P.R.A.Y
PAUSE
REJOICE & REFLECT
ASK
YIELD
Personal Worship
We end the week remembering the call of Jesus on our lives.
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
Heavenly Father, I come to you now with a quiet heart, seeking your presence. Thank you for the gift of this new day and for the privilege to sit with your Word. Open my eyes to see truth, open my ears to hear your voice, and open my heart to receive what you desire to teach me. Cleanse me from distractions, forgive me where I’ve wandered, and draw me near by your Spirit. May this time with you shape my thoughts, renew my heart, and deepen my love for you.
I choose to rejoice, with all God’s people, in the powerful promise that God gives us in Psalm 124…
Our help is in the name of the Lord,
who made heaven and earth.
Psalm 124:8
As you read the passages below, ask the Lord to cause a word or phrase to stand out to you.
And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again. And he said this plainly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”
And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? For what can a man give in return for his soul? For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”
Mark 8:31-38
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 he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again. And he said this plainly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”
And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? For what can a man give in return for his soul? For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”
Mark 8:31-38
Jesus reveals the cost of following Him—and it is nothing less than our whole lives. Peter can’t imagine a scenario where Jesus is killed and Jesus rebukes him sharply, showing how easily even well-meaning hearts can fall into worldly thinking. Jesus then calls the crowd to a deeper discipleship: to deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow Him. This isn’t about temporary sacrifice but about total surrender. We’re reminded that in trying to save our lives on our own terms, we end up losing them. But if we lose our lives for Christ and His gospel, we find true life—eternal and abundant. These words are a sobering reminder that following Jesus isn’t about comfort or ease; it’s about laying down our pride, our plans, and even our very selves in loving obedience to the One who gave everything for us.
Lord, I ask that you give me the strength to follow after you. Let me deny myself, take up my cross, and follow after you.
Lord God, my heart has too often been drawn to the things of this world—its approval, its pleasures, its pride. Forgive me for loving what you call me to leave behind. Revive me, O God. Set my heart on fire for what is eternal. Make me holy, set apart, and fully yours. Teach me to resist the pull of the world and to walk in the power of your Spirit. Let my life reflect the beauty of Christ, so that I may live for your glory, not my own.
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 he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again. And he said this plainly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”
And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? For what can a man give in return for his soul? For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”
Mark 8:31-38
Yielding Prayer
Lord Jesus, You gave everything for me, and yet I so often hold parts of my life back from you. I confess my desire for comfort, control, and my reluctance to deny myself. But today, I choose to lay down my life—my pride, my plans, and my self-interest—to follow you wherever you lead. Teach me what it means to carry my cross daily. Give me courage to embrace surrender and faith to believe that real life is found in losing it for your sake. I yield to your way, not mine. I belong to you. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Yielding Promise
And now, as I move into the day ahead, the Lord who loves me reminds me in 2 Corinthians 12…
But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
2 Corinthians 12:9
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.