P.R.A.Y

PAUSE

REJOICE & REFLECT

ASK

YIELD

Personal Worship

We step out of the story of Acts today to see God’s heart for our prayers.

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

Abba, Father as you welcome me into this time with you, accept my praise and adoration as a love offering. Fine-tune my hearing by the power of your Spirit that I might hear what you have to say to me. Still, my voice so that I may give you room to share what is on your heart for me, and fill my heart with the joy that comes from being so close to you.

Rejoice and Reflect

We choose to rejoice in the power of God’s Word, with all his people in Psalm 25:

Turn to me and be gracious to me,
    for I am lonely and afflicted.
The troubles of my heart are enlarged;
    bring me out of my distresses.
Consider my affliction and my trouble,
    and forgive all my sins.
Consider how many are my foes,
    and with what violent hatred they hate me.
Oh, guard my soul, and deliver me!
    Let me not be put to shame, for I take refuge in you.
May integrity and uprightness preserve me,
    for I wait for you.
Redeem Israel, O God,
    out of all his troubles.

Psalm 25:16-22

Today we are reflecting on the words of Scripture, where we read:

You do not have, because you do not ask.

James 4:2b

Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you, and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you. For the Lord is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for him. For a people shall dwell in Zion, in Jerusalem; you shall weep no more. He will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry. As soon as he hears it, he answers you.

Isaiah 30:18-19

The verse in James seems a little cold on first reading, but it is exactly the opposite. It is God saying to his people that he loves to be pursued. God loves for us to come to him in prayer over and over and over again. He loves when we humbly pour out our hearts with what we want to ask him again and again. We should do this without fear that we are nagging him because he is telling us to do this! God loves to draw near and pour out his power on his people who persevere in prayer. I’m not saying that God doesn’t do things that we don’t pray for. He can manifest the Spirit and make things happen whenever he wants because he is God. All I am saying is God delights to hear his children pray to him. He delights when his children consistently pray for each other over and over again until he answers in one way or another. God doesn’t just want us to tell people we will pray for them, he wants us to begin practicing praying for them.

The passage out of Isaiah is just beautiful. The context of this passage is God’s relationship to the nation of Israel in the Old Testament, but I believe it continues to his people today. Visualize what it is saying. God is waiting to be gracious to you. He is exalted when he shows you mercy. He is a God of justice and we are blessed when we wait for him. One day we will be with him in heaven and weeping will be no more. He will surely be gracious to the sound of your cry. He hears your prayers and he is waiting to be gracious to you. He wants your prayers right now and he doesn’t want them to stop.

Ask

Lord, show me your beauty. Open my eyes to the power of prayer. Reveal yourself to me as the one who is gracious to the cries of my prayers. Give me a heart that turns to you in prayer before anything else in this world.

1)Do I have a rhythm of prayer? Have I set aside time in my day that makes prayer the most important aspect of it?
2)What do I need to take to God in prayer for myself right now?
3)Who or what do I need to bring to God on behalf of someone else in my life right now?

We join with the Sons of Korah praying a prayer of revival from Psalm 85:

Lord, you were favorable to your land;
you restored the fortunes of Jacob.
You forgave the iniquity of your people;
    you covered all their sin.
You withdrew all your wrath;
    you turned from your hot anger.
Restore us again, O God of our salvation,
    and put away your indignation toward us!
Will you be angry with us forever?
    Will you prolong your anger to all generations?
Will you not revive us again,
    that your people may rejoice in you?
Show us your steadfast love, O Lord,
    and grant us your salvation

Yield

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.

You do not have, because you do not ask.

James 4:2b

Isaiah 30:18-19

Yielding Prayer

Lord, you are beautiful. I bow down at your feet and surrender it all to you. Let me obey you today by coming to you in prayer for everything I need. Let me have it because I have asked for it from you. Be gracious and hear my cries.

Yielding Promise

And now, as I move into the day ahead, the Lord who loves me reminds me in Acts 1:8:

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth
Acts 1:8

Closing Prayer

Lord, the full meaning of the word “Abba” is “Father, I will obey you” and that is what I desire to do as I go about my day now. Fill me with your Spirit that I may receive and use the gifts that you have made available to me. Grant me opportunities this day to glorify your Son by my obedience to your commands. And let me see some fruit today to encourage my faith and diminish my unbelief.

*The P.R.A.Y. acronym has been adapted from the Lectio 365 app.