P.R.A.Y
PAUSE
REJOICE & REFLECT
ASK
YIELD
Personal Worship
We are continuing in our series, Sacred Rhythms, this week we come to the topic of discernment.
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 enter into your presence let me experience your steadfast love that never ceases. Pour out your mercies that are never-ending and new every morning upon my heart. Great is your faithfulness and therefore my hope is in you today.*
*Adapted from Lamentations 3:22-24
We choose to rejoice in the power of God’s Word, with all his people in Psalm 123:
To you I lift up my eyes,
O you who are enthroned in the heavens!
Behold, as the eyes of servants
look to the hand of their master,
as the eyes of a maidservant
to the hand of her mistress,
so our eyes look to the Lord our God,
till he has mercy upon us.
Have mercy upon us, O Lord, have mercy upon us,
for we have had more than enough of contempt.
Our soul has had more than enough
of the scorn of those who are at ease,
of the contempt of the proud.
Psalm 123:1-4
As I read the passage, I am asking the Lord to reveal a word or phrase that stands out to me.
But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
2 Timothy 3:14-17
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?”
But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
2 Timothy 3:14-17
This week we are thinking about the rhythm of discernment. We are all bombarded with decisions that we have to make day in and day out. We want to be people with great discernment so that we would have the ability to judge things well in this life. As Christians, there is an added element. Ruth Haley Barton puts it this way, “The habit of discernment is a quality of attentiveness to God that is so intimate over time we develop an intuitive sense of God’s heart and purpose in any given moment.” The goal of discernment is not just to make wise decisions, even though that is important, it is to intimately know God so that as we make decisions we are making them after God’s own heart.
This week we will look at five gifts from God to help us develop and walk in the rhythm of discernment. The first is Scripture! God has blessed us by giving us his Word, especially in our modern times where we can have access to the word of God whenever we want. The passage from 2 Timothy shows us what a great gift it is. Scripture is profitable to teach us, to reprove us, to correct us, and to train us up in righteousness. Scripture is the primary way that God does this. So when we think about how we develop discernment our first step should be to go to Scripture in all things. To ask the question of does Scripture speak on this topic specifically? Does Scripture speak about the background of this topic? Is there wisdom to be gleaned from Scripture as I make this decision? God is a God who doesn’t want to be a mystery to us and that is why the Bible is such a gift to us.
Lord, I ask that you would give me a love and a desire for your Word. I ask that you would use your Word to draw me closer in intimacy with you.
Lord, as I look at the world around me my soul can easily fall into despair. In a world full of brokenness and sin, I ask where does my help come from? You hear me and you remind me that my help comes from you the maker of heaven and earth. I ask that you would pour out your Spirit upon this world. Bring a supernatural revival that this world is desperate for that only you can bring. Show us your glory that we may praise you forevermore.
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?
But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
2 Timothy 3:14-17
Yielding Prayer
Lord, create in me a heart that obeys your Word at all costs. Let me yield in obedience to your Word today. Would your Word be the driving force behind all of my decisions and actions today? Fill me with your Spirit.
Yielding Promise
And now, as I move into the day ahead, the Lord who loves me reminds me in Isaiah 55:8-9:
For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.
Isaiah 55:8-9
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.