P.R.A.Y
PAUSE
REJOICE & REFLECT
ASK
YIELD
Personal Worship
We look at Jesus’ first public miracle today.
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 Advent, let me experience the anticipation and the desire of God entering into humanity. You are the Creator who enters into his creation. You are the Author of Life that steps onto the page. Let me experience the invitation to surrender to a love that does that for me.
I choose to rejoice, with all God’s people, in the powerful promise that God gives us in John 15…
Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.
John 15:13
As you read the passages below, ask the Lord to cause a word or phrase to stand out to you.
On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus also was invited to the wedding with his disciples. When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.” His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”
Now there were six stone water jars there for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. And he said to them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast.” So they took it. When the master of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now.” This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him.
After this he went down to Capernaum, with his mother and his brothers and his disciples, and they stayed there for a few days.
John 2:1-12
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?”
On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus also was invited to the wedding with his disciples. When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.” His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”
Now there were six stone water jars there for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. And he said to them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast.” So they took it. When the master of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now.” This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him.
After this he went down to Capernaum, with his mother and his brothers and his disciples, and they stayed there for a few days.
John 2:1-12
At the wedding at Cana, Jesus quietly performs his first public miracle, not with spectacle but with compassion. He turns water into wine, revealing both his power and his heart. He steps into an ordinary moment of human need and transforms it into a sign of divine abundance. Mary’s simple instruction, “Do whatever He tells you,” becomes the central lesson for every believer. When we offer Jesus the ordinary “water” of our lives—our routines, our efforts, our limitations he is able to fill them, transform them, and make them overflow with his grace. This passage reminds us that obedience opens the door to miracles and that Jesus still brings joy, renewal, and abundance where things have run dry.
Lord, I ask that you let me see your power today. Remind me that you didn’t just walk on this earth as only a mere human, but that you were fully God.
Lord, this Advent season, would you revive my heart? You entered into time and space in order to save me when I was your enemy. Bring me back to a place of love for you this season. In the midst of all of the celebrations, fix my eyes on what you have done.
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?
On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus also was invited to the wedding with his disciples. When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.” His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”
Now there were six stone water jars there for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. And he said to them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast.” So they took it. When the master of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now.” This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him.
After this he went down to Capernaum, with his mother and his brothers and his disciples, and they stayed there for a few days.
John 2:1-12
Yielding Prayer
Lord Jesus, I bring you the ordinary jars of my life—my effort, my limitations, my desires, and my needs. I surrender them into your hands. Teach me to obey you with simple trust, just as Mary instructed: “Do whatever he tells you.” Fill what is empty in me. Transform what feels ordinary. Replace what has run dry with the abundance of your grace. I yield my plans, my timing, and my expectations to you. Let your glory be revealed in my obedience, and let my life bear witness to your goodness.
Yielding Promise
And now, as I move into the day ahead, the Lord who loves me reminds me in Luke 1…
For nothing will be impossible with God.
Luke 1:37
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