P.R.A.Y
PAUSE
REJOICE & REFLECT
ASK
YIELD
Personal Worship
The New Testament has a shocking description of Lot.
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 fill my heart with hope that you are the God who makes all things new. You do not run from me when I am searching for you. I am seeking you now. Speak to me through your Word and renew my hope.
I choose to rejoice, with all God’s people, in the powerful promise that God gives us in Psalm 34…
The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous
and his ears toward their cry.
The face of the Lord is against those who do evil,
to cut off the memory of them from the earth.
When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears
and delivers them out of all their troubles.
The Lord is near to the brokenhearted
and saves the crushed in spirit.
Psalm 34:15-18
As you read the passages below, ask the Lord to cause a word or phrase to stand out to you.
and if he rescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked (for as that righteous man lived among them day after day, he was tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless deeds that he saw and heard); then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment, and especially those who indulge in the lust of defiling passion and despise authority.
2 Peter 2:7-10
As I reread the passage, I reflect on the questions, “How is my life touched by this word?” and “How does this passage connect with my life?”
and if he rescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked (for as that righteous man lived among them day after day, he was tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless deeds that he saw and heard); then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment, and especially those who indulge in the lust of defiling passion and despise authority.
2 Peter 2:7-10
All of those verses were picked so that we could see in Peter’s Epistle he calls Lot, righteous Lot. The New Testament author looks back at the story of Lot and deems him righteous. God put it in his infallible and inerrant Word so we know it is true. It should make us wonder why. Lot’s narrative ends with his daughters taking advantage of him and becoming pregnant, but we know God redeemed that story through the line of Ruth. This makes us question where our righteousness comes from. At the end of the world, will it come down to whether I have done more wrong or right to be declared righteous? Is it based on my performance? Lot with all of his mistakes is deemed righteous. Just like Abraham in Genesis 15 God counted righteousness to him not based on his performance, but based on his hope that the Son of Promise will one day come and do what he could not do.
Lord, let me be found like Lot in the end. One who you look at and deem as righteous not based on my performance, but based purely on what you have done on the cross. I ask that you show me my mistakes so I can bring them to you now.
Heavenly Father, we come before You with hearts yearning for Your presence. Revive us, O Lord, and breathe new life into our souls. Stir our spirits and awaken us to Your truth and love. Fill us with Your Holy Spirit, igniting a passion for Your Word and a fervor to share Your grace. Restore our joy and renew our faith. May Your light shine through us, transforming our lives and our communities. Guide us, empower us, and use us for Your glory. In Jesus’ name, we pray. 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?
and if he rescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked (for as that righteous man lived among them day after day, he was tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless deeds that he saw and heard); then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment, and especially those who indulge in the lust of defiling passion and despise authority.
2 Peter 2:7-10
Yielding Prayer
Lord, I yield in obedience that you determine righteousness and I do not. What you call righteous is righteous. In the end, let me be found righteous not based on my performance, but on my faith in your Son and his sacrifice. Thank you that you make men like Lot righteous, that gives me a great hope that you are the God who truly saves.
Yielding Promise
And now, as I move into the day ahead, the Lord who loves me reminds me in Romans 8…
And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.
Romans 8:28
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.