P.R.A.Y
PAUSE
REJOICE & REFLECT
ASK
YIELD
Personal Worship
We continue pressing in on the loving nature of God and what that means as his disciples.
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…
Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;
let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!
For the Lord is a great God,
and a great King above all gods.
In his hand are the depths of the earth;
the heights of the mountains are his also.
The sea is his, for he made it,
and his hands formed the dry land.
Psalm 95:2-5
As you read the passages below, ask the Lord to cause a word or phrase to stand out to you.
In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.
1 John 4:10-12
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?”
In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.
1 John 4:10-12
Our loving God does not begin with us. God doesn’t just say you should love me, but he loves us in such a way that reciprocating is the only option. He loved us in such a way that Jesus on the cross appeased all of the wrath and anger that our sins deserve. He took the punishment that set us free. It is from that verdict that our hearts long to love God. Just like yesterday, John wants us to see that the vertical love we receive from God has a horizontal effect. He gives us the promise that when we love one another then God abides in us and his love is perfected in us. What a beautiful equation if the people of God want to live that out.
Lord, I ask that you show me what you have done for me on the cross. That my love is defined by a sacrificial love.
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?
In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.
1 John 4:10-12
Yielding Prayer
Lord, transform my selfish heart to one that looks like the heart of Jesus. Let me see others as greater than myself. Give me a heart that in obedience runs towards sacrifice and surrender. Fill me with your Spirit.
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.