P.R.A.Y
PAUSE
REJOICE & REFLECT
ASK
YIELD
Personal Worship
Jesus prays to his Father for our protection and for our unity.
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 your presence I am trusting your promise that when I draw near to you, you will draw near to me (James 4:8). As I draw near to your throne in prayer meet me here, right where I am at in my life. I approach your throne with the utmost confidence knowing that you are the God who controls all things. Not just that, but that the God who controls all things loves me as his child and wants to hear from me.
We choose to rejoice in the power of God’s Word, with all his people in Psalm 23…
You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
Psalm 23:5
Today we are reflecting on the words of Jesus in John 17, where we read:
And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one. While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. But now I am coming to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves.
John 17:11-13
Jesus knows that he is about to ascend back to the right hand of the Father and he is going to leave his children behind, so he prays for us. He knows that the world wants us. The world wants our worship and allegiance, but we have given that to the Father. He asks the Father on our behalf to keep and guard us. He even wants us to have his joy fulfilled in us! The part that we cannot overlook is that he wants his people to be united. He wants us to live in unity with one another. A unity that is described as being one just like the Father and the Son are one. If God is keeping us then we are united with him and that also means we are united with our brothers and sisters in Christ. He is praying that we would look like the body of Christ. We live in a world where people are divided over small things and big things. Jesus doesn’t want that for us. He wants God to not only keep us united to him but united with each other.
Father God, I ask that you show me where I am trying to keep myself and not trusting that you will do it for me. Show me where you have guarded me and protected me from this world. I ask that you would teach me what it looks like to be unified with my brothers and sisters in this life.
God, pour out your Spirit of unity on your Church in South Florida. Break us of our pride and ego that wants to divide and build our own little kingdoms. Revive our hearts to the truth that you are a God of unity. Let us unify under the banner that Jesus Christ was crucified for his people. Let our unity be seen by a world that is searching to be known and loved. Unify us so that you are glorified.
As I read the passage again slowly, I listen for anything that You would say to me in it. Help me see how to position my life in order to yield to your word…
And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one. While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. But now I am coming to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves.
John 17:11-13
Yielding Prayer
Lord, I surrender that I need you to keep and guard me. Without you I am powerless. I humble myself before you knowing that you keep me and guard me. I ask that you would continue to do so till I see you face to face. I cannot live this life without you.
Yielding Promise
And now, as I move into the day ahead, the Lord who loves me reminds me in Romans 8:37-39 …
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 8:37-39
Closing Prayer
Lord, bury the truths that I have read today in my heart. Teach my heart to trust you as I live the life you have called me to today. Fill me with your Spirit. Pour out your love in my life so that from that overflow I may love people well. Make me your light in this dark and broken world so that I may glorify you with my life. Amen.