P.R.A.Y
PAUSE
REJOICE & REFLECT
ASK
YIELD
Personal Worship
We begin a new series this week, Galatians: A Letter of Freedom. Over the course of the next 10 weeks, we will slowly sit at the feet of the Apostle Paul as he unpacks the gospel to the church in Galatia.
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, I approach your throne today in total confidence. I come to you confidently in prayer, not in my own merit or worth, but the only confidence I have is that Jesus, your beloved Son, suffered and died on my behalf. His blood is my access to you and it’s in his name alone that I pray.
We choose to rejoice in the power of God’s Word, with all his people in 1 John 3:1:
See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.
1 John 3:1
Today we are reflecting on the words of Scripture in Galatians 1, where we read:
Paul, an apostle—not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead— and all the brothers who are with me,
To the churches of Galatia:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.
I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.
For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.
Galatians 1:1-10
The Book of Galatians is a letter written by the apostle, Paul, to the church in Galatia which is located in modern-day Turkey. He wrote this letter around 50 AD to the churches he had previously visited on his missionary journeys to Galatia. The purpose of this letter is that the churches there were falling away from the gospel due to agitators coming into their community and making them believe in a different gospel other than what Paul preached to them. He writes this letter to fight against specific beliefs that they were clinging to since Paul left them. He writes out of love to remind them of the true gospel of Jesus Christ that they are currently in the process of deserting.
Paul begins the letter in the way all ancient letters were written. It begins with the person describing who they are and what qualifies them to write this letter. In other words, Paul begins with his identity. Where did Paul place his identity? He placed his identity in the resurrected Jesus. His whole life since his conversion as an apostle. An apostle is someone who was directly sent out by Jesus himself to spread the true gospel. This is what he was basing his whole life off of. He believed that Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God, who was crucified and resurrected and now his mission in this life is to spread that news to the corners of the earth. His identity is found in who Jesus is and his life will prove that
Jesus, show me who I am in you. Open my eyes to who or what I am placing my identity in today.
1)How would I introduce myself in a letter? What things would I include and why?
2)Who or what am I basing my identity on right now?
3)What am I tempted to place my identity in?
Lord, I ask that you would visit your people again. I ask that you would pour out your Spirit in a supernatural way for a season of time where your glory would open the eyes of all that see it. Would you do what only you can do? Would you do what you have done before in history? Revive your Church, revive your people, and revive your 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.
Paul, an apostle—not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead— and all the brothers who are with me,
To the churches of Galatia:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.
I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.
For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.
Galatians 1:1-10
Yielding Prayer
Lord, you are the God who deserves it all. You are the only God who can and will satisfy. Forgive me for all of the things I place my identity in. Forgive me for giving in to the temptation to allow work, success, money, relationships, and whatever else it is to become my identity. My identity is only found in you the God who created me and died for me.
Yielding Promise
And now, as I move into the day ahead, the Lord who loves me reminds me in John 6:
All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.
John 6:37
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.