P.R.A.Y
PAUSE
REJOICE & REFLECT
ASK
YIELD
Personal Worship
We continue alongside Paul today in 1 Corinthians.
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 approach this time with you today, let me see your glory. Remind my heart that you are a good Father who loves me. Where there is anxiety, bring peace. Where there is pain, bring healing. Where there is doubt, bring confidence. Where there is sorrow, bring comfort. May your joy become my joy in this time.
I choose to rejoice, with all God’s people, in the powerful promise that God gives us in Psalm 145…
The Lord is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
The Lord is good to all,
and his mercy is over all that he has made.
Psalm 145:8-9
As you read the passages below, ask the Lord to cause a word or phrase to stand out to you.
The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. “For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.
1 Corinthians 2:14-16
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 natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. “For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.
1 Corinthians 2:14-16
Hearing from God is a spiritual exercise brought about by the Holy Spirit. There is no wonder that in our natural sinful state, the Spirit of God is a folly to us. We can’t understand them without spiritual discernment. Thanks be to God that when we come into a relationship with him, we have the mind of Christ.
Lord, fill me with your Spirit and let me experience what it means that I have the mind of Christ today.
Lord, I cry out to you today and desire to see your presence made manifest on this earth. Would you do what only you can do, and would you rend the heavens and come down? Would you meet with your people in their iniquities again? Fill me with your Holy Spirit and let me continue to cry out until you move.
As I read the passage for the final time, I listen to 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 natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. “For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.
1 Corinthians 2:14-16
Yielding Prayer
Lord, forgive me for when I thought the Spirit of God was folly. I thank you that you chose me and saved me. Thank you for bringing me spiritual discernment. Give me faith toda,y and let me experience the mind of Christ.
Yielding Promise
And now, as I move into the day ahead, the Lord who loves me reminds me in Revelation 3…
Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.
Revelation 3:20
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.