P.R.A.Y

PAUSE

REJOICE & REFLECT

ASK

YIELD

Personal Worship

Today we think about the ideas of fear and love and how they interact with each other.

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.

Pause

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.

Rejoice and Reflect

I choose to rejoice, with all God’s people, in the powerful promise that God gives us in Psalm 96…

Oh sing to the Lord a new song;
    sing to the Lord, all the earth!
Sing to the Lord, bless his name;
    tell of his salvation from day to day.
Declare his glory among the nations,
    his marvelous works among all the peoples!
For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised;
    he is to be feared above all gods.
For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols,
    but the Lord made the heavens.
Splendor and majesty are before him;
    strength and beauty are in his sanctuary.

Psalm 96:1-6

As you read the passages below, ask the Lord to cause a word or phrase to stand out to you.

There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.

1 John 4:18-21

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?”

1 John 4:18-21

So much of life is a reaction to the fear in our hearts. The love of God changes that though and John walks us through that. He tells us there is no fear in love and perfect love casts out fear. Because we have been loved by God everything else falls subservient to that. Because God is going to make all things new in the end, I see life through that filter. The filter of God’s love changes the way that this life is lived and experienced. It doesn’t just change our relationship with God, but it changes how we treat each other. John’s language is serious and should be taken seriously in our lives.

Ask

Lord, drive out all fear by the power of your perfect love. Meet me where there is fear now.

Why does the perfect love of God cast out fear?
Where is there fear in my heart?
Do I hate anyone right now?
Where do I need the Holy Spirit to help me love someone better?

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.

Yield

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?

1 John 4:18-21

Yielding Prayer

Lord, let me experience your love for me today. Take away the lies of Satan from my head and my heart. Let me find freedom from the fears that weigh me down. In obedience, I lay down all of my fears at your feet right now.

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.