P.R.A.Y
PAUSE
REJOICE & REFLECT
ASK
YIELD
Personal Worship
As we enter into the 2nd week of Advent we continue our series on the character and nature of the love of God and his continual invitation to us to surrender to that love.
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
Jesus, you are the Savior who entered into time and space to resurrect your people. Fill me with the Holy Spirit and open my eyes to the power of your Word. Speak and transform my heart today as I meet with you.
I choose to rejoice, with all God’s people, in the powerful promise that God gives us in Psalm 95…
Oh come, let us sing to the Lord;
let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!
Psalm 95:1
As you read the passages below, ask the Lord to cause a word or phrase to stand out to you.
Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him.
1 John 4:1-9
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?”
Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him.
1 John 4:1-9
John tells us about what love is. Love is not some feeling or emotion like Disney taught us, but love finds its very nature from God. It is an active love that we have been given and we do something with that love. We have been loved by God and that is our starting point. It doesn’t end there though the love of God pushes us to love one another. He makes a serious statement that allows us to assess love in our own lives. Anyone who does not love does not know God. He leaves no margin for error in our lives when it comes to love.
Lord, let me experience your love. Let me see with new eyes that Jesus was the love of God manifest among us and let that bring a transforming power into my life.
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?
Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him.
1 John 4:1-9
Yielding Prayer
God, you are love. Let me see that wholeheartedly today. Show me the depths that you went to in order for me to experience that love. Forgive me for all the times my selfishness allows me to be unloving to those around me. Forgive me when my love for others is based on a fickle feeling that is transient. Let me love those around me in the way that you have loved me. Fill me with your Holy Spirit because I cannot do it on my own.
Yielding Promise
And now, as I move into the day ahead, the Lord who loves me reminds me in John 16…
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.