P.R.A.Y
PAUSE
REJOICE & REFLECT
ASK
YIELD
Personal Worship
As we continue in Advent and our study on what Jesus came to bring we come this week to John 10. In this passage, we will see that Jesus came to bring abundant life to his people.
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
Father, as Jesus taught in Matthew 18:3-4, I come to you as a child and humble myself before you. Open your arms to receive me, Lord. Incline your ear toward me as I climb onto your lap to share my heart with you now. Hear my prayers Lord and speak clearly to me that I may know your heart and that you may know mine.
-Mark Rosewell
We choose to rejoice in the power of God’s Word, with all his people in Psalm 71:
In you, O Lord, do I take refuge;
let me never be put to shame!
In your righteousness deliver me and rescue me;
incline your ear to me, and save me!
Be to me a rock of refuge,
to which I may continually come;
you have given the command to save me,
for you are my rock and my fortress.
Psalm 71:1-3
Today we are reflecting on the words of Jesus in John 10, where we read:
Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.
John 10:1-6
Jesus in John 10 will speak to us and teach us using an extended metaphor about sheep. In this passage, he will refer to himself as “the door of the sheep” and as “the good shepherd”. Throughout the passage, the sheep are his people. He begins with a warning. He says there are thieves and robbers that do not enter the way the true shepherd of the sheep does. Instead of using the door, the thief climbs in another way. This thief seeks to harm the sheep. Whereas the shepherd enters through the door properly. There is danger out there for the sheep. He then shows us how the sheep know who their true shepherd is. The sheep know their shepherd by his voice. This is where we need a little primer on ancient shepherding practices. Due to the fact that the flock is always on the move looking for land to graze on it would make no sense for every shepherd every night to build a pen for the safety of his flock. So they would use communal pens for safety. So in the morning with multiple flocks in one pen the shepherds one by one would call out the sheep. The sheep recognizing the voice of their shepherd and not the others would only follow after their shepherd’s voice.
This is a pretty poignant lesson for all of us in our current culture. There are thousands of voices trying to get our attention each and every day. We are taking in more information as humans than ever before. With all of that, we have to make decision after decision about whose voice we will follow. The truth is there are consequences to the voices we follow, good and bad. It is confusing and difficult at times to know whose voice to listen to especially in a world where the voice of Jesus is being muted. It is difficult to live in a world that calls evil good and good evil. I would love to be more optimistic about the future of our culture, but I just can’t be. Where I can be utterly optimistic and hopeful is in the truth that Jesus is still speaking to his people today through his Word and prayer. That Jesus has not given up on us and left us on our own with all of these other voices, but he is still the shepherd that is calling out to his sheep. The question is will we listen and answer his call? Will we lean in and stand firm in the Word of God alone?
Jesus, I ask that you would speak to me today. Would you light a fire in my soul that desires your Word above all else?
1)Do I believe that the Bible is the infallible Word of God?
2)Do I believe that the Bible is authoritative in my life?
3)Do I believe that the Bible speaks to how to live my life in our modern world?
4)Who or what do I turn to in order to navigate what I believe? (Not just my beliefs about God, but my beliefs about everything under the sun.)
Jesus, revive our hearts. You have come to give your people abundant life. An abundant life that can only come from you. Break us of our desires for this earth that promise to satisfy us, but leave us empty inside. Give us a spirit of repentance to turn from the ways of this world and come back into union with you. In our brokenness would you fill us mightily with your Spirit? May all the glory and praise belong to you.
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.
Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.
John 10:1-6
Yielding Prayer
Lord, I need to begin in confession today. I confess that I do not value your Word like I should day in and day out. In my pride, I believe I can live this life without the divine guidance of your Scripture. At this moment I surrender my life to your Word. I lay all beliefs, decisions, and opinions on the table and I will change where I need to be changed and I will follow what I need to follow. Let my life be defined by the fact that your Word is first in my life.
Yielding Promise
And now, as I move into the day ahead, the Lord who loves me reminds me in 1 Samuel 3:10
The Lord came and stood there, calling as at the other times, “Samuel! Samuel!”
Then Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.”
1 Samuel 3:10
Closing Prayer
Dear Jesus, help us to spread Your fragrance everywhere we go. Flood our souls with Your Spirit and Life. Penetrate and possess our whole being so utterly that our lives may only be a radiance of Yours. Shine through us and be so in us that every soul we come in contact with may feel Your presence in our souls. Let them look up, and see no longer us, but only Jesus!
Cardinal John Henry Newman
*The P.R.A.Y. acronym has been adapted from the Lectio 365 app.