P.R.A.Y
PAUSE
REJOICE & REFLECT
ASK
YIELD
Personal Worship
We come to maybe the most known verse in all of Scripture 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.
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.
John 3:16-18
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?”
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.
John 3:16-18
The beauty of the Incarnation is on full display here. God loved the world and sent his Son. Not for his Son’s sake, but for our sake. We can only find healing and eternal life in him alone. Jesus does not come in anger and condemnation, he comes in love.
Lord, I ask to experience the depths of your love for me today. Fill me with the Holy Spirit and connect your Words to my very identity today.
Lord, the Incarnation teaches me that there is no where you won’t go for the sake of your children. Come again by the power of your Holy Spirit this Advent season. Show us the darkness we are living in and bring light that casts out the darkness. Bring many to faith that are desperate to experience a love that only you can give.
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?
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.
John 3:16-18
Yielding Prayer
Lord, you came to this earth not in condemnation, but in love. In my world there is so much condemnation from my own heart and from those around me. Free me from that today and let me experience your love for me. A love that leaves heaven and comes to earth.
Yielding Promise
And now, as I move into the day ahead, the Lord who loves me reminds me in John 6…
All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.
John 6:37
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.