P.R.A.Y
PAUSE
REJOICE & REFLECT
ASK
YIELD
Personal Worship
This week we head into Acts 4. Today our focus is on the resurrection of Jesus and what that meant for the early church.
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 so gracious to me that you would bend your ear to me. You are the God who is not only good, but you are near. So meet me with you nearness now. Open my eyes and my heart to what you will speak to me today.
We choose to rejoice in the power of God’s Word, with all his people in Psalm 95:
Oh come, let us sing to the Lord;
let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!
Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;
let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!
For the Lord is a great God,
and a great King above all gods.
In his hand are the depths of the earth;
the heights of the mountains are his also.
The sea is his, for he made it,
and his hands formed the dry land.
Psalm 95:1-5
Today we are reflecting on the words of Scripture in Acts 4, where we read:
And as they were speaking to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees came upon them, greatly annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. And they arrested them and put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening. But many of those who had heard the word believed, and the number of the men came to about five thousand.
Acts 4:1-4
Our story continues from last week where in Acts 3 we saw Peter and John heal a man who was lame from birth. After the miraculous healing, Peter preaches a sermon to all who were there and it is at that moment that they are interrupted. We have to realize what a bold move this is by the Apostles. They are preaching and speaking of Jesus who the religious elites wanted dead. They are preaching in the shadow of a temple that is now null and void. They are actively tearing down the religious establishment on their home turf and not shockingly they do not like it. The priests and the temple captain were frustrated for obvious reasons. To put it mildly, they did not enjoy that Jesus said things like, “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up.” The Sadducees were upset for those reasons, but with added reasons. The Sadducees were part of the Sanhedrin, part of the ruling religious class. Their major issue with what the Apostles were preaching at this moment though was that they denied the resurrection. This made them “Sad you see” (Get it? Lol). The crux of the Christian faith comes down to did Jesus really die and did he truly rise from the dead. If Jesus was truly crucified and he did really defeat death and sin by resurrecting then everything changes. It is easy for me at least to not see that as controversial. Then and even in our world today people are greatly annoyed by that truth. It is a truth that if believed causes change. We are not allowed to be neutral about the resurrection. The options are being greatly annoyed by it or giving Jesus, the resurrected one, all of our love and devotion.
Jesus, you are the resurrected Son of God. I ask that you would let my heart and my mind understand truly what that means to me in this life and the next. Open my eyes to the beauty of it.
1)Do I believe in the resurrection of Jesus or am I greatly annoyed by it?
2)Do I have any doubts or questions about it?
3)How has the resurrection of Jesus impacted my life?
4)Is there anything that I am withholding from Jesus that he deserves?
Jesus, revive our hearts. You have come to give your people abundant life. An abundant life that can only come from you. Break us of our desires for this earth that promise to satisfy us, but leave us empty inside. Give us a spirit of repentance to turn from the ways of this world and come back into union with you. In our brokenness would you fill us mightily with your Spirit? May all the glory and praise belong to you.
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.
And as they were speaking to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees came upon them, greatly annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. And they arrested them and put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening. But many of those who had heard the word believed, and the number of the men came to about five thousand.
Acts 4:1-4
Yielding Prayer
Jesus, let my life be fully devoted to you. If you are truly the resurrected one, would you transform me because of that? Allow me to see the beauty and the glory of who you are because you have defeated death. Fill me with your Spirit that gives me the boldness to live and preach the reality that you have been resurrected.
Yielding Promise
And now, as I move into the day ahead, the Lord who loves me reminds me in 2 Timothy 1:7:
for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.
2 Timothy 1:7
Closing Prayer
Lord, fill me with your Spirit in a way that causes me to go out from here in boldness. You have not given me a spirit of fear, but one of power, love, and self-control. Let me live this day in that way as I seek to be a light in my home, my workplace, my school, and wherever else your Spirit will lead me.
*The P.R.A.Y. acronym has been adapted from the Lectio 365 app.