P.R.A.Y
PAUSE
REJOICE & REFLECT
ASK
YIELD
Personal Worship
We continue to hear the heart of the Apostle John for the church in his day and in ours. He will encourage them and us to see who God is and how to live based on that truth.
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
Lord, as I enter into your presence, I wait expectantly to hear from you today. Fill me with your Spirit and illuminate what you have for me. Let my heart trust that you are the God who meets with his people and you will meet with me at this moment.
We choose to rejoice in the power of God’s Word, with all his people in Colossians 1:15-20…
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.
Colossians 1:15-20
Today we are reflecting on the words of John in 1 John 2:12-14, where we read:
I am writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven for his name’s sake. I am writing to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I write to you, children, because you know the Father. I write to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one.
1 John 2:12-14
John may sound like he has shifted to writing to three different audiences, but he is not. He is still writing to the church as a large group, but now he writes to them based on their spiritual maturity as individuals. The little children are those who have just entered into the light of a relationship with Jesus. The young men are those who have been walking in the light for some time. Lastly, the fathers are those who are the most spiritually mature, those who have been walking with Jesus for generations. His repetition clarifies for us what spurs him to write to them.
John affectionately calls them “little children” because of his fatherly love for them. What does he want to remind them of? The greatest truth in any of our lives is that God has forgiven their sins for his name’s sake. They can trust that. The Greek is in the perfect tense, which seems nerdy, but it shows the beauty of what John is saying. It conveys the notion that your sins have been forgiven once and for all and will never be brought up before God again. We can rest in this truth because God has done this not us. We don’t receive his forgiveness because we cleaned ourselves up, but purely because of the work of Jesus on the cross. Our forgiveness rests in “his name’s sake.” His name is one that never fails, one that never changes, one that won’t stop, or go back on his forgiveness. Being a child of God is astounding.
He writes to the young men, those a little more mature in their spiritual journey because they are strong. What makes them strong? They know the Word of God and it abides in them. They have matured because they have devoted themselves to the Scriptures. What offensive weapon has the Lord given us to overcome the evil one? In Ephesians 6, he describes the Scriptures as the Sword of the Spirit. How did Jesus defeat Satan when he was tempted in the wilderness? By quoting Scripture in response to Satan’s temptations. We mature and know God through his Word by devoting ourselves to it.
He then writes to the fathers, the most mature because of the time they have spent knowing God. Not just knowing him like they know math or history, but by experiencing him. They have walked with God for generations and God has proven himself to them over and over again. They know him deeply because of the time spent with him.
John is casting a vision of how beautiful life is when it is defined as a long obedience in the same direction towards God. A beautiful picture of a life growing in the Lord. That’s our hope that we will faithfully walk with God as we age and we will be rewarded with his presence and knowing him deeper day after day.
Jesus, I ask for your Spirit to open my eyes after reading your Word. I ask that right now you would give me eyes to see your love for me clearly and because of that, I can be honest with myself at this moment in time.
Reflection Questions:
1) Where am I on my spiritual journey? Am I a little child, a young man, or a father?
2) Where do I need to grow in my spiritual maturity?
3) Does the Word of the Lord abide in me or do I not see a need for it in my life?
4) Am I trying to overcome the evil one on my own or am I asking the Spirit to equip me in the moment with the Word of God
Lord, I pray for your people worldwide right now. Would you give them a burning passion for abiding in your Word? May your people be described as people of the Book. I ask that your people would experience you today. Would your Spirit fill them as they seek to overcome the evil one in this world?
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…
I am writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven for his name’s sake. I am writing to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I write to you, children, because you know the Father. I write to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one.
1 John 2:12-14
Yielding Prayer
Lord, I yield to you. I lay down my own passions and desires at your feet and ask you to have your way with them. I surrender my life to your Word. Prune the areas of my life that do not match what your Word says. Give me a joy and a desire to know you. I lay down any striving in my own might to save myself. I trust and rest that Jesus died for my sins and I have been forgiven based on that alone. Fill me with your Spirit to overcome the evil one. May I battle all temptations today by responding to them with the truth and the promises of your Word?
Yielding Promise
And now, as I move into the day ahead, the Lord who loves me reminds me in Psalm 103:8-14…
The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. He will not always chide, nor will he keep his anger forever.
He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities.
For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us. As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him. For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust.
Psalm 103:8-14
Closing Prayer
Lord God, almighty and everlasting Father, you have brought me in safety to this new day: Preserve me with your mighty power, that I may not fall into sin, nor be overcome by adversity; and in all I do direct me to the fulfilling of your purpose; through Jesus Christ my Lord. Amen.1
1Divine Hours, Phyllis Tickle