P.R.A.Y

PAUSE

REJOICE & REFLECT

ASK

YIELD

Personal Worship

We start a new series in the Book of Matthew!

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.

Pause

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, I consecrate this time. I get to do the most wonderful thing in this moment: meet with you. You are a gracious God who meets with his children. Speak to me now.

Rejoice and Reflect

I choose to rejoice, with all God’s people, in the powerful promise that God gives us in Isaiah 46…

remember the former things of old;
for I am God, and there is no other;
I am God, and there is none like me,
declaring the end from the beginning

Isaiah 46:9-10

As you read the passages below, ask the Lord to cause a word or phrase to stand out to you.

The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.

Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Ram, and Ram the father of Amminadab, and Amminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon, and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of David the king.

Matthew 1:1-6

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?”

The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.

Matthew 1:1-6

Matthew begins by showing that Jesus stands inside the promises God made long before his birth. Abraham received the promise of blessing for all nations, and David received the promise of an eternal king. Generations passed, names accumulated, and history unfolded, but God’s word remained active. The genealogy teaches me that God’s promises move steadily even when fulfillment takes longer than expected.

Ask

Lord, you are God, and I am not. I ask that you teach me to trust that your timing in all things is good.

Where am I tempted to doubt that God is still carrying forward what he has promised?
What long season in my life requires deeper trust in his timing?
How does seeing Jesus tied to Abraham and David strengthen my faith?
Where do I need to be patient with God’s unfolding work?

Lord, revive your people. We are dead unless you move. We ask and expect a supernatural move of the Holy Spirit that we are longing for. Come and do what only you can do.

Yield

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 book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.

Matthew 1:1-6

Yielding Prayer

Lord, teach me to trust your promises when I cannot yet see their fulfillment. I yield my impatience to you and ask for steady faith in your covenant faithfulness.

Yielding Promise

And now, as I move into the day ahead, the Lord who loves me reminds me in Numbers 23…

God is not man, that he should lie,
or a son of man, that he should change his mind.
Has he said, and will he not do it?
Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?

Numbers 23:19

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