P.R.A.Y
PAUSE
REJOICE & REFLECT
ASK
YIELD
Personal Worship
We have seen who Paul was and how God intervened and transformed him. Today we see who he is after God moved in his life.
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
As I enter into your presence, I wait on you, my God. You are a shield about me. You are my glory and the lifter of my head. I cry aloud to you today and I trust that you will answer me from your holy hill. (Psalm 3:3-4) I surrender this time to you and refix my gaze on who you are.
We choose to rejoice in the power of God’s Word, with all his people in Psalm 113:
The Lord is high above all nations,
and his glory above the heavens!
Who is like the Lord our God,
who is seated on high,
who looks far down
on the heavens and the earth?
He raises the poor from the dust
and lifts the needy from the ash heap,
to make them sit with princes,
with the princes of his people.
He gives the barren woman a home,
making her the joyous mother of children.
Praise the Lord!
Psalm 113:6-9
Today we are reflecting on the words of Scripture in Galatians 1:16b-24, where we read:
For I would have you know, brothers, that the gospel that was preached by me is not man’s gospel. For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ. For you have heard of my former life in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it. And I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people, so extremely zealous was I for the traditions of my fathers. But when he who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son to me, in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone; nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me, but I went away into Arabia, and returned again to Damascus.
Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas and remained with him fifteen days. But I saw none of the other apostles except James the Lord’s brother. (In what I am writing to you, before God, I do not lie!) Then I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia. And I was still unknown in person to the churches of Judea that are in Christ. They only were hearing it said, “He who used to persecute us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.” And they glorified God because of me
Galatians 1:11-24
In this section Paul tells us that he went to Arabia not to give us all of the details of what he did there. He tells us this to maintain his independence from the authorities there in Jerusalem. He is reaffirming that his revelation from God of Jesus gave him the whole and true gospel. He didn’t go to Jerusalem to become a student under the other apostles. He didn’t go there to receive orders. He is asserting that the gospel was given to him. He would continue to work out the communication and the implications of the gospel for decades, but at this moment he is showing that he has the authority to preach the good news purely because he has given the good news.
Now imagine being in those areas and hearing Paul preach the gospel. They must have been thinking to themselves this is not the same Paul that we had heard stories about. The stories that we had heard were of a man who was persecuting the church. A man who was trying to destroy any preaching of the gospel in all of the towns that he entered. Paul’s life now gives credence to the gospel that he has heard and believed. He is a man transformed. That transformation is one that brings glory to God and to his saving work. Our lives have the power to bring glory to God when we live a life that has been transformed by the gospel for all who see it.
Lord, show me what it looks like to lead a transformed life that brings you glory. Open my eyes to a life that points to you not just in word, but in deed.
1)How do I think I would have received Paul after seeing him live, and also knowing the stories about his past?
2)What made people glorify God, because of Paul’s life?
3)What does that look like in my life?
4)Am I living in a way that brings people to the point where they glorify God because of me?
Our Father and our God, I come to you now to ask for revival in our nation. I pray that your Spirit would fall on your Church. Would you wake us from our slumber and free us from our love of this world? I ask that you would manifest yourself in a supernatural way in this season of time and draw all people to yourself. Come in such power and glory that we would know that this was of you and not the work of human hands. Hear the cry of my heart and respond oh Lord!
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.
For I would have you know, brothers, that the gospel that was preached by me is not man’s gospel. For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ. For you have heard of my former life in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it. And I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people, so extremely zealous was I for the traditions of my fathers. But when he who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son to me, in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone; nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me, but I went away into Arabia, and returned again to Damascus.
Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas and remained with him fifteen days. But I saw none of the other apostles except James the Lord’s brother. (In what I am writing to you, before God, I do not lie!) Then I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia. And I was still unknown in person to the churches of Judea that are in Christ. They only were hearing it said, “He who used to persecute us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.” And they glorified God because of me
Galatians 1:11-24
Yielding Prayer
God, you are so good. Let me live a life that is worthy of the call you have placed on my life. Allow me not to live this life to earn your love, but allow the life I lead to be lived out of being extravagantly loved by you. Create in me a life that brings glory to you. Let me live courageously this day in a broken world that desperately needs to see you.
Yielding Promise
And now, as I move into the day ahead, the Lord who loves me reminds me in Titus 3:
For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
Titus 3:3-7
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.