P.R.A.Y
PAUSE
REJOICE & REFLECT
ASK
YIELD
Personal Worship
Paul interrupts the flow today with some thoughts about false teachers.
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, it is for freedom that you have set me free. As I enter into your presence I enter confidently, not because of who I am, but because of who you are. You are the God who loves me and you want to hear from me. Fill me with your Spirit that I may hear what you have for me today.
We choose to rejoice in the power of God’s Word, with all his people in Psalm 62:1-2:
For God alone my soul waits in silence;
from him comes my salvation.
He alone is my rock and my salvation,
my fortress; I shall not be greatly shaken.
Psalm 62:1-2
Today we are reflecting on the words of Scripture in Galatians 5:7-12, where we read:
You were running well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth? This persuasion is not from him who calls you. A little leaven leavens the whole lump. I have confidence in the Lord that you will take no other view, and the one who is troubling you will bear the penalty, whoever he is. But if I, brothers, still preach circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been removed. I wish those who unsettle you would emasculate themselves!
Galatians 5:7-12
Paul is reminding the Galatians that this is not just a nice theological debate that everyone can leave feeling happy from. That these truths have eternal ramifications for human souls. So we can see why there is an urgency and anger in these words of Paul. Paul believes that what these false teachers are doing by drawing the Galatians away from the true gospel deserves a penalty and a serious one at that. God is the one who calls them and this is not coming from him but from these false teachers. We have to keep seeing that there can be no comprise here. It is either circumcision (self-salvation) or the offense of the cross (Christ-salvation). The cross is so offensive because it tells us that we have no hope of saving ourselves. That we have to destroy the pride in us that says we can have any part other than faith in Jesus for our salvation. Paul points out he is clearly preaching the offense of the cross because he is still being persecuted by those who are preaching a self-salvation. Paul ends by saying those who wish to unsettle you would go the whole way and not stop at circumcision but castrate or “emasculate” themselves. This could be seen as a lashing out for revenge by Paul, but I think this quote by John Stott shows us that it is actually a deep love for the people of God when he says,
“I venture to say that if we were as concerned for God’s church and God’s word as Paul was, we too would wish that false teachers might cease from the land.” (The Message of Galatians, page 136)
Paul is reminding us that this matters.
Lord, I ask that you give me a seriousness about your Word and truth like Paul had. That I would love people enough to be bold in standing firm in your Word.
1)How would our current world and mindsets respond to the way Paul is going about his argument in this letter specifically this section today?
2)What can I learn from Paul about the seriousness of the truth of the gospel and apply it in my own relationships?
God, you are infinite and all-powerful. There is nothing that happens on this earth that you are unaware of. I pray that you would look upon the state of your people and you would have mercy on us. Pour out your Holy Spirit and wake us from our slumber. Set us ablaze to live this life for an audience of One. Take our hearts of stone and raise them back to life so that our one and only desire is to glorify you this day.
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.
You were running well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth? This persuasion is not from him who calls you. A little leaven leavens the whole lump. I have confidence in the Lord that you will take no other view, and the one who is troubling you will bear the penalty, whoever he is. But if I, brothers, still preach circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been removed. I wish those who unsettle you would emasculate themselves!
Galatians 5:7-12
Yielding Prayer
Lord, your Word matters. I yield in obedience to it. In the places that are difficult, I ask that you give me the strength to obey. When the ideas of this world press in and persecute me because of your truth will you give me the confidence and the strength to keep going? Give me wisdom in my day-to-day conversations to show the beauty of the grace and hope that you offer.
Yielding Promise
And now, as I move into the day ahead, the Lord who loves me reminds me in John 8:36:
So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.
John 8:36
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.