P.R.A.Y
PAUSE
REJOICE & REFLECT
ASK
YIELD
Personal Worship
Today we look at second of the two things that always precedes revival: prayer.
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
Heavenly Father, you promise that when I seek you with all my heart, I will find you. I offer my soul to you this morning. Would you teach me more of what it looks like to seek you this way, so that I might find you in my every place of need. (Jeremiah 29:13)
We choose to rejoice in the power of God’s Word, with all his people in Psalm 116:
I love the Lord, because he has heard
my voice and my pleas for mercy.
Because he inclined his ear to me,
therefore I will call on him as long as I live.
Psalm 116:1-2
Today we are reflecting on the words of Scripture in Isaiah, where we read:
For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent,
and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not be quiet,
until her righteousness goes forth as brightness,
and her salvation as a burning torch.
The nations shall see your righteousness,
and all the kings your glory,
and you shall be called by a new name
that the mouth of the Lord will give.
You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord,
and a royal diadem in the hand of your God.
You shall no more be termed Forsaken,
and your land shall no more be termed Desolate,
but you shall be called My Delight Is in Her,
and your land Married;
for the Lord delights in you,
and your land shall be married.
For as a young man marries a young woman,
so shall your sons marry you,
and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride,
so shall your God rejoice over you.
On your walls, O Jerusalem,
I have set watchmen;
all the day and all the night
they shall never be silent.
You who put the Lord in remembrance,
take no rest,
and give him no rest
until he establishes Jerusalem
and makes it a praise in the earth.
Isaiah 62:1-7
Dr. A.T. Pierson, who studied and wrote about the topic of revival, says that, “There has never been a spiritual awakening in any country or locality that did not begin in united prayer.”
But the question is: what kind of prayer? Because here’s what it isn’t, “Dear Lord, please bring revival.” No! Instead, it’s what people who study and write on revival call, “prevailing prayer.” Here, again, we find a guide in Isaiah. God, through Isaiah, says that he (God) will not keep silent and that he (God) will not be quiet! At least not until his people are fully revived and completely transformed! And the picture of God’s revived and transformed people is stunning! Read back through the images in verses 1-5 above. They’re beautiful! And yet, how does God conclude this passage? He says, “On your walls, O Jerusalem, I have set watchmen (whose job was not just to look for approaching enemies; but, once the city was under attack, it was to look for those coming in deliverance! And so, with that in mind, what are these “watchmen” to do? God says…); all the day and all the night they shall never be silent. (In fact, he says…) You who put the Lord in remembrance (of his promise to rescue and revive his people and make their righteousness shine forth as brightness and their salvation as a burning torch), take no rest, and give him (God) no rest until he establishes Jerusalem and makes it a praise in the earth.” So, what kind of prayer brings (or always precedes) revival? Prayer that won’t give up until revival comes!
Lord, we confess that our righteousness does not shine forth as brightness and our salvation does not shine forth like a burning torch! Thus, the nations (and the people around us) remain largely in the dark. We’re besieged and surrounded and, left to ourselves, there is no hope! However, we trust in you! And, in you, there is great hope! Come and deliver us! Raise us up as “watchmen” and “watchwomen” who give you no rest until your people are fully revived and beautifully transformed to the praise of your glory in all the earth!
1)Do you really believe that God alone is the answer to our spiritual lethargy and ineffectiveness in the world? That he, alone, is our rescue and the key to seeing each of these beautiful images come true in our lives, personally, in Rio, and in the church at large?
2)Do you think the Lord would command us to give him no rest from our cries for revival if he didn’t plan to answer them? That is to say, would he command us to do something futile?
3)How big of a place does the topic of revival occupy in your prayer life?
4)Will you give more time to prayer for revival (for being a “watchman” or a “watchwoman” who will just keep asking until the Spirit falls)?
Dear Lord, our world is so broken. So many are hurting and in despair and darkness. Break our hearts for it so that we do not cease crying out fervently to you for mercy. We don’t have answers or solutions, we can’t fix what is broken. In humility, we come to you in our need. You are our hope! A word from you can change everything. Come and grant us grace, awaken your slumbering church, we pray and be glorified again here on the earth!
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 Zion’s sake I will not keep silent,
and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not be quiet,
until her righteousness goes forth as brightness,
and her salvation as a burning torch.
The nations shall see your righteousness,
and all the kings your glory,
and you shall be called by a new name
that the mouth of the Lord will give.
You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord,
and a royal diadem in the hand of your God.
You shall no more be termed Forsaken,
and your land shall no more be termed Desolate,
but you shall be called My Delight Is in Her,
and your land Married;
for the Lord delights in you,
and your land shall be married.
For as a young man marries a young woman,
so shall your sons marry you,
and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride,
so shall your God rejoice over you.
On your walls, O Jerusalem,
I have set watchmen;
all the day and all the night
they shall never be silent.
You who put the Lord in remembrance,
take no rest,
and give him no rest
until he establishes Jerusalem
and makes it a praise in the earth.
Isaiah 62:1-7
Yielding Prayer
Gracious Lord, I thank you for your faithfulness to us, your church! I thank you that even in our faithlessness, you will not let us go. Forgive me, as I prayed yesterday, for prayers that are so “me centered” and focused only on my life, my family, my friends, and scarcely take your larger church into consideration. I surrender to this call to be a watchman! Set me on your wall and ignite in me a fire to lay the Church before you, until you make it a praise in the earth!
Yielding Promise
And now, as I move into the day ahead, the Lord who loves me reminds me in 2 Chronicles 7:
if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.
2 Chronicles 7:14
Closing Prayer
Lord, enable me, by the power of the Holy Spirit, to love you today with all of my heart, soul, mind and strength; and to serve you today, by loving and caring for others as I do my own self; and, to exalt you today, by telling the people in my world about the abundant and eternal life found only through faith in Jesus.
*The P.R.A.Y. acronym has been adapted from the Lectio 365 app.