P.R.A.Y
PAUSE
REJOICE & REFLECT
ASK
YIELD
Personal Worship
We meet and experience Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane on the night he was betrayed.
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 107:
1 Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
for his steadfast love endures forever!
2 Let the redeemed of the Lord say so,
whom he has redeemed from trouble
3 and gathered in from the lands,
from the east and from the west,
from the north and from the south.
Psalm 107:1-3
Today we are reflecting on the words of Scripture in Matthew 26:36-46, where we read:
36 Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples, “Sit here, while I go over there and pray.” 37 And taking with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he began to be sorrowful and troubled. 38 Then he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me.” 39 And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.” 40 And he came to the disciples and found them sleeping. And he said to Peter, “So, could you not watch with me one hour? 41 Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” 42 Again, for the second time, he went away and prayed, “My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.” 43 And again he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy. 44 So, leaving them again, he went away and prayed for the third time, saying the same words again. 45 Then he came to the disciples and said to them, “Sleep and take your rest later on. See, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. 46 Rise, let us be going; see, my betrayer is at hand.”
Matthew 26:36-46
The night before he was crucified Jesus sets out to have an experience with his Father. He gathers three of his disciples and he sets out for the Garden of Gethsemane. A place that was familiar to him. A place where he went to be alone and seek his Father’s face. Upon arrival, he gives himself some space away from his disciples and he cries out to his Father. He will repeat the same prayer three times in a row. A prayer that is full of honesty and full of trust. Alone in the presence of God, he is honest about his desire to have the cup of wrath, which is the crucifixion, pass him, but even with that desire he trusts the Father. By the end of verse 46, he knows the answer of the Father and he trusts him and yields in obedience. We are all walking through something that is difficult right now. Something that may go as far as to cause us to describe ourselves as sorrowful and troubled. God is inviting us to come to him exactly like Jesus did that night. To come to him full of honesty about what we are facing and full of trust that he is the God who hears us and loves us.
Lord, I ask that you would see and hear me at this moment. Search me and bring to light what you want me to come to you with now.
You are the God who moves. I ask that you would do exactly what you have done in every century throughout history. Move in your people. Awake the sleepers. Save the lost. Meet this world in a supernatural way that brings you all the glory. We are crying out for a broken and messy world that needs your love so desperately.
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.
36 Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples, “Sit here, while I go over there and pray.” 37 And taking with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he began to be sorrowful and troubled. 38 Then he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me.” 39 And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.” 40 And he came to the disciples and found them sleeping. And he said to Peter, “So, could you not watch with me one hour? 41 Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” 42 Again, for the second time, he went away and prayed, “My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.” 43 And again he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy. 44 So, leaving them again, he went away and prayed for the third time, saying the same words again. 45 Then he came to the disciples and said to them, “Sleep and take your rest later on. See, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. 46 Rise, let us be going; see, my betrayer is at hand.”
Matthew 26:36-46
Yielding Prayer
Lord, I come to you now humbly knowing that you are God and I am not. I lay down at your feet at this moment in honesty asking you to take certain things, conversations, relationships, sufferings, sicknesses, and difficult situations and let them pass me by. I yield to your answer knowing that you know and care far more for me than I can imagine. I trust you.
Yielding Promise
And now, as I move into the day ahead, the Lord who loves me reminds me in James 4:8:
Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.
James 4:8
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.