P.R.A.Y
PAUSE
REJOICE & REFLECT
ASK
YIELD
Personal Worship
Today we look at how the Holy Spirit empowers.
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
Spirit of the Living God, fall afresh on me now as I seek your face, Lord. Still, my mind and heart as I prepare to meet with the God of my salvation. I invite you to invade my thoughts, Lord, and to fill me with your peace. Finely tune my hearing so that I can hear clearly what you have to say. I ask these things in the precious name of Jesus.
-Mark Rosewell
We choose to rejoice in the power of God’s Word, with all his people in Psalm 104:
You make springs gush forth in the valleys;
they flow between the hills;
they give drink to every beast of the field;
the wild donkeys quench their thirst.
Beside them the birds of the heavens dwell;
they sing among the branches.
From your lofty abode you water the mountains;
the earth is satisfied with the fruit of your work.
You cause the grass to grow for the livestock
and plants for man to cultivate,
that he may bring forth food from the earth
and wine to gladden the heart of man,
oil to make his face shine
and bread to strengthen man’s heart.
Psalm 104:10-15
Today we are reflecting on the words of Scripture, where we read:
Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
John 3:5-8
It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.
John 6:63
If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.
Romans 8:11
The Holy Spirit throughout Scripture in these passages and others empowers us and gives us life. We see in his conversation with Nicodemus that being born again, and entering into the family of God is the work of the Spirit in our lives. We cannot in any way, shape, or form do it in our own flesh. We need a Helper, we need the Holy Spirit.
Jesus feeds the five thousand, walks on water, and refers to himself as the Bread of Life in John 6. The disciples and those around are struggling to understand what he is saying and again he points them to the Holy Spirit. He tells them if they are looking for life it is found in the Holy Spirit. Because through the Spirit we know Jesus, and through Jesus, we see the Father. He is pointing us to life and power only through the Holy Spirit.
Lastly, Paul points us in Romans to the end of time. When Jesus returns and our bodies are raised and enter into eternity with him, who will raise our bodies? It will be the Spirit, the Helper, in the end. Jesus is making it clear to us in these texts that if we are looking to be empowered in this life and enter into the next the Holy Spirit will have to do it for us.
Jesus, pour out your Spirit on me and give me life. Empower me through your Spirit. Show me where I am relying on my own power in this life and break me of the desire to do it on my own.
1)Who or what do I rely on to empower me in this life?
2)Have I been born again by the Spirit?
3)What would I define as the flesh in my life? Where am I letting the flesh rule me?
Lord, we ask that you would pour out your Spirit on your people in a supernatural way for this season of time. As we seek your face would you give us your Holy Spirit to empower, purify, reveal, and unify your people? We are expectant for a movement of your Spirit in our world!
As I read the passage again slowly, I listen for anything that You would say to me in it. Help me see how to position my life in order to yield to your word.
Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
John 3:5-8
It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.
John 6:63
If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.
Romans 8:11
Yielding Prayer
Lord, I surrender my life to you. The power I have is weak and frail and I need help. Will you send your Helper to me and fill me with life? Draw me to you through the power of the Holy Spirit in my life. Let me trust you and see you more today.
Yielding Promise
And now, as I move into the day ahead, the Lord who loves me reminds me in John 14:16
And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever,
John 14:16
Closing Prayer
Lord, thank you for choosing me to be your messenger today. I am willing, Lord. Send me out from here to speak the good news of Jesus with boldness and clarity. Equip me with your Spirit and pave the way before me. Prepare the hearts of anyone I will come into contact with today. That they may see Jesus, not me, and be transformed by Him.
-Mark Rosewell
*The P.R.A.Y. acronym has been adapted from the Lectio 365 app.