P.R.A.Y
PAUSE
REJOICE & REFLECT
ASK
YIELD
Personal Worship
Joseph is quick to obey the Word of the Lord.
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 consecrate this time. I get to do the most wonderful thing in this moment: meet with you. You are a gracious God who meets with his children. Speak to me now.
I choose to rejoice, with all God’s people, in the powerful promise that God gives us in Psalm 84…
For the Lord God is a sun and shield;
the Lord bestows favor and honor.
No good thing does he withhold
from those who walk uprightly.
Psalm 84:11
As you read the passages below, ask the Lord to cause a word or phrase to stand out to you.
All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:
“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and they shall call his name Immanuel”
(which means, God with us). When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.
Matthew 1:22-25
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?”
All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:
“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and they shall call his name Immanuel”
(which means, God with us). When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.
Matthew 1:22-25
Joseph obeyed what God revealed without delay. He adjusted his life around God’s word, and through that obedience the name Immanuel—God with us—stood at the center of the story. Obedience still creates room for God’s presence to shape our lives.
Lord, I ask that you fill me with your Spirit. Make me quick to obey your Word.
Lord, revive your people. We are dead unless you move. We ask and expect a supernatural move of the Holy Spirit that we are longing for. Come and do what only you can do.
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?
All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:
“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and they shall call his name Immanuel”
(which means, God with us). When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.
Matthew 1:22-25
Yielding Prayer
Lord, give me willingness to obey you quickly and fully. I yield my plans and my timing so that your presence may shape my life.
Yielding Promise
And now, as I move into the day ahead, the Lord who loves me reminds me in John 14…
Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.
John 14:23
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