P.R.A.Y
PAUSE
REJOICE & REFLECT
ASK
YIELD
Personal Worship
Today we will explore why walking in fullness requires walking in surrender.
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 God, we approach your throne in praise! You are our refuge and strength, our very present help in trouble. Let us find in you today “the streams of the Holy Spirit that make (us) glad!” Let us rejoice that, in you, we will not be moved! You are faithful to help us as morning dawns. (based on Psalm 46:1, 4-5)
I choose to rejoice, with all God’s people, in the love and faithfulness of God displayed in Lamentations 3:
“The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. ‘The LORD is my portion,’ says my soul, ‘therefore I will hope in him.’ The LORD is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD.”
Lamentations 3:22-26
As you read the passages below, ask the Lord to cause a word or phrase to stand out to you.
“But now, O LORD, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand.”
Isaiah 64:8
“As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.”
Genesis 50:20
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?”
“But now, O LORD, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand.”
Isaiah 64:8
“As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.”
Genesis 50:20
We talk a lot about “surrendering” in Christian circles. The concept is everywhere in our music and teachings, but why is it so important? And how do we really do this? Well, whole books have been written on this topic (and, for my part, I would recommend Andrew Murray’s, Absolute Surrender), but scripture gives us a simple and effective picture of the “what?” and “why?” of surrender in Isaiah 64 above.
For the last 4 weeks, we have talked about how the power, life and love that come with the Spirit’s filling are our inheritance as Christians! And we have discussed how God works in us and through us to accomplish that filling. And then we have also seen that he will not fill us if we don’t seek that out.
We must actively choose to put our whole lives (like the lump of clay in Isa. 64:8 above) into God’s hands daily; trusting that he will use all of our circumstances to form us into the beautiful and useful vessel – the one fit for his presence – that he has envisioned in his heart. That can be hard! Especially when our circumstances are painful and confusing.
Joseph is a great biblical example of this. Despite the many trials that endured (the abuse and betrayal of his brothers, slavery, imprisonment for no reason of his own, etc.), we see him continuing to follow God, submitting to his circumstances (even excelling in them) and not jumping off the “potter’s wheel” in the middle of the molding process. In the end, God moved Joseph from prison (where God let him languish for many years), to the second highest position in Egypt, just underneath Pharaoh himself. God formed Joseph’s character in the hard times and built into him obedience, perseverance, faith and trust. And Joseph submitted to this “training” and was molded into something (or someone) truly beautiful. Will you submit to the training God is putting you through in the hard seasons of your life? Will you trust him and yield to him even when everything looks wrong, unjust and unfair? Will you hang on, knowing that your loving heavenly Father has his glory and your good (and his wonderful fullness) in mind for you?
Lord, do I fight against the hard things you ask me to go through and do, or do I surrender to you, in them? Am I angry at something you have allowed to happen to me or withheld from me? Or, am I angry about something you are currently allowing a child or loved one to go through? In response, have I taken myself off of the “potter’s wheel” and chosen my own way, since you don’t appear to be working for me?
My Father, please help me see these hard things from your perspective. What would you say to me in my hurt or as I wait for deliverance? Please help me to trust you no matter what, because I know and believe how much you love me.
If you are willing, pray the following prayer:
Today, I offer you my life, my health, my reputation, my work, my material things and finances, and my family. I take the burden off of my shoulders for each of these things and give them to you. I have tried to manage myself and to make myself what I know I ought to be, but I have failed. Now I give myself up to you. Take complete possession of me. Work in me all the pleasure of your will. Mold and fashion me into a vessel that seems good to you. Amen.
Lord, I want all of you that there is to have! I want that personally, I want that for Rio, and I want that for the Church here in South Florida! So, give us faith for a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit in our day! And teach us to wait on you, to listen for your voice, to pray persistently for your Empowering Presence, and then to walk in your power. Do a great work through us for the sake of your Kingdom and your glory!
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?
“But now, O LORD, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand.”
Isaiah 64:8
“As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.”
Genesis 50:20
Yielding Prayer
Let us pray this prayer of Henri Nouwen’s together:
“I so much want to be in control. I want to be master of my own destiny. Still, I know you are saying: ‘Let me take you by the hand and lead you. Accept my love. And trust that where I will bring you, the deepest desires of your heart will be fulfilled.’ Lord, open my hands to receive your gift of love.”
Yielding Promise
And now, as I move into the day ahead, the Lord who loves me reminds me in 1 Peter 5:
“Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.”
1 Peter 5:6-7
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.