Luke 1:11-17](https://www.lumin.faith/read/luke/1#11-17)). The silence was not the end.

## Prayer

Lord, when you seem silent, help me keep watching. You are the one I long for. Come. Amen.

## A question to carry

Where has God felt silent to you?

Read the whole chapter: [Malachi 3](https://www.lumin.faith/read/malachi/3)

Source: https://www.lumin.faith/advent/december-18