P.R.A.Y
PAUSE
REJOICE & REFLECT
ASK
YIELD
Personal Worship
Each Sunday in Advent, we light a candle representing a different aspect of the Christmas story. Today, we look at the Prophets’ candle that will be lit on Sunday.
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 1 John 4…
We love because he first loved us.
1 John 4:19
As you read the passages below, ask the Lord to cause a word or phrase to stand out to you.
The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shined… For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Isaiah 9:2,6
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?”
The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shined… For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Isaiah 9:2,6
Jesus’ first coming to earth had been prophesied from the beginning. Since the Garden of Eden, God promised that a Savior would come to crush the head of the serpent. All throughout the Old Testament, we see prophecies of his coming. This one from Isaiah was written more than 700 years before Jesus. It was fulfilled when Jesus was born that day in Bethlehem.
Lord, show me who you are. Let me know you as Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and the Prince of Peace.
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?
The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shined… For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Isaiah 9:2,6
Yielding Prayer
Lord, for thousands of years, humanity yearned for your coming. All along the way, you gave us reminders and promises that you will come, and you did! You fulfilled everything that was written when you came to walk amongst us. In obedience, I yield to you today.
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