P.R.A.Y
PAUSE
REJOICE & REFLECT
ASK
YIELD
Personal Worship
David and his men are hiding in a cave when Saul walks in.
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
Make me to know your ways, O Lord; teach me your paths. Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all the day long. Meet with me and pour out your Spirit on me.
I choose to rejoice, with all God’s people, in the powerful promise that God gives us in Psalm 27…
For he will hide me in his shelter
in the day of trouble;
he will conceal me under the cover of his tent;
he will lift me high upon a rock.
Psalm 27:5
As you read the passages below, ask the Lord to cause a word or phrase to stand out to you.
When Saul returned from following the Philistines, he was told, “Behold, David is in the wilderness of Engedi.” Then Saul took three thousand chosen men out of all Israel and went to seek David and his men in front of the Wildgoats’ Rocks. And he came to the sheepfolds by the way, where there was a cave, and Saul went in to relieve himself. Now David and his men were sitting in the innermost parts of the cave.
1 Samuel 24:1-3
I pour out my complaint before him;
I tell my trouble before him.
When my spirit faints within me,
you know my way!
In the path where I walk
they have hidden a trap for me.
Psalm 142:1-3
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?”
When Saul returned from following the Philistines, he was told, “Behold, David is in the wilderness of Engedi.” Then Saul took three thousand chosen men out of all Israel and went to seek David and his men in front of the Wildgoats’ Rocks. And he came to the sheepfolds by the way, where there was a cave, and Saul went in to relieve himself. Now David and his men were sitting in the innermost parts of the cave.
1 Samuel 24:1-3
I pour out my complaint before him;
I tell my trouble before him.
When my spirit faints within me,
you know my way!
In the path where I walk
they have hidden a trap for me.
Psalm 142:1-3
Saul, in the midst of his murderous search for David, unknowingly stumbles into the cave where David and his men are hiding. You can imagine how uncomfortable hiding in a cave would be physically, now add the emotional and mental anguish that the man who has been searching to kill you is now in your midst. The wilderness for all of us is a place of growth. In the wilderness, will our trust in God grow, or will our contempt for God grow?
Lord, grow my faith and trust in you. In seasons where I don’t understand what is happening, let me know that you can be trusted.
Lord, revive your Spirit in me. Pour out your power on me. Let me experience your grace and mercy.
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?
When Saul returned from following the Philistines, he was told, “Behold, David is in the wilderness of Engedi.” Then Saul took three thousand chosen men out of all Israel and went to seek David and his men in front of the Wildgoats’ Rocks. And he came to the sheepfolds by the way, where there was a cave, and Saul went in to relieve himself. Now David and his men were sitting in the innermost parts of the cave.
1 Samuel 24:1-3
I pour out my complaint before him;
I tell my trouble before him.
When my spirit faints within me,
you know my way!
In the path where I walk
they have hidden a trap for me.
Psalm 142:1-3
Yielding Prayer
Lord, when I feel hidden, teach me not to confuse silence with absence. Help me trust that you see what others do not see and that your work continues even in places I would not choose. Form patience and confidence in me while I wait.
Yielding Promise
And now, as I move into the day ahead, the Lord who loves me reminds me in Isaiah 43…
But now thus says the Lord,
he who created you, O Jacob,
he who formed you, O Israel:
“Fear not, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by name, you are mine.
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;
when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,
and the flame shall not consume you.
Isaiah 43:1-2
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