P.R.A.Y
PAUSE
REJOICE & REFLECT
ASK
YIELD
Personal Worship
We go to the Psalms and enter into a cry of David today.
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 are the God who keeps promises. You are the God who does not forget his people even when they seem to have forgotten you. Meet with me now. Remind me who you are and who I am because of what you have done. Fill me with your Spirit and meet with me now.
I choose to rejoice, with all God’s people, in the powerful promise that God gives us in Psalm 101…
I will sing of steadfast love and justice;
to you, O Lord, I will make music.
I will ponder the way that is blameless.
Oh when will you come to me?
I will walk with integrity of heart
within my house;
I will not set before my eyes
anything that is worthless.
I hate the work of those who fall away;
it shall not cling to me.
A perverse heart shall be far from me;
I will know nothing of evil.
Psalm 101:1-4
As you read the passages below, ask the Lord to cause a word or phrase to stand out to you.
How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?
How long will you hide your face from me?
How long must I take counsel in my soul
and have sorrow in my heart all the day?
How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?
Consider and answer me, O Lord my God;
light up my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death,
lest my enemy say, “I have prevailed over him,”
lest my foes rejoice because I am shaken.
But I have trusted in your steadfast love;
my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.
I will sing to the Lord,
because he has dealt bountifully with me.
Psalm 13
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?”
How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?
How long will you hide your face from me?
How long must I take counsel in my soul
and have sorrow in my heart all the day?
How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?
Consider and answer me, O Lord my God;
light up my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death,
lest my enemy say, “I have prevailed over him,”
lest my foes rejoice because I am shaken.
But I have trusted in your steadfast love;
my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.
I will sing to the Lord,
because he has dealt bountifully with me.
Psalm 13
The Psalms are the prayer book of the church. We learn how to talk to God through them. David helps us navigate a broken world and commune with a holy God. You can feel his heart in this. He feels forgotten and left behind. His emotions are raw, and yet how does it all end? He reminds himself of the steadfast love of God. He reminds himself of the gratitude he should have because the Lord, even in the midst of suffering, has dealt bountifully with him.
Lord, hear my cry today. I want to be honest and real about what I am feeling, but I also want to remind myself that you are the God who can be trusted.
Lord, I repent of my self-reliance today. In a world that teaches me that I need to do all things through my own strength, remind me that you strengthen me in all things. You are the God who has sent me a helper in the Holy Spirit, and let me not forget that today. Fill me with power by the promise of your Holy Spirit.
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?
How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?
How long will you hide your face from me?
How long must I take counsel in my soul
and have sorrow in my heart all the day?
How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?
Consider and answer me, O Lord my God;
light up my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death,
lest my enemy say, “I have prevailed over him,”
lest my foes rejoice because I am shaken.
But I have trusted in your steadfast love;
my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.
I will sing to the Lord,
because he has dealt bountifully with me.
Psalm 13
Yielding Prayer
Lord, this world makes me feel forgotten at times. Due to the sin of those around me and the sin in my own life, I am tempted to tell myself that you have abandoned me. In obedience, I remind myself that you have not forgotten me. I cling to your steadfast love. You are the God who knows me and loves me.
Yielding Promise
And now, as I move into the day ahead, the Lord who loves me reminds me in Psalm 16…
You make known to me the path of life;
in your presence there is fullness of joy;
at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
Psalm 16:11
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.