P.R.A.Y
PAUSE
REJOICE & REFLECT
ASK
YIELD
Personal Worship
Paul comes to us with what it looks like to be a servant of Christ.
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 Psalm 25:
In you, Lord my God,
I put my trust.
I trust in you;
do not let me be put to shame,
nor let my enemies triumph over me.
No one who hopes in you
will ever be put to shame,
but shame will come on those
who are treacherous without cause.
Show me your ways, Lord,
teach me your paths.
Guide me in your truth and teach me,
for you are God my Savior,
and my hope is in you all day long.
Remember, Lord, your great mercy and love,
for they are from of old.
Do not remember the sins of my youth
and my rebellious ways;
according to your love remember me,
for you, Lord, are good.
Psalm 25:1-7
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
Nobody would enjoy hearing what Paul has to say to them at this moment. Even Paul knowing how necessary it was for him to write this letter to them, must have at times had misgivings. He must of at times wanted to think that it couldn’t be as bad as the reports say, but Paul shows why he is able to write a letter that is loving, but also a letter that is filled with hard truths that would have been hard to write and harder to read. As a servant of Christ, his goal is not to please or be approved of by men, his goal is to please Christ alone. This idea is all over Scripture. The idea is that we as people cannot serve two masters. It makes complete sense and I understand it theologically, but this is one of the most difficult parts of life. Every day you and I are faced with decision after decision on whether we will please men or please God. Conversation after conversation to whether we will please men or please God. How will we spend our money? In a way that pleases man or God. How will we raise our kids? In a way that pleases man or God. At the office, what is my goal? To please men or to please God? Over and over every aspect could almost really come down to this question. We live in a world that wants you to forget God and believe that the only people to please are those you can see, hear, touch, and smell. Paul is coming to us here and saying if you are a servant of Christ your goal is no longer to please all those around you. In fact, if you live like a servant of Christ you most likely won’t be able to please all those around you. In the end, the only opinion about our life that is going to matter will be Jesus’. So just like Paul, we are seeking to please Christ and not men in this lifetime!
Jesus, show me where my heart seeks the approval of man over your approval. Open my eyes to the people and the situations where I seek the pleasure of those around me rather than your pleasure.
1)Why do I think Paul makes the line so distinct when it comes to trying to please man versus trying to please Christ?
2)Where do I struggle in desiring the approval of man over Christ?
3)How does our current culture make this battle between the two so difficult?
4)What does it look like for me to be a servant of Christ today?
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, break me of my desire to please men. Show me where I am seeking the approval of all those around me. Fill me with the Spirit that calls me back to you. Would you make my vision and experience of you so great that all others pale in comparison to who you are? Protect me from the lies and temptations of the evil one today and make me your servant as I go from here.
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.