P.R.A.Y
PAUSE
REJOICE & REFLECT
ASK
YIELD
Personal Worship
This week we will meditate on what it looks like to wait on the Lord and we will also see the consequences of not waiting on the Lord in Abraham’s 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
Lord, I enter into this time remembering the words of the Psalmist when he says, “Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for him.” I am waiting and trusting that you are the God who sees his people. See me and meet me today.
I choose to rejoice, with all God’s people, in the powerful promise that God gives us in Hebrews 1…
Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.
Hebrews 1:1-4
As you read the passages below, ask the Lord to cause a word or phrase to stand out to you.
Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. She had a female Egyptian servant whose name was Hagar. And Sarai said to Abram, “Behold now, the Lord has prevented me from bearing children. Go in to my servant; it may be that I shall obtain children by her.” And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai. So, after Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan, Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar the Egyptian, her servant, and gave her to Abram her husband as a wife.
Genesis 16:1-3
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 Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. She had a female Egyptian servant whose name was Hagar. And Sarai said to Abram, “Behold now, the Lord has prevented me from bearing children. Go in to my servant; it may be that I shall obtain children by her.” And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai. So, after Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan, Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar the Egyptian, her servant, and gave her to Abram her husband as a wife.
Genesis 16:1-3
Sarah has had enough of waiting on God and trusting in him to fulfill the promise of a child. She takes matters into her own hands. She takes her Egyptian servant who was most likely given by Pharoah to Abraham when Abraham failed and ran off to Egypt during the famine. Abraham listens. Abraham has the opportunity to stop this idea in its tracks, but he too is tired of waiting and trusting in the Lord.
Lord, do what you want with my heart today. I ask that you would not allow me to stay at surface level with this story, but allow this story to transform my own heart as I too am in some kind of season of waiting. Show me what it looks like to wait in trust for you to do what you have promised me that you will.
Lord, I am seeking after you to bring revival and waiting for you to do what only you can do. I don’t want another move of some personality on this earth, but all I desire is for the power of your Holy Spirit to fall on all of those around me and transform them powerfully. I trust in you.
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 Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. She had a female Egyptian servant whose name was Hagar. And Sarai said to Abram, “Behold now, the Lord has prevented me from bearing children. Go in to my servant; it may be that I shall obtain children by her.” And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai. So, after Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan, Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar the Egyptian, her servant, and gave her to Abram her husband as a wife.
Genesis 16:1-3
Yielding Prayer
Lord, Sarah seems to have given up. I know that is not just a her issue, but I find myself in that same place at times. Forgive me, but also renew my strength. Show me now where I am not trusting in you and restore my heart back to your fold.
Yielding Promise
And now, as I move into the day ahead, the Lord who loves me reminds me in Psalm 40…
I waited patiently for the Lord;
he inclined to me and heard my cry.
He drew me up from the pit of destruction,
out of the miry bog,
and set my feet upon a rock,
making my steps secure.
He put a new song in my mouth,
a song of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear,
and put their trust in the Lord.
Psalm 40:1-3
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.