P.R.A.Y
PAUSE
REJOICE & REFLECT
ASK
YIELD
Personal Worship
Today, we remember that because we belong to Christ, we are free from empty attempts to change ourselves through human rules and outward religion.
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
Jesus, let me behold you today. By the power of the Holy Spirit, let me see you for who you are! You are the God who deserves all honor and glory forever. Open my eyes to your Word today.
I choose to rejoice, with all God’s people, in the powerful promise that God gives us in Psalm 51…
Create in me a clean heart, O God,
and renew a right spirit within me.
Cast me not away from your presence,
and take not your Holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
and uphold me with a willing spirit.
Psalm 51:10-12
As you read the passages below, ask the Lord to cause a word or phrase to stand out to you.
If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations— “Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch” (referring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to human precepts and teachings? These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.
Colossians 2:20-23
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?”
If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations— “Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch” (referring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to human precepts and teachings? These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.
Colossians 2:20-23
Rules can restrain our behavior for a moment, but they cannot transform the desires of our hearts. Paul warns us about religion that has an appearance of wisdom while lacking the power to produce genuine holiness. We often want transformation to come through simply trying harder, imposing more rules, or making ourselves look more spiritual. But true change comes through our union with Christ and the work of his Spirit within us. Rather than trusting our ability to control ourselves from the outside, we depend upon Jesus to renew us from the inside out.
Lord, let me see you today. Give me eyes to see you for who you are.
Lord, revive us with genuine heart transformation. Deliver your Church from empty religion that looks impressive but lacks spiritual power. Fill us with your Spirit and produce in us holiness, freedom, and obedience that flow from hearts changed by grace.
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?
If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations— “Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch” (referring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to human precepts and teachings? These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.
Colossians 2:20-23
Yielding Prayer
Father, I surrender my attempts to change myself apart from you. Search my heart, expose anything false within me, and transform my desires by your Spirit. Teach me to obey you not to earn your love, but because I have already received your love through Christ.
Yielding Promise
And now, as I move into the day ahead, the Lord who loves me reminds me in 2 Corinthians 3…
Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.
2 Corinthians 3:17-18
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