P.R.A.Y
PAUSE
REJOICE & REFLECT
ASK
YIELD
Personal Worship
Jesus will show us today what it looks like to ask for what we need in this 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, as I enter into your presence through prayer would you open my eyes to see you? Open my eyes to the glory of who you are. Open my eyes and let my heart follow. Show me who you are and let everything else fall away during this time in your presence.
We choose to rejoice in the power of God’s Word, with all his people in Psalm 33:6-9…
By the word of the Lord the heavens were made,
and by the breath of his mouth all their host.
He gathers the waters of the sea as a heap;
he puts the deeps in storehouses.
Let all the earth fear the Lord;
let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him!
For he spoke, and it came to be;
he commanded, and it stood firm.
Psalm 33:6-9
Today we are reflecting on the words of Jesus in Matthew 6, where we read:
Give us this day our daily bread,
Matthew 6:11
Jesus teaches the disciples and likewise us what it looks like as we come to him with our needs. He takes our minds back to the wilderness outside of Egypt. Manna would fall from the sky to feed the people and they were told to only get enough for the day. If they took too much it would spoil. Jesus is showing us who we are as people. We need him daily for sustenance. Prayer isn’t meant to be a rarity, but a constant desire for him. He is teaching us that consistency in prayer matters. He knows us better than we know ourselves. He is saying we have a great need for him daily and he wants us to bring all of that to him. He cares about us enough to hear all of the mundane that comes with life on this earth. It is astounding the access we have been given to the God who controls all things.
Jesus, I ask that you would shift my focus to my daily needs. Teach my heart to look at the day ahead of me and give all of my concerns to you. I ask that you would encourage my heart to remember daily that you are the bread of life who satisfies my every need.
Reflection Questions:
1) Why is it so difficult for me to think in terms of daily bread?
2) What daily bread do I need to ask Jesus for today?
Jesus, I ask that you would teach your Church in South Florida to pray. Fill us with your Spirit that draws us to our knees in prayer. Release us from the bondage of control and revive our hearts. Make your Church desperate for a move that only you can bring. Unite us as we pray.
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…
Give us this day our daily bread,
Matthew 6:11
Yielding Prayer
Jesus, I give you this day. I surrender this day to you. I bring all of my worries, desires, and concerns for what lies ahead of me today to your feet. I trust that you will provide for me in every way that I need today. I trust when that provision doesn’t look like I expect it to, that it is exactly what I need because you are good and you love.
Yielding Promise
And now, as I move into the day ahead, the Lord who loves me reminds me in John 6:35…
Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.”
John 6:35
Closing Prayer
I am no longer my own, but yours. Put me to what you will, place me with whom you will. Put me to doing, put me to suffering. Let me be put to work for you or set aside for you, Praised for you or criticized for you. Let me be full, let me be empty. Let me have all things, let me have nothing. I freely and fully surrender all things to your glory and service. And now, O wonderful and holy God, Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer, you are mine, and I am yours. Amen.1
1John Wesley