P.R.A.Y
PAUSE
REJOICE & REFLECT
ASK
YIELD
Personal Worship
We are at Mt. Sinai this week, receiving the 10 Commandments alongside the people of Israel.
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, let me behold your glory. You are the one and only God. You are holy and good. Your steadfast love meets with your people. Meet with me today. Convict me where there is sin, and let me experience your grace and mercy. Fill me with your Holy Spirit now, and give me understanding.
I choose to rejoice, with all God’s people, in the powerful promise that God gives us in Psalm 119…
Blessed are those whose way is blameless,
who walk in the law of the Lord!
Blessed are those who keep his testimonies,
who seek him with their whole heart,
who also do no wrong,
but walk in his ways!
You have commanded your precepts
to be kept diligently.
Oh that my ways may be steadfast
in keeping your statutes!
Then I shall not be put to shame,
having my eyes fixed on all your commandments.
I will praise you with an upright heart,
when I learn your righteous rules.
I will keep your statutes;
do not utterly forsake me!
Psalm 119:1-8
As you read the passages below, ask the Lord to cause a word or phrase to stand out to you.
And God spoke all these words, saying,
“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
“You shall have no other gods before me.
“You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.
Exodus 20:1-6
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?”
And God spoke all these words, saying,
“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
“You shall have no other gods before me.
“You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.
Exodus 20:1-6
God is creating a new nation out of Israel, one where God is their King. With that comes a new law. God will give Moses and the people the 10 Commandments. He begins by reminding them of how they got here. It was God who brought them out of Egypt and out of slavery. The 10 Commandments begin with God God wanting their whole hearts. St. Augustine describes sin as disordered love. For them and for us, it is easy to have God somewhere on our list of the things we love, but he deserves and desires to be first. He then knows our sinful hearts nature to make gods out of physical things and he is trying to protect our hearts.
Lord, I ask you this week that you show me the beauty of a God who gives his people commandments. Let me see how obedience actually leads to freedom.
Lord, I repent of my lack of holiness and even a lack of a desire to be holy. Forgive me for seeing your Law as a burden and not a source of life. Fill me with your Spirit and transform my heart now.
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?
And God spoke all these words, saying,
“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
“You shall have no other gods before me.
“You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.
Exodus 20:1-6
Yielding Prayer
Lord, in obedience, I seek to love you first. I desire to have no other gods besides you. Forgive me for all the ways I fall into temptation in this area. I repent of how I love the good gifts you give me over you oftentimes. Fill me with your Holy Spirit and renew the fire of my love for you.
Yielding Promise
And now, as I move into the day ahead, the Lord who loves me reminds me in Romans 8…
There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.
Romans 8:1-2
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.