P.R.A.Y
PAUSE
REJOICE & REFLECT
ASK
YIELD
Personal Worship
Today we remember that the church is not primarily an event we attend, but the household of the living God in which we learn to live together.
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 your beauty today. By the power of your Holy Spirit let me experience the grace and love that can only come from a relationship with you.
I choose to rejoice, with all God’s people, in the powerful promise that God gives us in Psalm 95…
Oh come, let us worship and bow down;
let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!
For he is our God,
and we are the people of his pasture,
and the sheep of his hand.
Psalm 95:6-7
As you read the passages below, ask the Lord to cause a word or phrase to stand out to you.
I hope to come to you soon, but I am writing these things to you so that, if I delay, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth. Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness:
He was manifested in the flesh,
vindicated by the Spirit,
seen by angels,
proclaimed among the nations,
believed on in the world,
taken up in glory.
1 Timothy 3:14-16
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?”
I hope to come to you soon, but I am writing these things to you so that, if I delay, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth. Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness:
He was manifested in the flesh,
vindicated by the Spirit,
seen by angels,
proclaimed among the nations,
believed on in the world,
taken up in glory.
1 Timothy 3:14-16
Paul describes the church with a striking phrase: “the household of God.” That means church cannot be reduced to music, preaching, programs, or a building. Those things can serve the church, but the church itself is a people who belong to God and therefore belong to one another. Family requires presence, responsibility, patience, forgiveness, and commitment. Jesus invites us beyond simply consuming Christian content into participating in the shared life of his people.
Lord, I ask that you show me what it means to be a part of the household of God that is alive as a buttress of truth in this world.
Lord, revive your church by restoring a vision of covenant community. Make us more than crowds gathered in rooms; make us a household marked by truth and love.
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?
I hope to come to you soon, but I am writing these things to you so that, if I delay, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth. Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness:
He was manifested in the flesh,
vindicated by the Spirit,
seen by angels,
proclaimed among the nations,
believed on in the world,
taken up in glory.
1 Timothy 3:14-16
Yielding Prayer
Father, show me where I can serve, encourage, forgive, welcome, and contribute. I give you my place within your household.
Yielding Promise
And now, as I move into the day ahead, the Lord who loves me reminds me in Matthew 16…
And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
Matthew 16:18
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