P.R.A.Y
PAUSE
REJOICE & REFLECT
ASK
YIELD
Personal Worship
Today we explore the role of desire in personal revival.
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
When I come to you and your word, Lord, I come (albeit subconsciously) with preconceived thoughts and notions about who you are and how you feel about me that are also, perhaps, shaped by my experiences. I don’t want any of those things to change or affect the way I hear or receive your truth today. So, please help me this day to both see and then set those things aside so that I can hear you more accurately and clearly. And help me to believe everything I hear and every word I read in your scriptures and to trust that you will meet with me here and transform my heart as I seek to align it with yours.
I choose to rejoice, with all God’s people, in the powerful promises that God gives us in Psalm 145…
“The Lord is faithful in all his words
and kind in all his works.
The Lord upholds all who are falling
and raises up all who are bowed down.
The eyes of all look to you,
and you give them their food in due season.
You open your hand;
you satisfy the desire of every living thing.
The Lord is righteous in all his ways
and kind in all his works.”
Psalm 145:13-17
As you read the passages below, ask the Lord to cause a word or phrase to stand out to you.
“And all Judah rejoiced over the oath, for they had sworn with all their heart and had sought him with their whole desire, and he was found by them, and the Lord gave them rest all around.”
2 Chronicles 15:15
“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.”
Jeremiah 29:11-13
“The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.
He fulfills the desire of those who fear him; he also hears their cry and saves them.”
Psalm 145:18-19
“Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.”
Psalm 37:4
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?”
“And all Judah rejoiced over the oath, for they had sworn with all their heart and had sought him with their whole desire, and he was found by them, and the Lord gave them rest all around.”
2 Chronicles 15:15
“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.”
Jeremiah 29:11-13
“The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.
He fulfills the desire of those who fear him; he also hears their cry and saves them.”
Psalm 145:18-19
“Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.”
Psalm 37:4
Desire is the motivation that moves and directs our course. As such, our desires become the heart of our prayers. Therefore, it stands to reason that an insufficient or unsuccessful prayer life is caused, in part, by our desire for the wrong things.
As we see from the passages above, God answers the prayers of those who seek “him with their whole desire;” and “with all (their) heart;” and “who fear him” (that is to say, who hold him and his word in reverential awe). More than that, when you delight yourself in him, he quite literally “gives” (or implants within) you his desires for you, and those desires then become the “desires of your heart.” And since God’s desires for you then become your desires for you (the “desires of your heart”), you then begin to ask God for the very things that he already desires to give you. And that’s a “win/win!”
If we desire personal revival, which brings the things that we talked about on day 1 of this week (things like: answered prayer, fruit, closeness to God, and fullness of joy – don’t you want that?), then we need to ask the Lord to show us what is competing for our hearts with him. Let us earnestly desire that! And then let us pray that God would unite our hearts to fear (or reverence, to be in awe of) his name (Psalm 86:11), that he might transform our hearts and reorient our desires!
Lord, search me and show me my motivations as I answer these questions:
My God and Father, I understand that you meant prayer to be the great power by which your church should do its work. It is when we ask, not only for ourselves but also for others, that you answer and heavenly blessings are brought to earth. What a wonderful privilege it is to partner with you to have your kingdom come! So today, I ask that you would bring revival, first into my heart, as I seek to align myself rightly with you, and then into my home, neighborhood, workplace and the 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?
“And all Judah rejoiced over the oath, for they had sworn with all their heart and had sought him with their whole desire, and he was found by them, and the Lord gave them rest all around.”
2 Chronicles 15:15
“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.”
Jeremiah 29:11-13
“The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.
He fulfills the desire of those who fear him; he also hears their cry and saves them.”
Psalm 145:18-19
“Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.”
Psalm 37:4
Yielding Prayer
My Gracious Father, I know that you want my whole heart, so please help me to give it to you now! I know you are everything, the source of all life, and yet, I also feel the daily pull of the world around me, of my own flesh, and of the schemes of the Evil One into many other lesser cares, concerns, sources of satisfaction and desires. Forgive me for simply giving way to that battle at times! So my Jesus, today, I would say to you, it is you that I love; so then, your kingdom come, your will be done in my life and heart. I offer my whole heart to you now. Accomplish my surrender today and keep me from all the things that may otherwise pull me away from you. Amen.
Yielding Promise
And now, as I move into the day ahead, the Lord who loves me reminds me in 1 Samuel 16…
“Man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.”
1 Samuel 16:7(b
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.