P.R.A.Y
PAUSE
REJOICE & REFLECT
ASK
YIELD
Personal Worship
We continue in our Friend of God series this week and meet Abraham. We will see that as we go throughout the series Abraham is far from perfect he is deeply flawed, but in his flaws, he is a man who lived a life of faith.
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 Psalm 32 (NIV) …
I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;
I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.
Psalm 32:8 (NIV)
As you read the passages below, ask the Lord to cause a word or phrase to stand out to you.
Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
Genesis 12:1-3
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?”
Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
Genesis 12:1-3
Imagine being Abram (who will become Abraham in the future, so the same guy) in this scenario. God calls you. This would have been odd and normal in the same breath because you were raised in the monotheistic culture in Ur, the city of your birth. Ur worshipped gods like Nanna the god of the moon and wisdom. Now this God comes to. He tells you to leave it all behind and just trust him. He says he will do all of these great things for you and you are thinking that you sure cannot make that happen out of your own sheer willpower, so he better be worth it. God doesn’t give him a map or show him the future. All Abram has is trust in this unknown God.
Lord, you are the one who calls his people. You call us to unknown opportunities and oftentimes unknown lands. I ask that you show me what it looks like to trust you with my future and all that comes with it.
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?
Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
Genesis 12:1-3
Yielding Prayer
Lord, let me hear your voice in my life today. Use your Word and your Spirit to speak to me. Show me where you are calling me in this life and give me the obedience of faith to follow 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.