P.R.A.Y
PAUSE
REJOICE & REFLECT
ASK
YIELD
Personal Worship
We begin a new series titled, “A Seat at the Table” where we are joining with churches all across South Florida for the next three weeks. Our focus this week is God’s heart for those who are lost.
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, as I enter into your presence my desire is to taste and see that you are good! Let me be blessed because I find my refuge in you. Let me lay down all that is going on in my life and the world around me at your feet today. Meet with me now and let me hear what you have for me today.
We choose to rejoice in the power of God’s Word, with all his people in Psalm 138
I give you thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart;
before the gods I sing your praise;
I bow down toward your holy temple
and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness,
for you have exalted above all things
your name and your word.
On the day I called, you answered me;
my strength of soul you increased.
Psalm 138:1-3
As you read the passage, ask the Lord to reveal a word or phrase that stands out to you.
One of the Pharisees asked him to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee’s house and reclined at table. And behold, a woman of the city, who was a sinner, when she learned that he was reclining at table in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster flask of ointment, and standing behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head and kissed his feet and anointed them with the ointment. Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner.” And Jesus answering said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” And he answered, “Say it, Teacher.”
Luke 7:36-40
As I reread the passage, I am reflecting on the questions, “How is my life touched by this word?” and “How does this passage connect with my life?”
One of the Pharisees asked him to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee’s house and reclined at table. And behold, a woman of the city, who was a sinner, when she learned that he was reclining at table in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster flask of ointment, and standing behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head and kissed his feet and anointed them with the ointment. Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner.” And Jesus answering said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” And he answered, “Say it, Teacher.”
Luke 7:36-40
Jesus accepts the invitation to dine at Simon the Pharisee’s house and it does not go the way that Simon had planned. Dinner parties during this time were spectator sports, which means even if you weren’t invited to the dinner you could still go and watch. You couldn’t grab a seat at the table, but you could stand outside the courtyard and take it all in. This is odd to us, but there was not a lot of entertainment back then. This would have been a big deal to go see. Jesus the man who had been teaching and doing miraculous things and Simon a member of the group who has opposed Jesus up to this point. They are interrupted though by a woman. A woman who was a known prostitute in the city. She comes to Jesus’ feet takes an expensive tool of her trade and uses the whole thing on Jesus. Simon is horrified at what he is seeing. He mocks Jesus by saying he must not know what kind of woman she is, but Jesus does. He knows exactly who she is. His heart for her is not one of anger or rebuke, but one of love.
Lord, would you teach me what it looks like to see people the way you see them? Give me a heart of love for those who are far from you in this season of their life.
Lord, we ask that you would move in our city and in the hearts of the people in Fort Lauderdale. Pour out your Spirit in a supernatural way in this season of time drawing all people to yourself.
As I read the passage for the final time, I listen for 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?
One of the Pharisees asked him to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee’s house and reclined at table. And behold, a woman of the city, who was a sinner, when she learned that he was reclining at table in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster flask of ointment, and standing behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head and kissed his feet and anointed them with the ointment. Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner.” And Jesus answering said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” And he answered, “Say it, Teacher.”
Luke 7:36-40
Yielding Prayer
Lord, you are the God of love. You know all of us fully and yet you don’t run away from us. You knew that woman and you knew her past, but you also know her future. Your heart to her was kind and gentle. Let me experience that for myself. Let me experience your love and out of that let me love others well. Let me love them in the way that you have called me to love them today.
Yielding Promise
And now, as I move into the day ahead, the Lord who loves me reminds me in Romans 5:6-8
For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 5:6-8
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.
*The P.R.A.Y. acronym has been adapted from the Lectio 365 app.