P.R.A.Y
PAUSE
REJOICE & REFLECT
ASK
YIELD
Personal Worship
We begin the week with Paul justifying where this gospel message came from and why that matters.
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
As I enter into your presence, I wait on you, my God. You are a shield about me. You are my glory and the lifter of my head. I cry aloud to you today and I trust that you will answer me from your holy hill. (Psalm 3:3-4) I surrender this time to you and refix my gaze on who you are.
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.
Full of splendor and majesty is his work,
and his righteousness endures forever.
He has caused his wondrous works to be remembered;
the Lord is gracious and merciful.
Psalm 111:1-4
Today we are reflecting on the words of Scripture in Galatians 1:11-12, where we read:
For I would have you know, brothers, that the gospel that was preached by me is not man’s gospel. For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ. For you have heard of my former life in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it. And I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people, so extremely zealous was I for the traditions of my fathers. But when he who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son to me, in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone; nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me, but I went away into Arabia, and returned again to Damascus.
Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas and remained with him fifteen days. But I saw none of the other apostles except James the Lord’s brother. (In what I am writing to you, before God, I do not lie!) Then I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia. And I was still unknown in person to the churches of Judea that are in Christ. They only were hearing it said, “He who used to persecute us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.” And they glorified God because of me
Galatians 1:11-24
Paul defended his apostleship to the Galatians at the beginning of chapter one. As he continues he now defends his message, particularly the origins of the message. Paul makes a clear distinction that the gospel he had received and preached did not come from man but came from God. He is saying that the gospel is not an invention or tradition, but it is a revelation. That God revealed Jesus to Paul and that is the message he brings to the church in Galatia. He is doubling down on why they should not believe these Judaizers who seek to distort the one true gospel. Any intervention or change from a man makes the gospel no longer the true and beautiful gospel that is given to us by God. Think about all man-invented religions. At some point they all find themselves worshipping and glorifying human beings. There is some law to keep, some teaching to follow, some ritual to be performed, some penance to endure, or some state of consciousness to achieve that will bring salvation. All of it is man climbing the mountain to get to God. Christianity is different. Christianity is the only religion where God leaves the summit of the mountain and meets his people at the base. Christianity is not man-made, but it originates from God in eternity past. That God saw that all of humanity, every person that had ever taken a breath on this planet, and knew that they were sinful, broken people that couldn’t save themselves. So instead of God giving humans a roadmap of how to get to heaven. He sent his Son, his only Son, down to earth. Jesus, being fully God and fully man, sacrificed himself. It is only through the cross and the empty tomb that we can find life. That is why the gospel cannot be from man, because only God could do that.
Jesus, show me the beauty of what it means that no man originated the gospel. Open my eyes to the places where man-made tendencies have crept into what I believe and how I worship.
1)Why do I think Paul takes the origins of the gospel message so seriously?
2)Why is it so easy for us, as humans, to turn everything into some kind of worship of man, whether it is ourselves or someone else?
3)What is the primary message of a “gospel of man”? Is it even good news?
4)Where have man-originated ideas crept into what I believe about God or the gospel message? What could those ideas be?
Our Father and our God, I come to you now to ask for revival in our nation. I pray that your Spirit would fall on your Church. Would you wake us from our slumber and free us from our love of this world? I ask that you would manifest yourself in a supernatural way in this season of time and draw all people to yourself. Come in such power and glory that we would know that this was of you and not the work of human hands. Hear the cry of my heart and respond oh 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 I would have you know, brothers, that the gospel that was preached by me is not man’s gospel. For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ. For you have heard of my former life in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it. And I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people, so extremely zealous was I for the traditions of my fathers. But when he who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son to me, in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone; nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me, but I went away into Arabia, and returned again to Damascus.
Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas and remained with him fifteen days. But I saw none of the other apostles except James the Lord’s brother. (In what I am writing to you, before God, I do not lie!) Then I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia. And I was still unknown in person to the churches of Judea that are in Christ. They only were hearing it said, “He who used to persecute us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.” And they glorified God because of me
Galatians 1:11-24
Yielding Prayer
God, I praise you that the true gospel message can only come from you and no man can add or reduce any part of it. Forgive me for all the additions and redactions that I have believed and will believe in the future. Fill me with your Holy Spirit to discern the teachings that are all around me. Give me obedience to what is true and I can see in your Word. Give me the obedience to run from anything else that distorts the one true gospel message that has been revealed to me by your grace.
Yielding Promise
And now, as I move into the day ahead, the Lord who loves me reminds me in Titus 3:
For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
Titus 3:3-7
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.