P.R.A.Y
PAUSE
REJOICE & REFLECT
ASK
YIELD
Personal Worship
We continue our meditation through Romans 8 and today we come to the truth that when we are in Jesus we are adopted into the family of God.
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 Christmas approaches, let me experience your love today. Let me experience your love that became flesh for me, a love that went as far as the curse was found for me to be redeemed, a love that, because of the joy set before you, endured the crushing weight of the cross. Reveal yourself afresh to my soul now.
I choose to rejoice, with all God’s people, in the powerful promise that God gives us in Psalm 139…
O Lord, you have searched me and known me!
You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
you discern my thoughts from afar.
You search out my path and my lying down
and are acquainted with all my ways.
Even before a word is on my tongue,
behold, O Lord, you know it altogether.
You hem me in, behind and before,
and lay your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
it is high; I cannot attain it.
Psalm 139:1-6
As you read the passages below, ask the Lord to cause a word or phrase to stand out to you.
So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.
Romans 8:12-17
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?”
So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.
Romans 8:12-17
The theological truth that God adopts us into his family is astounding. That when we believe in our hearts and confess with our mouths that Jesus is Lord we are not just saved, but we enter into the family of God. That when God looks at us he sees us as his sons and daughters. Think about the implications of that. We have access to God like a child has access to their father. There is nothing a good father would not do for his child and we have that kind of relationship with God.
Abba Father, I ask that the Holy Spirit will bear witness to my own spirit today that I am your child. I ask for the assurance and rest that comes with that today.
Heavenly Father, as we enter this season of Advent, we remember the hope you brought to the world through the birth of your Son, Jesus Christ. Stir our hearts with the same anticipation that awaited his coming, and awaken in us a deeper hunger for your presence. Revive us, O Lord, that we may shine your light in the darkness. As we prepare our hearts for the celebration of Christ’s birth, renew our faith, restore our joy, and draw us closer to you. Let this season be a time of spiritual renewal, where we reflect your love to those around us. Come, Lord Jesus, and reign in our hearts anew. May the hope, peace, joy, and love of Advent transform us and lead us to walk in your ways.
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?
So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.
Romans 8:12-17
Yielding Prayer
Lord, let me preach this to my soul until my life lives out of this kind of relationship. Show me that you are the Father who loves me. In obedience, I come to you as a little child today in full dependence on you.
Yielding Promise
And now, as I move into the day ahead, the Lord who loves me reminds me in Romans 8…
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, 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.