P.R.A.Y
PAUSE
REJOICE & REFLECT
ASK
YIELD
Personal Worship
We move out of Genesis and see the call of Elisha in 1 Kings.
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, as I enter into this time today would you allow me to lay down all fears, worries, and anxieties at your feet? Allow me to set this time apart as a space where I can meet with the God who created all things and loves me personally. Fill me with your Spirit and give me eyes to see what you have for me in your Scripture today.
I choose to rejoice, with all God’s people, in the powerful promise that God gives us in Phillippians 4…
Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Phillippians 4:5-7
As you read the passages below, ask the Lord to cause a word or phrase to stand out to you.
So he departed from there and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen in front of him, and he was with the twelfth. Elijah passed by him and cast his cloak upon him. And he left the oxen and ran after Elijah and said, “Let me kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow you.” And he said to him, “Go back again, for what have I done to you?” And he returned from following him and took the yoke of oxen and sacrificed them and boiled their flesh with the yokes of the oxen and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he arose and went after Elijah and assisted him.
1 Kings 19:19-21
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?”
So he departed from there and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen in front of him, and he was with the twelfth. Elijah passed by him and cast his cloak upon him. And he left the oxen and ran after Elijah and said, “Let me kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow you.” And he said to him, “Go back again, for what have I done to you?” And he returned from following him and took the yoke of oxen and sacrificed them and boiled their flesh with the yokes of the oxen and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he arose and went after Elijah and assisted him.
1 Kings 19:19-21
A little backstory as we enter into this one. Elijah is the current prophet of God who turned off the rain and is hated by everyone in the country. No one wants to help him and he has a king and a queen who want him dead. He has been on the run from them hiding in caves and being kept alive by the miracles of God. It is this man who calls Elisha into the same job he has as a prophet of God. Elisha has a great thing going for him. He lives in a great place, he has fertile land, and a whole future ahead of him and that is when God calls him to leave it all behind. He goes and he leaves no plan B to come back to.
Lord, Elisha left it all behind to follow you. I ask that you give me a heart that responds like he does when you call on me. Show me where I value certain things above you.
Lord, you are the resurrection and the life. I ask now that you revive what is dead in me and draw me deeper into intimacy with you. Pour out your Spirit on my life and breathe new life into me.
As I read the passage for the final time, I listen for 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?
So he departed from there and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen in front of him, and he was with the twelfth. Elijah passed by him and cast his cloak upon him. And he left the oxen and ran after Elijah and said, “Let me kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow you.” And he said to him, “Go back again, for what have I done to you?” And he returned from following him and took the yoke of oxen and sacrificed them and boiled their flesh with the yokes of the oxen and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he arose and went after Elijah and assisted him.
1 Kings 19:19-21
Yielding Prayer
Lord, will you search my heart and show me the areas of my life that I am holding onto too tightly? Open my eyes to the idols of my heart that you would have to pry from my hand in order for me to let them go. Fill me with your Spirit and let me enter into this day in trust with you.
Yielding Promise
And now, as I move into the day ahead, the Lord who loves me reminds me in 1 Corinthians…
For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory. And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.
1 Corinthians 1:20-22
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.
*The P.R.A.Y. acronym has been adapted from the Lectio 365 app.