P.R.A.Y
PAUSE
REJOICE & REFLECT
ASK
YIELD
Personal Worship
Abimelech blesses Abraham today because of who his God is.
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 come before you with a humble heart. In your presence, I seek guidance and strength. I thank you for your endless love and grace, which sustains me each day. As I approach you now, I ask for your Spirit to illuminate your Word to me now. Fill my heart with your peace. Let me experience your presence during this time.
I choose to rejoice, with all God’s people, in the powerful promise that God gives us in Psalm 118…
The Lord is my strength and my song;
he has become my salvation.
Glad songs of salvation
are in the tents of the righteous:
“The right hand of the Lord does valiantly,
the right hand of the Lord exalts,
the right hand of the Lord does valiantly!”
I shall not die, but I shall live,
and recount the deeds of the Lord.
The Lord has disciplined me severely,
but he has not given me over to death.
Psalm 118:14-18
As you read the passages below, ask the Lord to cause a word or phrase to stand out to you.
Then Abimelech took sheep and oxen, and male servants and female servants, and gave them to Abraham, and returned Sarah his wife to him. And Abimelech said, “Behold, my land is before you; dwell where it pleases you.” To Sarah he said, “Behold, I have given your brother a thousand pieces of silver. It is a sign of your innocence in the eyes of all who are with you, and before everyone you are vindicated.” Then Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech, and also healed his wife and female slaves so that they bore children. For the Lord had closed all the wombs of the house of Abimelech because of Sarah, Abraham’s wife.
Genesis 20:14-18
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?”
Then Abimelech took sheep and oxen, and male servants and female servants, and gave them to Abraham, and returned Sarah his wife to him. And Abimelech said, “Behold, my land is before you; dwell where it pleases you.” To Sarah he said, “Behold, I have given your brother a thousand pieces of silver. It is a sign of your innocence in the eyes of all who are with you, and before everyone you are vindicated.” Then Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech, and also healed his wife and female slaves so that they bore children. For the Lord had closed all the wombs of the house of Abimelech because of Sarah, Abraham’s wife.
Genesis 20:14-18
Abimelech doesn’t give Abraham all of that because Abraham deserves it. Abimelech sees the power of the God of Abraham and understands that God has chosen Abraham to be a blessing to all the nations of the world. Again we see the power of God to control life in this world. Think about what Abimelech and his people are seeing. They know that during this period that Sarah was given over to Abimelech that no woman was getting pregnant. Then Abraham prays for their healing and they are healed. How astounding that God uses a messy individual’s prayers to bring about healing. Through Abraham’s mistakes, God reveals who he is to Abimelech and all those around him.
Lord, I ask that you hear my prayers. Fashion my heart to be a person who believes you are not only the God who hears, but you respond in my world.
Lord, We come to you in need of renewal and revival. Breathe new life into our weary souls and reignite our passion for your truth and love. Cleanse our hearts from all that hinders our walk with you, and restore our faith and zeal. Fill us with your Spirit, empowering us to live boldly for your glory. May your presence transform us, and may Your light shine through us to touch the lives of others. 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?
Then Abimelech took sheep and oxen, and male servants and female servants, and gave them to Abraham, and returned Sarah his wife to him. And Abimelech said, “Behold, my land is before you; dwell where it pleases you.” To Sarah he said, “Behold, I have given your brother a thousand pieces of silver. It is a sign of your innocence in the eyes of all who are with you, and before everyone you are vindicated.” Then Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech, and also healed his wife and female slaves so that they bore children. For the Lord had closed all the wombs of the house of Abimelech because of Sarah, Abraham’s wife.
Genesis 20:14-18
Yielding Prayer
Lord, you are the God that brings life out of barrenness. Show me that my role in all of this is to be praying for those around me. Bring to mind those that need prayer in my life and let me be obedient and faithful to bring them before you in prayer.
Yielding Promise
And now, as I move into the day ahead, the Lord who loves me reminds me in Matthew 28…
And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Matthew 28:18-20
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.