P.R.A.Y
PAUSE
REJOICE & REFLECT
ASK
YIELD
Personal Worship
Paul has strong words today to those who distort the gospel.
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, I approach your throne today in total confidence. I come to you confidently in prayer, not in my own merit or worth, but the only confidence I have is that Jesus, your beloved Son, suffered and died on my behalf. His blood is my access to you and it’s in his name alone that I pray.
We choose to rejoice in the power of God’s Word, with all his people in Romans 8:37-39:
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 8:37-39
Today we are reflecting on the words of Scripture in Galatians 1, where we read:
Paul, an apostle—not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead— and all the brothers who are with me,
To the churches of Galatia:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.
I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.
For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.
Galatians 1:1-10
Paul has gone from astonished to indignant pretty quickly here, but that is how serious he is about this topic. False teachers have entered into a place he loves and they have distorted the gospel in a way where those he had previously ministered to are deserting the faith. The use of an angel from heaven and a false gospel are interesting here. That usage should take us back to the Garden of Eden. The garden where a fallen angel entered in and distorted the Words of the Lord to Adam and Eve. A distortion that asked, “Did God really say?” What was Satan’s punishment? It was exactly what Paul is saying here that they are accursed. Paul has an incredible zeal for the purity of the gospel and for it not being distorted in any way. He goes as far as to include himself in being accursed if he one day were to preach a distorted and false gospel. Paul is showing us how important it is to trust those who teach us. Paul is also showing those of us who teach how important it is to never distort the gospel.
Lord, I ask that you keep me and protect me. Would you keep me far from distorting the gospel myself and keep me far from those who would distort the gospel? Give me a zeal for the purity of your Word like Paul had.
1)Why are Paul’s words so serious when it comes to those who distort the gospel?
2)Am I as serious about the purity of the gospel message?
3)How do I choose my teachers and those whom I learn from?
4)How do I discern whose distorting the gospel and whose is not?
Lord, I ask that you would visit your people again. I ask that you would pour out your Spirit in a supernatural way for a season of time where your glory would open the eyes of all that see it. Would you do what only you can do? Would you do what you have done before in history? Revive your Church, revive your people, and revive your world.
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.
Paul, an apostle—not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead— and all the brothers who are with me,
To the churches of Galatia:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.
I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.
For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.
Galatians 1:1-10
Yielding Prayer
Lord, give me love and zeal for your Word like Paul had. Make me indignant when I see the gospel and the message of the gospel being distorted for selfish gain. Fill me with your Holy Spirit and give me the gift of discernment that I might know truth from lies in regard to teachings. Keep me and protect me Lord to the end that I may never fall away.
Yielding Promise
And now, as I move into the day ahead, the Lord who loves me reminds me in John 6:
All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.
John 6:37
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.