P.R.A.Y
PAUSE
REJOICE & REFLECT
ASK
YIELD
Personal Worship
Jonah from the belly of a fish cries out to God.
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, I enter into your presence under the covering of your Son’s blood. He was pierced for my transgressions, and the punishment that was laid on him bought me freedom. Fill me with your Holy Spirit, and let me experience that freedom today. I lay down my pride, anxieties, and fears, knowing that you are the God who loves and cares about me.
I choose to rejoice, with all God’s people, in the powerful promise that God gives us in Psalm 103…
The Lord works righteousness
and justice for all the oppressed.
Psalm 103:6
As you read the passages below, ask the Lord to cause a word or phrase to stand out to you.
Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of the fish, saying,
“I called out to the Lord, out of my distress,
and he answered me;
out of the belly of Sheol I cried,
and you heard my voice.
For you cast me into the deep,
into the heart of the seas,
and the flood surrounded me;
all your waves and your billows
passed over me.
Then I said, ‘I am driven away
from your sight;
yet I shall again look
upon your holy temple.’
The waters closed in over me to take my life;
the deep surrounded me;
weeds were wrapped about my head
at the roots of the mountains.
I went down to the land
whose bars closed upon me forever;
yet you brought up my life from the pit,
O Lord my God.
When my life was fainting away,
I remembered the Lord,
and my prayer came to you,
into your holy temple.
Those who pay regard to vain idols
forsake their hope of steadfast love.
But I with the voice of thanksgiving
will sacrifice to you;
what I have vowed I will pay.
Salvation belongs to the Lord!”
And the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land.
Jonah 2:1-10
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?”
Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of the fish, saying,
“I called out to the Lord, out of my distress,
and he answered me;
out of the belly of Sheol I cried,
and you heard my voice.
For you cast me into the deep,
into the heart of the seas,
and the flood surrounded me;
all your waves and your billows
passed over me.
Then I said, ‘I am driven away
from your sight;
yet I shall again look
upon your holy temple.’
The waters closed in over me to take my life;
the deep surrounded me;
weeds were wrapped about my head
at the roots of the mountains.
I went down to the land
whose bars closed upon me forever;
yet you brought up my life from the pit,
O Lord my God.
When my life was fainting away,
I remembered the Lord,
and my prayer came to you,
into your holy temple.
Those who pay regard to vain idols
forsake their hope of steadfast love.
But I with the voice of thanksgiving
will sacrifice to you;
what I have vowed I will pay.
Salvation belongs to the Lord!”
And the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land.
Jonah 2:1-10
Jonah is a confusing human being just like you and I. One minute he is running from God and the next he is praying this beautiful prayer that is open and honest as well as theologically accurate. He’s a character that you just don’t know what to do with. He gives us a real masterclass on prayer in this chapter. He begins being honest about his situation and admitting that only God can help him. Even though he is running from God he cries out to him and God hears. How amazing that God is still listening to Jonah! He understands that he has run from God, but he still has hope to return. He knows that he will again look at the holy temple of God even though he finds himself in the belly of a fish. He knows that the worship of vain idols destroys hope in the steadfast love of God. Then he ends his prayer with thanksgiving. A thanksgiving that reminds him who God is and from that he has a new resolve to go where God is leading him. He reminds himself that salvation belongs to the Lord and if God wants to save the Assyrians he is powerful enough to do it. Jonah is spit back onto dry land.
Lord, teach my heart to run to you in my distress. Wherever I find myself today will you bring to a place that cries out to you.
Heavenly Father, we come before you, seeking revival for our nation. Restore our hearts, turning us back to your ways. Pour out your Spirit across America, igniting faith, hope, and love in every corner. Heal our divisions, renew our minds, and guide our leaders with wisdom and humility. May your truth and grace sweep through this land, transforming lives and drawing us closer to You.
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?
Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of the fish, saying,
“I called out to the Lord, out of my distress,
and he answered me;
out of the belly of Sheol I cried,
and you heard my voice.
For you cast me into the deep,
into the heart of the seas,
and the flood surrounded me;
all your waves and your billows
passed over me.
Then I said, ‘I am driven away
from your sight;
yet I shall again look
upon your holy temple.’
The waters closed in over me to take my life;
the deep surrounded me;
weeds were wrapped about my head
at the roots of the mountains.
I went down to the land
whose bars closed upon me forever;
yet you brought up my life from the pit,
O Lord my God.
When my life was fainting away,
I remembered the Lord,
and my prayer came to you,
into your holy temple.
Those who pay regard to vain idols
forsake their hope of steadfast love.
But I with the voice of thanksgiving
will sacrifice to you;
what I have vowed I will pay.
Salvation belongs to the Lord!”
And the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land.
Jonah 2:1-10
Yielding Prayer
Lord, you are the God who hears. Let me just sit in that for a second. That because you are infinite there is never a moment in my life where if I cry out to you that you will not hear. So often I try to handle everything on my own when you are waiting to help me. Let me bury my pride and ego today and let me come to your feet crying out in my distress. Renew my hope in prayer and let me seek your face.
Yielding Promise
And now, as I move into the day ahead, the Lord who loves me reminds me in Luke 19…
For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.
Luke 19:10
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.