P.R.A.Y
PAUSE
REJOICE & REFLECT
ASK
YIELD
Personal Worship
As we continue in our Sacred Rhythms journey, we come to the topic of prayer! This week we will work through the Lord’s prayer and a Scripture that leads us deeper into it.
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, as I come into this time with you today I remind myself that this time is not spent in vain. In this moment the God who created all things hears my prayers and the cries of my heart. He doesn’t just hear me, but he speaks to me. So speak now Lord for your servant is listening.
We choose to rejoice in the power of God’s Word, with all his people in Psalm 115:1:
Not to us, Lord, not to us
but to your name be the glory,
because of your love and faithfulness.
Psalm 115:1
As I read the passage, I am asking the Lord to reveal a word or phrase that stands out to me.
Our Father in heaven,
Matthew 6:9a
In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another and said:
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;
the whole earth is full of his glory!”
And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”
Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.”
Isaiah 6:1-7
As I reread the passage, I am reflecting on the questions, “How is my life touched by this word?” and “How does this passage connect with my life?”
Our Father in heaven,
Matthew 6:9a
In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another and said:
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;
the whole earth is full of his glory!”
And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”
Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.”
Isaiah 6:1-7
Of all the things the disciples could ask Jesus to teach them they ask him to teach them to pray. Jesus gives them and us the Lord’s prayer. The Lord’s prayer is a prayer to be prayed, but also a guide on how to pray. This week we will work through it line by line while also working through a supplemental passage along the same lines as the prayer.
Jesus invites us to pray to God as Father. It is amazing because out of all of the names and titles of God, Jesus chooses Father to teach us to pray. We have a Father in heaven who delights to hear our voices. He yearns to hear our hearts. He desires us to pray to him. He wants us to meet with him through prayer.
In Isaiah 6 the prophet, Isaiah, is taking to the throneroom of God via a vision. In this vision is the same God we get to pray to as Father. After decades of prosperity, King Uzziah dies and it seems like everything is in shambles for Israel. As the earthly king is being laid to rest, the true King, God, remains on his throne unshaken. God is the God who is in control of all things. The train of his robe fills the temple and shows how powerful he is. In those days when a king conquered a nation, he would take parts of the conquered king’s robe and add it to the train of his robe. The longer the robe the more powerful that king was. Now imagine what the Bible is trying to get us to see. The train of the Lord’s robe fills the temple. He is strong, he is powerful, and he is in control of all things. This should fill us with assurance as we pray, that we are not praying to some inept god, but we are praying to the God who knows all things, sees all things, and can do all things. With all of that power, he still invites us to pray to him as Father.
My Father in heaven, I ask this week that you would give me a great desire to meet with you through prayer. Show me what it means to pray to you as my Father who loves me.
Lord, we humbly seek your forgiveness and mercy. We have sinned against you and wandered far from your ways. We’ve failed to love, obey, and offer others the forgiveness we’ve received and the mercy we’ve been shown. We repent of our sins. We return to you seeking revival, renewal, and restoration. Fill us with your Holy Spirit and let our lives and our relationships reflect Jesus Christ. Revive us, in Jesus’ name, Amen.
As I read the passage for the final time, I listen for how the Lord is inviting me to respond to him. Where in my life do I need to yield in obedience to what he has for me?
Our Father in heaven,
Matthew 6:9a
In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another and said:
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;
the whole earth is full of his glory!”
And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”
Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.”
Isaiah 6:1-7
Yielding Prayer
Lord, how are you inviting me to respond to you today? I thank you that you are the God who wants to hear from his children. Show me what it means that you are my Father in heaven. I yield in obedience to all you have for me today because you are the king on the throne and I am not!
Yielding Promise
And now, as I move into the day ahead, the Lord who loves me reminds me in Matthew 6:6:
But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
Matthew 6:6
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.