P.R.A.Y
PAUSE
REJOICE & REFLECT
ASK
YIELD
Personal Worship
As Wednesday begins, we draw near to spend time with a God who is faithful to his children.
Together we will pray (P.R.A.Y.) each day – ‘P’: Pausing to be still as we come into the presence of the Lord. ‘R’: Rejoicing as we remember who our God is and what He has done, and Reflecting on His word. ‘A’: Asking God to help us and others. And ‘Y’: yielding to His will in accordance with His word.
As I come before you to pray, I still my thoughts and quiet my mind. I seek to make you the center of my focus.
Prayer of Approach
As I enter into your presence, I wait on you, my God. You are a shield about me. You are my glory and the lifter of my head. I cry aloud to you today and I trust that you will answer me from your holy hill. (Psalm 3:3-4) I surrender this time to you and refix my gaze on who you are.
We choose to rejoice in the power of God’s Word, with all his people in Psalm 8…
O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory above the heavens.
Out of the mouth of babies and infants, you have established strength because of your foes,
to still the enemy and the avenger.
When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,
what is man that you are mindful of him,
and the son of man that you care for him?
Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings
and crowned him with glory and honor.
You have given him dominion over the works of your hands;
you have put all things under his feet,
all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea,
whatever passes along the paths of the seas.
O Lord, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
Psalm 8
Today we reflect on 1 Samuel 17:31-40, where we read:
When the words that David spoke were heard, they repeated them before Saul, and he sent for him. And David said to Saul, “Let no man’s heart fail because of him. Your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.” And Saul said to David, “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him, for you are but a youth, and he has been a man of war from his youth.” But David said to Saul, “Your servant used to keep sheep for his father. And when there came a lion, or a bear, and took a lamb from the flock, I went after him and struck him and delivered it out of his mouth. And if he arose against me, I caught him by his beard and struck him and killed him. Your servant has struck down both lions and bears, and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be like one of them, for he has defied the armies of the living God.” And David said, “The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” And Saul said to David, “Go, and the Lord be with you!”
Then Saul clothed David with his armor. He put a helmet of bronze on his head and clothed him with a coat of mail, and David strapped his sword over his armor. And he tried in vain to go, for he had not tested them. Then David said to Saul, “I cannot go with these, for I have not tested them.” So David put them off. Then he took his staff in his hand and chose five smooth stones from the brook and put them in his shepherd’s pouch. His sling was in his hand, and he approached the Philistine.
1 Samuel 17:31-40
David steps up to do the unimaginable in the eyes of everyone there that day. No one wants to face Goliath, but this boy still in his youth will do it. David refuses the armor of Saul, but not for the reason that we always think and in that he shows us where his trust lies. We oftentimes think David refuses the armor of Saul because it was just too big and too unmanageable for his body. We say that he was just a small, young man and the armor of a grown man just didn’t fit. That’s why he doesn’t want to wear it. What does David say when he refuses the armor? He says he won’t wear it, because he hasn’t tested it. He hasn’t experienced the faithfulness of this armor in his life. He has however experienced the faithfulness of God in his life and he rehearses God’s past faithfulness to the crowd around him. Who was with him when the lion and the bear came for his lambs? It was the Lord. David said because I have seen the deliverance of the Lord in my past, I will trust the deliverance of the Lord in my future. The same God who met him in the shepherd’s field will meet him against Goliath. David has tested the Lord and the Lord has proven his faithfulness. He doesn’t fear because his trust his wholly and surely in the strength and power of the Lord to rescue him from Goliath’s hand.
Lord, I ask that you give me the heart and the eyes like David had that day against Goliath. Show me in my life where you have proven your faithfulness to me. I ask that you would fill my heart and my eyes with a vision that because of your faithfulness you can be trusted in my life no matter what giant I am facing.
Reflection Questions:
1) Where in my life have I seen God’s faithfulness to me?
Lord, would you show your Church your faithfulness throughout the ages? In the days we are living in that seem so uncertain, would you raise up your Church to trust our future to your hands. You hands that have proven faithful since the beginning and will be faithful to us throughout eternity.
As I read the passage again slowly, I listen for anything that You would say to me in it. Help me see how to position my life in order to yield to your word…
When the words that David spoke were heard, they repeated them before Saul, and he sent for him. And David said to Saul, “Let no man’s heart fail because of him. Your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.” And Saul said to David, “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him, for you are but a youth, and he has been a man of war from his youth.” But David said to Saul, “Your servant used to keep sheep for his father. And when there came a lion, or a bear, and took a lamb from the flock, I went after him and struck him and delivered it out of his mouth. And if he arose against me, I caught him by his beard and struck him and killed him. Your servant has struck down both lions and bears, and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be like one of them, for he has defied the armies of the living God.” And David said, “The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” And Saul said to David, “Go, and the Lord be with you!”
Then Saul clothed David with his armor. He put a helmet of bronze on his head and clothed him with a coat of mail, and David strapped his sword over his armor. And he tried in vain to go, for he had not tested them. Then David said to Saul, “I cannot go with these, for I have not tested them.” So David put them off. Then he took his staff in his hand and chose five smooth stones from the brook and put them in his shepherd’s pouch. His sling was in his hand, and he approached the Philistine.
1 Samuel 17:31-40
Yielding Prayer
Lord, I have mediated and rehearsed your faithfulness in my life. Now would you give me trust in you for my future. For the situations that seem uncertain would you give me faith your steadfast love, because I have tested your faithfulness and you have proven yourself to me over and over again. Give me your Spirit to surrender my life wholly to you.
Yielding Promise
And now, as I move into the day ahead, the Lord who loves me reminds me in Hebrews 10…
Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.
Hebrews 10:19-23
Closing Prayer
Almighty God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, grant, we pray, that we might be grounded and settled in your truth by the coming of your Holy Spirit into our hearts. What we do not know, reveal to us; what is lacking within us, make complete; that which we do know, confirm in us; and keep us blameless in your service through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.1
1St. Clement of Rome