P.R.A.Y
PAUSE
REJOICE & REFLECT
ASK
YIELD
Personal Worship
We finish the last two days of our week with Tamar from the Christmas Family Tree of Jesus.
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, you tell us that you are good to those who wait for you and those whose soul seeks you. That is my desire today. I am waiting in your presence as my soul seeks you. Meet me in this place now.
We choose to rejoice in the power of God’s Word, with all his people in Psalm 7:
I will give to the Lord the thanks due to his righteousness,
and I will sing praise to the name of the Lord, the Most High.
Psalm 7:17
As you read the passage, ask the Lord to reveal a word or phrase that stands out to you.
It happened at that time that Judah went down from his brothers and turned aside to a certain Adullamite, whose name was Hirah. There Judah saw the daughter of a certain Canaanite whose name was Shua. He took her and went in to her, and she conceived and bore a son, and he called his name Er. She conceived again and bore a son, and she called his name Onan. Yet again she bore a son, and she called his name Shelah. Judah was in Chezib when she bore him.
And Judah took a wife for Er his firstborn, and her name was Tamar. But Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord put him to death. Then Judah said to Onan, “Go in to your brother’s wife and perform the duty of a brother-in-law to her, and raise up offspring for your brother.” But Onan knew that the offspring would not be his. So whenever he went in to his brother’s wife he would waste the semen on the ground, so as not to give offspring to his brother. And what he did was wicked in the sight of the Lord, and he put him to death also. Then Judah said to Tamar his daughter-in-law, “Remain a widow in your father’s house, till Shelah my son grows up”—for he feared that he would die, like his brothers. So Tamar went and remained in her father’s house.
Genesis 38:1-8
As I reread the passage, I am reflecting on the questions, “How is my life touched by this word?” and “How does this passage connect with my life?”
It happened at that time that Judah went down from his brothers and turned aside to a certain Adullamite, whose name was Hirah. There Judah saw the daughter of a certain Canaanite whose name was Shua. He took her and went in to her, and she conceived and bore a son, and he called his name Er. She conceived again and bore a son, and she called his name Onan. Yet again she bore a son, and she called his name Shelah. Judah was in Chezib when she bore him.
And Judah took a wife for Er his firstborn, and her name was Tamar. But Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord put him to death. Then Judah said to Onan, “Go in to your brother’s wife and perform the duty of a brother-in-law to her, and raise up offspring for your brother.” But Onan knew that the offspring would not be his. So whenever he went in to his brother’s wife he would waste the semen on the ground, so as not to give offspring to his brother. And what he did was wicked in the sight of the Lord, and he put him to death also. Then Judah said to Tamar his daughter-in-law, “Remain a widow in your father’s house, till Shelah my son grows up”—for he feared that he would die, like his brothers. So Tamar went and remained in her father’s house.
Genesis 38:1-8
We meet our two main characters in our passage this week. The first is Judah the son of Jacob and Leah. When we meet Judah he is a wicked man stuck in sin. Our other character is Tamar, Judah’s daughter-in-law. Judah’s sons are so wicked the Lord puts them to death, which is pretty wild. Judah makes a promise to Tamar that his youngest will do what culturally he is supposed to by taking care of Tamar when he grows up. The story of Tamar and Judah will make us look a the darkness of humanity and deal with it in our own hearts.
In the Out of Water podcast, Sam and Will discuss the goodness of God and the scandalous union of Judah and Tamar. As God weaves together the life stories of those who will ultimately be in the Messianic line, we discover that NO ONE is beyond redemption. Our God loves to redeem the most notorious outcasts and the most neglected underdogs. To listen to Ep. 206: Gen. 38 – The Scandalous Union of Judah and Tamar, click here.
Lord, I ask that you allow me to enter into the story today. Let me see the darkness of humanity and not run away from it, but deal with it by the power of your Spirit.
Lord, in this season of waiting I ask that you would move supernaturally in this world. For a season of time send your Holy Spirit to this world in a supernatural way. Let those who are lost be found and those who are dead be made alive. Move powerfully and let all of the glory belong 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?
It happened at that time that Judah went down from his brothers and turned aside to a certain Adullamite, whose name was Hirah. There Judah saw the daughter of a certain Canaanite whose name was Shua. He took her and went in to her, and she conceived and bore a son, and he called his name Er. She conceived again and bore a son, and she called his name Onan. Yet again she bore a son, and she called his name Shelah. Judah was in Chezib when she bore him.
And Judah took a wife for Er his firstborn, and her name was Tamar. But Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord put him to death. Then Judah said to Onan, “Go in to your brother’s wife and perform the duty of a brother-in-law to her, and raise up offspring for your brother.” But Onan knew that the offspring would not be his. So whenever he went in to his brother’s wife he would waste the semen on the ground, so as not to give offspring to his brother. And what he did was wicked in the sight of the Lord, and he put him to death also. Then Judah said to Tamar his daughter-in-law, “Remain a widow in your father’s house, till Shelah my son grows up”—for he feared that he would die, like his brothers. So Tamar went and remained in her father’s house.
Genesis 38:1-8
Yielding Prayer
Lord, there are tough passages in the Bible that are hard to wrap my mind around sometimes. Let me not skip over them but let me obey you and find what you have for me today from this passage.
Yielding Promise
And now, as I move into the day ahead, the Lord who loves me reminds me in John 16:33
I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”
John 16:33
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.