P.R.A.Y
PAUSE
REJOICE & REFLECT
ASK
YIELD
Personal Worship
Eliezar sets out on his mission to find a bride for Isaac
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 ask that according to the riches of your glory, you will grant me to be strengthened with power through your Spirit in my inner being, so that Christ may dwell in my heart through faith. Root and ground me in love, so that I may have the strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know that love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that I may be filled with the fullness of God.
I choose to rejoice, with all God’s people, in the powerful promise that God gives us in Jeremiah 29…
You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.
Jeremiah 29:13
As you read the passages below, ask the Lord to cause a word or phrase to stand out to you.
Then the servant took ten of his master’s camels and departed, taking all sorts of choice gifts from his master; and he arose and went to Mesopotamia to the city of Nahor. And he made the camels kneel down outside the city by the well of water at the time of evening, the time when women go out to draw water. And he said, “O Lord, God of my master Abraham, please grant me success today and show steadfast love to my master Abraham. Behold, I am standing by the spring of water, and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water. Let the young woman to whom I shall say, ‘Please let down your jar that I may drink,’ and who shall say, ‘Drink, and I will water your camels’—let her be the one whom you have appointed for your servant Isaac. By this I shall know that you have shown steadfast love to my master.”
Genesis 24:10-14
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 the servant took ten of his master’s camels and departed, taking all sorts of choice gifts from his master; and he arose and went to Mesopotamia to the city of Nahor. And he made the camels kneel down outside the city by the well of water at the time of evening, the time when women go out to draw water. And he said, “O Lord, God of my master Abraham, please grant me success today and show steadfast love to my master Abraham. Behold, I am standing by the spring of water, and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water. Let the young woman to whom I shall say, ‘Please let down your jar that I may drink,’ and who shall say, ‘Drink, and I will water your camels’—let her be the one whom you have appointed for your servant Isaac. By this I shall know that you have shown steadfast love to my master.”
Genesis 24:10-14
This is a mission that seems quite daunting if I am Eliezar. I am sent back to a land that has long forgotten about me to try to find a woman who would be the right fit for Isaac and I have to convince her to marry a man that she has never seen and then convince her to take a year and a half journey back to him. It sounds crazy! It can feel daunting trying to accomplish our mission in this world at times. To take the good news of the gospel out to people who feel they don’t need it and many who actively don’t want it. When we think the mission depends solely on us it will crush us. Just like Eliezar, we need to be people who turn to prayer knowing that God and his Spirit are the ones who save. Eliezar prayed to God and trusted that he would bring a woman who would be perfect for Isaac. Eliezar calls upon God and that is what we need to do as well.
Lord, you are the God who moves and saves. I ask that you give me faith to come to you and ask for help. Let me lay aside my pride and ego and trust that through prayer you hear me and you will act.
Lord, we come before you seeking revival in our hearts and lives. Renew our spirits, ignite our passion for your truth, and restore our commitment to follow your ways. Pour out your Holy Spirit upon us, bringing fresh hope, strength, and courage. Revive our faith and fill us with your love, so that we may shine as lights in this world.
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 the servant took ten of his master’s camels and departed, taking all sorts of choice gifts from his master; and he arose and went to Mesopotamia to the city of Nahor. And he made the camels kneel down outside the city by the well of water at the time of evening, the time when women go out to draw water. And he said, “O Lord, God of my master Abraham, please grant me success today and show steadfast love to my master Abraham. Behold, I am standing by the spring of water, and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water. Let the young woman to whom I shall say, ‘Please let down your jar that I may drink,’ and who shall say, ‘Drink, and I will water your camels’—let her be the one whom you have appointed for your servant Isaac. By this I shall know that you have shown steadfast love to my master.”
Genesis 24:10-14
Yielding Prayer
Lord, I cling to your promise in Exodus 14:14 which says, “The Lord will fight for you; you only need to be still.” In the midst of all my circumstances in obedience, my first action is to pray to you. To give you all of my situation and to invite you to move. Give me the confidence that the single greatest thing I can do in this life is pray and let me trust you with it.
Yielding Promise
And now, as I move into the day ahead, the Lord who loves me reminds me in Hebrews 11…
Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
Hebrews 11:1
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.