P.R.A.Y
PAUSE
REJOICE & REFLECT
ASK
YIELD
Personal Worship
We end the week on a tough note looking at the curse of God on Adam and Eve due to their disobedience.
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, your Word promises that you give more grace. I ask for more grace today. Let my broken heart receive more grace for my sins. In a world full of comparison let my doubtful heart experience more grace. Let my fearful heart receive more grace and fill me with your strength. Let me see your face today. Speak to me now as I listen for what you have for me.
I choose to rejoice, with all God’s people, in the powerful promise that God gives us in Psalm 115…
Not to us, O Lord, not to us,
but to your name goes all the glory
for your unfailing love and faithfulness.
Why let the nations say,
“Where is their God?”
Our God is in the heavens,
and he does as he wishes.
Their idols are merely things of silver and gold,
shaped by human hands.
They have mouths but cannot speak,
and eyes but cannot see.
They have ears but cannot hear,
and noses but cannot smell.
They have hands but cannot feel,
and feet but cannot walk,
and throats but cannot make a sound.
And those who make idols are just like them,
as are all who trust in them.
O Israel, trust the Lord!
He is your helper and your shield.
O priests, descendants of Aaron, trust the Lord!
He is your helper and your shield.
All you who fear the Lord, trust the Lord!
He is your helper and your shield.
Psalm 115:1-11
As you read the passages below, ask the Lord to cause a word or phrase to stand out to you.
The Lord God said to the serpent,
“Because you have done this,
cursed are you above all livestock
and above all beasts of the field;
on your belly you shall go,
and dust you shall eat
all the days of your life.
I will put enmity between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and her offspring;
he shall bruise your head,
and you shall bruise his heel.”
To the woman he said,
“I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing;
in pain you shall bring forth children.
Your desire shall be contrary to your husband,
but he shall rule over you.”
And to Adam he said,
“Because you have listened to the voice of your wife
and have eaten of the tree
of which I commanded you,
‘You shall not eat of it,’
cursed is the ground because of you;
in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life;
thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you;
and you shall eat the plants of the field.
By the sweat of your face
you shall eat bread,
till you return to the ground,
for out of it you were taken;
for you are dust,
and to dust you shall return.”
Genesis 3:14-19
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?”
The Lord God said to the serpent,
“Because you have done this,
cursed are you above all livestock
and above all beasts of the field;
on your belly you shall go,
and dust you shall eat
all the days of your life.
I will put enmity between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and her offspring;
he shall bruise your head,
and you shall bruise his heel.”
To the woman he said,
“I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing;
in pain you shall bring forth children.
Your desire shall be contrary to your husband,
but he shall rule over you.”
And to Adam he said,
“Because you have listened to the voice of your wife
and have eaten of the tree
of which I commanded you,
‘You shall not eat of it,’
cursed is the ground because of you;
in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life;
thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you;
and you shall eat the plants of the field.
By the sweat of your face
you shall eat bread,
till you return to the ground,
for out of it you were taken;
for you are dust,
and to dust you shall return.”
Genesis 3:14-19
In the midst of the curses put on Satan, Eve, and Adam we see the first mention of the gospel in all of the Scriptures. Right after they have sinned God has already prepared a future of salvation. Genesis 3:15 God tells Satan there will be enmity between Eve and her descendants and Satan and his descendants. A showdown will occur in the future. Satan will bruise a man’s heel, but the man shall crush his head. On this side of the cross, we see what God was getting at. Jesus goes to the cross and is wounded and he dies. It seems like Satan had won, but after the resurrection, Jesus defeats sin and death thereby crushing the head of the serpent. Jesus brings life whereas Satan has brought only death.
Lord, let me see the beauty in the mess. Let me see the brokennes of the world and not turn to despair, because you have crushed the head of the serpent.
Our Father, please help us be parents who not only keep the word before our children as these verses direct, but live it out before them, not perfectly, but honestly and faithfully. Still, Lord, you must take these words and bring new life to our children. We pray for that now, for our children and all the children of the next generation. Come for them, we pray, and give them new hearts, put your Spirit within them and be their God. Lord, cause them to worship you alone, to love you, walk in your statutes and obey you, exalt you and live for your glory! And now I pray specifically for these children of the next generation…
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?
The Lord God said to the serpent,
“Because you have done this,
cursed are you above all livestock
and above all beasts of the field;
on your belly you shall go,
and dust you shall eat
all the days of your life.
I will put enmity between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and her offspring;
he shall bruise your head,
and you shall bruise his heel.”
To the woman he said,
“I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing;
in pain you shall bring forth children.
Your desire shall be contrary to your husband,
but he shall rule over you.”
And to Adam he said,
“Because you have listened to the voice of your wife
and have eaten of the tree
of which I commanded you,
‘You shall not eat of it,’
cursed is the ground because of you;
in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life;
thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you;
and you shall eat the plants of the field.
By the sweat of your face
you shall eat bread,
till you return to the ground,
for out of it you were taken;
for you are dust,
and to dust you shall return.”
Genesis 3:14-19
Yielding Prayer
Lord, as I end this week bury these truths in my heart. Let me see you as the Creator who imprinted his image onto my life. Let me see that sin is very real and has far reaching consequences. Let me rest in the fact that even from right after the Fall you had a plan to send your Son to die for my redemption. Fill me with your Spirit and let me spread this message of hope to those you have placed in my life.
Yielding Promise
And now, as I move into the day ahead, the Lord who loves me reminds me in 2 Corinthians 5…
For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
2 Corinthians 5:21
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.