P.R.A.Y

PAUSE

REJOICE & REFLECT

ASK

YIELD

Personal Worship

We see Paul build on the command to honor your parents in the Book of Ephesians today.

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.

Pause

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, you are the God over all of creation. You are the God who looks at the storm and tells it to be still and it obeys. I ask the same for my own soul now. Would you meet with me and make me still? With all of the storms swirling I sit at your feet and I desire and seek peace. Fill me with your Spirit at this moment.

Rejoice and Reflect

I choose to rejoice, with all God’s people, in the powerful promise that God gives us in Psalm 46…

There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
    the holy habitation of the Most High.
God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved;
    God will help her when morning dawns.
The nations rage, the kingdoms totter;
    he utters his voice, the earth melts.
The Lord of hosts is with us;
    the God of Jacob is our fortress.

Psalm 46:4-7

As you read the passages below, ask the Lord to cause a word or phrase to stand out to you.

Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. “Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise), “that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.” Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

Ephesians 6:1-4

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?”

Ephesians 6:1-4

Paul quotes the Fifth Commandment but adds a command not to the children, but to the fathers. He calls fathers to a life that avoids provocations to anger. Fatherhood looks like raising up children in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

Ask

Lord, I ask that you give me a heart that cares for the next generation. Show me what it looks like to raise up children in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

Of all the things in the world, that Paul could give us about parenting he chooses these three (avoid provocations to anger, raise them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord) why do I think that?
What does it look like to avoid provocations to anger? What do provocations of anger look like?
What is the discipline of the Lord? What does that look like in a parent-child relationship?
What does it mean to raise a child up in the instruction of the Lord?

Lord, send us revival again. We are a broken and messed up people and we need a supernatural move of your Spirit in us. Let it begin in the Church and let it begin with repentance. We humble our hearts as we seek your face.

Yield

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?

Ephesians 6:1-4

Yielding Prayer

Lord, teach my heart what it means to not follow the ways of this world when it comes to parenting. With all the opinions and all the possible ways that in the end just leave us all burdened and afraid. Break through in my life with your truth. What matters in the end is that my child knows the discipline and the instruction of the Lord. Guide me by your Spirit.

Yielding Promise

And now, as I move into the day ahead, the Lord who loves me reminds me in Numbers 6…

The Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;
the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.

Numbers 6:24-26

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.