P.R.A.Y
PAUSE
REJOICE & REFLECT
ASK
YIELD
Personal Worship
We look at the command of Jesus to fast in our lives.
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 Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and end. You formed me in my mother’s womb. You know every hair on my head. You have ordained the path of my life. With all of that in mind, I approach you at this moment, knowing you not only did all of those things, but in the midst of all of that, you care for me. Let me experience your love and mercy. Speak to me through your Word today.
I choose to rejoice, with all God’s people, in the powerful promise that God gives us in Psalm 130…
O Israel, hope in the Lord!
For with the Lord there is steadfast love,
and with him is plentiful redemption.
And he will redeem Israel
from all his iniquities.
Psalm 130:7-8
As you read the passages below, ask the Lord to cause a word or phrase to stand out to you.
And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
Matthew 6:16-18
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?”
And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
Matthew 6:16-18
“Fasting is an expression of our dependence on the Lord as our “First Portion” and ultimately the One on whom we depend for all things. Our hunger cries out to the Lord, “Come! Change me! Fill me! Enlarge my capacity for joy in you even as you shrink the capacity of my stomach for this world.” – John Piper
Jesus says, “When you fast,” not if you fast. Jesus saw fasting as necessary in our lives. Depriving ourselves of the physical in order to draw closer to God as our sustenance.
Lord, I ask that you show me what it means and looks like to fast from the things of this world. Draw close to me.
Lord, while I was not at the Red Sea with the Israelites, there are moments in life where it feels like my back is up against a Red Sea of my own. At that moment, you call me to trust you. Oftentimes, I am overwhelmed with a spirit of fear. I repent of that spirit of fear, and I turn back to trust in you. I cling to the promise of 2 Timothy 1:7, which reminds me that you have not given me a spirit of fear but of power and love and self-control. As I empty myself of fear, would you fill me with your Holy Spirit and give me a spirit of power, love, and self-control?
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?
And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
Matthew 6:16-18
Yielding Prayer
Lord, show me who you are. Draw me close to you, and let me experience your love and mercy today. Break me of all of the things I cling to that are of this world. Be my sustenance today.
Yielding Promise
And now, as I move into the day ahead, the Lord who loves me reminds me 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.”
Lamentations 3:22-24
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.