P.R.A.Y
PAUSE
REJOICE & REFLECT
ASK
YIELD
Personal Worship
Today we arrive at the response of the older brother who is not very happy about what is taking place.
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 approach this time with you today let me see your glory. Remind my heart that you are a good Father who loves me. Where there is anxiety bring peace. Where there is pain bring healing. Where there is doubt bring confidence. Where there is sorrow bring comfort. May your joy become my joy in this time.
We choose to rejoice in the power of God’s Word, with all his people in Psalm 145:
The Lord is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
The Lord is good to all,
and his mercy is over all that he has made.
Psalm 145:8-9
As you read the passage, ask the Lord to reveal a word or phrase that stands out to you.
“Now his older son was in the field, and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. And he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has received him back safe and sound.’ But he was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him, but he answered his father, ‘Look, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command, yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him!’ And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.’”
Luke 15:25-32
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?”
“Now his older son was in the field, and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. And he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has received him back safe and sound.’ But he was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him, but he answered his father, ‘Look, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command, yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him!’ And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.’”
Luke 15:25-32
The older brother walks in on a scene that he is not expecting. He knows what has taken place with his younger brother all while he remained steadfast in his work for his father. He’s angry and he seems to be deserving of that anger in a lot of ways. The father stops him in his tracks though by showing him what is happening in a new light. Jesus doesn’t write the ending the way we want. We never see the older brother’s response to what his father has told him. I think the point of that is to question in our own hearts how we would respond.
Jesus, you are telling this story so that I can think about how my own heart would respond. I ask that you would give me a heart that celebrates those who come home and find redemption no matter where they have been.
Lord, revival begins with me. I ask that you would pour out your Spirit on me. I desire my heart to look like your heart for those around me who do not know you. Transform me and give me eyes to see like you have seen me.
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?
“Now his older son was in the field, and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. And he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has received him back safe and sound.’ But he was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him, but he answered his father, ‘Look, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command, yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him!’ And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.’”
Luke 15:25-32
Yielding Prayer
Lord, it is so easy for me to be the older brother in this story. One that is working hard for you and is yet so far from you. Forgive me for that. Give me a heart that celebrates those who come to you seeking salvation. Show me how far I was from you when I came into a relationship with you. Let me respond and care for those around me like you did to me in that moment.
Yielding Promise
And now, as I move into the day ahead, the Lord who loves me reminds me in Luke 19:10:
For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.
Luke 19:10
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.