P.R.A.Y
PAUSE
REJOICE & REFLECT
ASK
YIELD
Personal Worship
What’s the answer to all of our bitterness?
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, you promise that when I draw near to you that you will draw near to me. I call on that promise now. As I enter into your Word fill me with your Holy Spirit and give me insight into what you have for me today.
I choose to rejoice, with all God’s people, in the powerful promise that God gives us in Psalm 130…
If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities,
O Lord, who could stand?
But with you there is forgiveness,
that you may be feared.
Psalm 130:1-3
As you read the passages below, ask the Lord to cause a word or phrase to stand out to you.
Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.
Ephesians 4:31-32
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?”
Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.
Ephesians 4:31-32
What does it look like to starve bitterness in our lives? We have to feed our souls with something else. We have to put away bitterness and preach to ourselves the gospel. The silver bullet for bitterness is forgiveness. We have to remind ourselves of what wretched sinners we were when Christ saved us. That while we were Jesus’ enemies, he died for us. There was no bitterness in Jesus on the cross. He cries out to God to forgive them, for they know not what they do. When we remind ourselves of the love of Jesus in the midst of all of our wrongdoings against him, then our perspective on how we have been mistreated has the ability to change. We can and should forgive those who have wronged us so that bitterness can not lay claim to our hearts.
Lord, I ask that you fill me with your Spirit and give me strength to put away all bitterness. Remind me of what you have done for me.
Lord, I repent of all bitterness that has accumulated in my heart. I repent of the lack of forgiveness that I have clung to. I repent for the anger and hatred that has arisen due to unchecked bitterness in my heart. Let me follow in your footsteps and let forgiveness be my first thought and not my last resort.
As I read the passage for the final time, I listen to 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?
Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.
Ephesians 4:31-32
Yielding Prayer
Lord, this is a command! Let me see it as a command from a loving and trustworthy God. Fill me with your Spirit, and let me put away all bitterness, hatred, and anger. Give me a spirit of forgiveness that shows how great the power of the gospel is.
Yielding Promise
And now, as I move into the day ahead, the Lord who loves me reminds me in Matthew 6…
For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
Matthew 6:14-15
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.