P.R.A.Y
PAUSE
REJOICE & REFLECT
ASK
YIELD
Personal Worship
Today we remember that from its earliest days, the church was a community that shared worship, meals, possessions, burdens, mission, and everyday life.
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, you are God, and I am not! I sit humbly before you and ask you to speak to me through the power of your Word. Show me favor and pour out your Spirit on me as I enter into this time.
I choose to rejoice, with all God’s people, in the powerful promise that God gives us in Psalm 16…
As for the saints in the land, they are the excellent ones,
in whom is all my delight.
Psalm 16:3
As you read the passages below, ask the Lord to cause a word or phrase to stand out to you.
And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.
Acts 2:42-47
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 they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.
Acts 2:42-47
The earliest Christians did far more than attend a weekly gathering together. They devoted themselves to Scripture, prayer, fellowship, meals, generosity, worship, and shared life. Their faith reshaped their schedules, homes, possessions, and relationships. Christianity was communal from the beginning because Jesus was creating a new people, not merely collecting individual believers. The invitation for us is to move beyond proximity to other Christians into genuine participation in one another’s lives.
Lord, I ask that you give me a desire for and show me my place in the community you have placed me. You are a communal God, and you have created me to be communal.
Lord, revive your church with the shared life we see in Acts. Make us generous, joyful, hospitable, prayerful, and deeply devoted to one another.
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 they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.
Acts 2:42-47
Yielding Prayer
Father, everything I have belongs to you. Open my home, schedule, resources, and heart for the good of your people and the advance of your mission.
Yielding Promise
And now, as I move into the day ahead, the Lord who loves me reminds me in John 13…
“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
John 13:34-35
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