P.R.A.Y
PAUSE
REJOICE & REFLECT
ASK
YIELD
Personal Worship
Jesus teaches us that a disciple of Jesus acknowledges him before men.
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 I approach your throne today fill me with your Holy Spirit and remind me that I am a beloved child of yours. I come knowing that you give good gifts to your children because you love us. Meet with me in this time.
I choose to rejoice, with all God’s people, in the promises of God that I find in Nehemiah 9:
Nevertheless, in your great mercies you did not make an end of them or forsake them, for you are a gracious and merciful God.
Nehemiah 9:31
As you read the passages below, ask the Lord to cause a word or phrase to stand out to you.
“And I tell you, everyone who acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man also will acknowledge before the angels of God, but the one who denies me before men will be denied before the angels of God. And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but the one who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.
Luke 12:8-10
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?”
“And I tell you, everyone who acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man also will acknowledge before the angels of God, but the one who denies me before men will be denied before the angels of God. And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but the one who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.
Luke 12:8-10
This seems straight up upon first reading, but the more I think about it in regards to the culture we live in the more I see how necessary it is for us to regain our courage in this world as disciples of Jesus. It’s easy to acknowledge Christ in front of men who believe what we believe, but the further you get from that the harder it gets if we are honest. Remember that Jesus began this section by dealing with the hypocrisy in our hearts. It is easy to say that I follow Jesus and then our words, actions, and silence don’t match what he has called us to. Jesus calls us to acknowledge that we follow him in all aspects of our lives at the office, in the streets, and in our schools. To acknowledge him when it costs us our reputation. To acknowledge him on cultural issues that we may be labeled prejudiced for when we hold to the Biblical ethic on them. Jesus is saying when we follow him, we acknowledge him and in a world like ours it will cost us something.
Lord, I ask that you give me the courage to acknowledge you in a world that doesn’t. You have not given me a spirit of fear, but one of power and love and self-control and let me live in that spirit.
A.W. Tozer once said, “Our mistake is that we want God to send revival on our terms. We want to get the power of God into our hands, to call it to us that it may work for us in promoting and furthering our kind of Christianity. We want to still be in charge shouting “Glory to God,” but modestly accepting a share of the glory for ourselves, calling on God to send fire on our altars, completely ignoring the fact that they are our altars and not God’s.”
Lord, I pray that you break us as people of the inkling we have that any glory should be ours. Show us where we are holding onto our own altars. Fill us with your Spirit so that all we desire is for you to be in charge and have all the glory. Send fire on your altars and not ours. Revive us Lord in a way that only you can do!
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?
“And I tell you, everyone who acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man also will acknowledge before the angels of God, but the one who denies me before men will be denied before the angels of God. And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but the one who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.
Luke 12:8-10
Yielding Prayer
Lord, fill me with the courage to acknowledge you wherever I go and to whomever I meet. In a world that has gone crazy let me remember that you have given me the Sword of the Spirit which is your Word. Let me be faithful to what you have called me to and let me yield in obedience in the time that you have me in.
Yielding Promise
And now, as I move into the day ahead, the Lord who loves me reminds me in John 16:33:
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.
*The P.R.A.Y. acronym has been adapted from the Lectio 365 app.