P.R.A.Y

PAUSE

REJOICE & REFLECT

ASK

YIELD

Personal Worship

Paul shows us today that it is not just the evil things that our flesh desire, but it also over-desires the good things in our life.

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.

Pause

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, you are the living water. I approach your throne thirsty and desperate for your presence. As I enter in allow me to lay it all down at your feet because there is no better place for me to bring all of my praise, all of my fears, and all of my needs today. Meet with me and fill me with your Spirit.

Rejoice and Reflect

We choose to rejoice in the power of God’s Word, with all his people in Psalm 63:5-8:

My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food,
    and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips,
when I remember you upon my bed,
    and meditate on you in the watches of the night;
for you have been my help,
    and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy.
My soul clings to you;
    your right hand upholds me.

Psalm 63:5-8

Today we are reflecting on the words of Scripture in Galatians 5:17-18, where we read:

But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

Galatians 5:17-18

Paul defines the precise nature of this battle. The battle between the desires and the flesh is not just a battle where our hearts desire evil things, which they do, but it is greater and more encompassing than just that. The word for desires in Greek is “epithumia”. The word literally means “over-desire” or an “inordinate desire”. It is an all-consuming drive and longing for something. The main problem with our sinful heart is not that it just desires evil things, but it has the desire to take good things and make and over-desire them until they become gods in our lives. As Calvin said, “Our hearts are idol factories.” In our flesh the over-desire is strong, but in the Spirit, there is no over-desire, because the Spirit’s desires our perfect in our hearts. So what is it that the Spirit desires, because the Spirit still has passions and yearnings? The Spirit years to glorify and adore Jesus. The Spirit speaks of the beauty and grace of Jesus Christ. The Spirit longs to show us Christ and to transform and conform us to him. Our sinful nature keeps us from doing what we want to do which is living in the freedom and the power of the Spirit. The great hope we have as Christians is what Paul is telling us here. Even when we are falling into sin, we can say with Paul: “This is not the real me; this is not what I really want. I want God and his will in my life.”

Ask

Jesus, I ask that you fill me with your Spirit to fight against the sinful desires in my heart. I ask that you transform and conform me to who you are and to your nature.

1)Where in my life currently am I creating idols from the good things God has given me in this life?
2)What does it look like for me to invite the Holy Spirit’s help in the battle that is being waged between my two natures?

Lord, look upon your people and have mercy on us. We are lost like sheep without a shepherd. We need your Spirit to be poured out on us. Fill us with your Spirit and allow us to walk by the Spirit in this world. Revive our hearts and change our desires in this life.

Yield

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.

Galatians 5:17-18

Yielding Prayer

Jesus, I ask that you would fill me with your Spirit to transform and conform me to who you are. I cannot do this on my own. I lay my pride at the door today and ask for your Spirit’s help. Teach my soul what it means to walk by the Spirit because there is no greater place to be.

Yielding Promise

And now, as I move into the day ahead, the Lord who loves me reminds me in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20:

Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20

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.