P.R.A.Y
PAUSE
REJOICE & REFLECT
ASK
YIELD
Personal Worship
We enter back into the Psalms and look at our longings in this life.
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 enter into your presence I am reminded of who you are. You are the God who is holy and all-powerful, yet you desire to be with your people. In this time fill me with your Holy Spirit and let me experience all that you have for me.
I choose to rejoice, with all God’s people, in the powerful promise that God gives us in Revelation 4…
“Worthy are you, our Lord and God,
to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things,
and by your will they existed and were created.”
Revelation 4:11
As you read the passages below, ask the Lord to cause a word or phrase to stand out to you.
As a deer pants for flowing streams,
so pants my soul for you, O God.
My soul thirsts for God,
for the living God.
When shall I come and appear before God?
My tears have been my food
day and night,
while they say to me all the day long,
“Where is your God?”
These things I remember,
as I pour out my soul:
how I would go with the throng
and lead them in procession to the house of God
with glad shouts and songs of praise,
a multitude keeping festival.
Why are you cast down, O my soul,
and why are you in turmoil within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
my salvation and my God.
Psalm 42:1-6
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?”
As a deer pants for flowing streams,
so pants my soul for you, O God.
My soul thirsts for God,
for the living God.
When shall I come and appear before God?
My tears have been my food
day and night,
while they say to me all the day long,
“Where is your God?”
These things I remember,
as I pour out my soul:
how I would go with the throng
and lead them in procession to the house of God
with glad shouts and songs of praise,
a multitude keeping festival.
Why are you cast down, O my soul,
and why are you in turmoil within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
my salvation and my God.
Psalm 42:1-6
You can feel the deep desire of the Psalmist in this text. He desires the presence of God in the midst of all that is going on. You can imagine him watching a deer in the desert searching for water and that is how he is searching for God. He ends by reminding himself who God is. In the midst of all the turmoil when our souls are tempted to be downcast he hopes in God. A God who is to be praised because in him comes salvation.
Lord, I ask for this kind of desire for you and your presence.
Heavenly Father, we come before You, thirsty and longing for Your presence. Let Your Spirit flow through us like a mighty river, cleansing our hearts, refreshing our souls, and renewing our minds. Wash away all that hinders us from drawing near to You. Let the waters of Your grace flood our dry places, bringing life where there was once barrenness. Lord, may Your love flow like streams of mercy, uniting Your people and awakening us to Your purpose. Revive us, O God, and let Your Spirit overflow, carrying us deeper into 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?
As a deer pants for flowing streams,
so pants my soul for you, O God.
My soul thirsts for God,
for the living God.
When shall I come and appear before God?
My tears have been my food
day and night,
while they say to me all the day long,
“Where is your God?”
These things I remember,
as I pour out my soul:
how I would go with the throng
and lead them in procession to the house of God
with glad shouts and songs of praise,
a multitude keeping festival.
Why are you cast down, O my soul,
and why are you in turmoil within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
my salvation and my God.
Psalm 42:1-6
Yielding Prayer
Lord, as the deer pants for water so my soul longs for you. My soul thirsts for you. In the midst of so many things that can cause me to be downcast renew my hope in you. Renew my hope in the God that can do all things. In obedience I follow you wherever you want to lead me today.
Yielding Promise
And now, as I move into the day ahead, the Lord who loves me reminds me in Matthew 11…
Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Matthew 11:28
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.