P.R.A.Y
PAUSE
REJOICE & REFLECT
ASK
YIELD
Personal Worship
In our narrative, we come to Sarah’s death.
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 you today remind me that my only comfort in life and death is that I wholly belong to you. You are God and I am not. Fill me with your Spirit and speak to me today.
I choose to rejoice, with all God’s people, in the powerful promise that God gives us in Psalm 34…
The Lord is near to the brokenhearted
and saves the crushed in spirit.
Psalm 34:18
As you read the passages below, ask the Lord to cause a word or phrase to stand out to you.
Sarah lived 127 years; these were the years of the life of Sarah. And Sarah died at Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan, and Abraham went in to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her. And Abraham rose up from before his dead and said to the Hittites, “I am a sojourner and foreigner among you; give me property among you for a burying place, that I may bury my dead out of my sight.” The Hittites answered Abraham, “Hear us, my lord; you are a prince of God among us. Bury your dead in the choicest of our tombs. None of us will withhold from you his tomb to hinder you from burying your dead.” Abraham rose and bowed to the Hittites, the people of the land. And he said to them, “If you are willing that I should bury my dead out of my sight, hear me and entreat for me Ephron the son of Zohar, that he may give me the cave of Machpelah, which he owns; it is at the end of his field. For the full price let him give it to me in your presence as property for a burying place.”
Genesis 23:1-9
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?”
Sarah lived 127 years; these were the years of the life of Sarah. And Sarah died at Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan, and Abraham went in to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her. And Abraham rose up from before his dead and said to the Hittites, “I am a sojourner and foreigner among you; give me property among you for a burying place, that I may bury my dead out of my sight.” The Hittites answered Abraham, “Hear us, my lord; you are a prince of God among us. Bury your dead in the choicest of our tombs. None of us will withhold from you his tomb to hinder you from burying your dead.” Abraham rose and bowed to the Hittites, the people of the land. And he said to them, “If you are willing that I should bury my dead out of my sight, hear me and entreat for me Ephron the son of Zohar, that he may give me the cave of Machpelah, which he owns; it is at the end of his field. For the full price let him give it to me in your presence as property for a burying place.”
Genesis 23:1-9
Despite Abraham’s many failures as a husband, he truly loved Sarah. He was heartbroken over her death. We have to remember the journey they went on in their marriage. Leaving their home and going off in trust in God into an unknown land. Hearing the promise of the Lord and having to wait 25 years for it to come to pass. The heartaches of when they hurt each other and the mistakes they made. In the end, just like for all of us, death takes Sarah for a time and Abraham is left to mourn and remember her and their life together.
Lord, you do not hide the fact that death is coming for us all from us. Teach me what to do and how to mourn well the ones I love.
Lord, We come before you with hearts longing for renewal and revival. Pour out your Spirit upon us, ignite our faith, and rekindle our passion for your Word. Cleanse us from complacency and draw us closer to you. May your love and grace transform our lives, and may we be vessels of your light in a world in need. Restore our hope, strengthen our faith, and renew our commitment to your will.
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?
Sarah lived 127 years; these were the years of the life of Sarah. And Sarah died at Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan, and Abraham went in to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her. And Abraham rose up from before his dead and said to the Hittites, “I am a sojourner and foreigner among you; give me property among you for a burying place, that I may bury my dead out of my sight.” The Hittites answered Abraham, “Hear us, my lord; you are a prince of God among us. Bury your dead in the choicest of our tombs. None of us will withhold from you his tomb to hinder you from burying your dead.” Abraham rose and bowed to the Hittites, the people of the land. And he said to them, “If you are willing that I should bury my dead out of my sight, hear me and entreat for me Ephron the son of Zohar, that he may give me the cave of Machpelah, which he owns; it is at the end of his field. For the full price let him give it to me in your presence as property for a burying place.”
Genesis 23:1-9
Yielding Prayer
Lord, throughout Genesis we have been looking at what it looks like to live a life of faith. Would you fill me with your Spirit? Would you produce faith in me even in situations where there feels like no hope? Fill me with obedience and trust in you and how you are writing my story.
Yielding Promise
And now, as I move into the day ahead, the Lord who loves me reminds me in John 11…
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?”
2 John 11:25-26
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.