P.R.A.Y
PAUSE
REJOICE & REFLECT
ASK
YIELD
Personal Worship
John enters into a discussion on what love looks like in the people of God. Today he takes us back to the story of Cain and Abel and shows murder and hatred have no place in the family of God.
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
Father God,
As I enter into your presence I ask that you meet with me here. I call upon the Words that you gave your people in Jeremiah 32. I ask that I would be a member of your people and that you would be my God. That you would give me a heart that will fear you forever. Remember your everlasting covenant to me now and do not turn away from doing good to me. Give me a heart that fears you and does not let me turn from you. Show me your kindness today. Amen.
We choose to rejoice in the power of God’s Word, with all his people in Psalm 111…
Praise the Lord! I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart, in the company of the upright, in the congregation.
Great are the works of the Lord, studied by all who delight in them.
Psalm 111:1-2
Today we are reflecting on the words of John in 1 John 3:11-15, where we read:
For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. We should not be like Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother’s righteous. Do not be surprised, brothers, that the world hates you. We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death. Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.
1 John 3:11-15
John tells us that love is the goal. Before he shows us what love should look like in the Christian life he shows us the two things love does not look like.
The first is murder and he takes us back to the story of Cain and Abel. Two brothers born into the same earthly family, but two brothers who did not share the same spiritual father. Cain was of the devil. He didn’t follow the rules of God when it came to sacrifices because his heart was not towards God. Abel on the other hand practiced righteousness because his father was God who is righteousness. Cain murdered Abel because his deeds were evil and he hated that Abel lived in righteousness. John takes this example and shows that the actions of Cain do not belong in the family of God.
John doesn’t stop with murder, but in a fashion reminiscent of Jesus he likens hatred to murder. And he concludes with the fact that hatred makes us murderers and there is no eternal life found in it.
Hate hits a little closer to home in our current culture. In a world that lives in outrage and hate, God calls his people to something different. It is easy to get caught up in hate when people don’t look like us, talk like us, think like us, opine like us, or vote like us. The world tells us we should hate those people. That this life is an us versus them life, but John is pointing us to love instead.
Jesus, show me where there is hate in my heart. Reveal to me where the standards of the world have obscured my vision of you. Give me eyes to see where my feelings on those around me are causing me to abide in sin and not you.
Reflection Questions:
1) Who or what do I hate?
2) Why does John and likewise, God, liken hate to murder?
Lord,
Today I pray the prayer that Ezekiel prayed over the dry bones in the valley. I pray it over the dry bones of our nation. I ask and plead with you as I pray:
O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord God to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. And I will lay sinews upon you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live, and you shall know that I am the Lord.” (Ezekiel 37:4-6)
Revive us, Lord.
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…
For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. We should not be like Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother’s righteous. Do not be surprised, brothers, that the world hates you. We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death. Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.
1 John 3:11-15
Yielding Prayer
Lord, I lay down my anger and hatred at your feet right now. If I am honest there is more of it in my heart than I realize. Take my heart of stone and turn it into a heart of flesh. Give me your Spirit that produces the fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control in me. Let me lay down my earthly battles that fuel my hate and give them to you because I am not strong enough to carry them myself. I repent of my hatred and restore me to your righteous path. Amen.
Yielding Promise
And now, as I move into the day ahead, the Lord who loves me reminds me in Romans 2:4…
Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?
Romans 2:4
Closing Prayer
Lord,
Thank you for meeting with me in this time. As I go from here fill me with your Spirit. Do not let me forget who you are or who I am in light of that. Make me your ambassador to my family, friends, and in my workplace. Pour out your love and mercy on me as I pour it out on all those that I will come into contact with this day. Let those around me see you as I live for you. Amen.