P.R.A.Y
PAUSE
REJOICE & REFLECT
ASK
YIELD
Personal Worship
This week we continue our series, “A Seat at the Table” and we begin with a couple of days in the story of the Prodigal Son.
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 approach this time with you today let me see your glory. Remind my heart that you are a good Father who loves me. Where there is anxiety bring peace. Where there is pain bring healing. Where there is doubt bring confidence. Where there is sorrow bring comfort. May your joy become my joy in this time.
We choose to rejoice in the power of God’s Word, with all his people in Psalm 145:
I will extol you, my God and King,
and bless your name forever and ever.
Every day I will bless you
and praise your name forever and ever.
Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised,
and his greatness is unsearchable.
Psalm 145:1-3
As you read the passage, ask the Lord to reveal a word or phrase that stands out to you.
And he said, “There was a man who had two sons. And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of property that is coming to me.’ And he divided his property between them. Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took a journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in reckless living. And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs. And he was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate, and no one gave him anything.
Luke 15:11-16
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?”
And he said, “There was a man who had two sons. And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of property that is coming to me.’ And he divided his property between them. Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took a journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in reckless living. And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs. And he was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate, and no one gave him anything.
Luke 15:11-16
Jesus tells this story to two groups who have gathered around him. One of the groups is labeled as sinners and the other as Pharisees. At this moment the Pharisees are grumbling about the fact that Jesus receives sinners and eats with them. Jesus sees this as an opportunity to teach them about his compassion. He tells a series of three stories that each have more on the line. In the first one sheep out of one hundred goes missing and the shepherd goes on a sheep search. The second a woman loses one coin out of ten and goes on a search. The final is one son out of two leaves the family home and that is where we pick up today.
This scene would have been next to unimaginable to the people in that day. A son with the brazen choice to ask for what he should not at that time. By asking for his inheritance before the father has even died is the son telling the father he would rather have him dead and have his money than still have him in his life. An odd choice for the father to even say yes. The son takes what he should not have been given and he squanders it all and he finds himself stuck in a desperate situation.
Lord, show me your heart in this passage. Reveal to me what you have for me through this passage today.
Lord, revival begins with me. I ask that you would pour out your Spirit on me. I desire my heart to look like your heart for those around me who do not know you. Transform me and give me eyes to see like you have seen me.
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?
And he said, “There was a man who had two sons. And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of property that is coming to me.’ And he divided his property between them. Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took a journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in reckless living. And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs. And he was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate, and no one gave him anything.
Luke 15:11-16
Yielding Prayer
Lord, how are you inviting me to respond to this passage? Give me obedience that tracks with the heart of the father. I desire to have a heart that is full of compassion and honestly, my heart is not always like that. Transform my heart to look like yours. Give me a compassion that looks foolish to this world.
Yielding Promise
And now, as I move into the day ahead, the Lord who loves me reminds me in Luke 19:10:
For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.
Luke 19:10
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.