P.R.A.Y
PAUSE
REJOICE & REFLECT
ASK
YIELD
Personal Worship
Today, we look away from ourselves and fix our hope on the mighty Savior who cleanses and restores.
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 bow down at your feet today. Prepare my heart now as I enter into your Word through the Scriptures and prayer. Meet with me and let me see your beauty, and let that transform me by the power of your Spirit.
I choose to rejoice, with all God’s people, in the powerful promise that God gives us in Psalm 130…
O Israel, hope in the Lord!
For with the Lord there is steadfast love,
and with him is plentiful redemption.
And he will redeem Israel
from all his iniquities.
Psalm 130:7-8
As you read the passages below, ask the Lord to cause a word or phrase to stand out to you.
“I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”
Matthew 3:11-12
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?”
“I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”
Matthew 3:11-12
John makes it clear that he is not the Savior. He baptizes with water, but one mightier than him is coming. Jesus will baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire. This passage lifts our eyes to the greatness of Christ. He does not merely call us to change; he gives the power, purity, and presence we need. Jesus is the mighty one who gathers, cleanses, judges, and saves. Our hope is not in my ability to fix myself, but in the Savior who is strong enough to redeem me completely.
Lord, I ask that you give me the heart of John the Baptist. You are far mightier than me and my only hope is you.
Lord Jesus, revive your people by the power of your Spirit. Cleanse what is impure, strengthen what is weak, and burn away what keeps us from wholehearted devotion. Make us more aware of your greatness than our own efforts.
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?
“I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”
Matthew 3:11-12
Yielding Prayer
Father, I yield my self-reliance to you. I cannot cleanse myself, save myself, or make myself new. I trust in Jesus, the mighty Savior, and I ask you to fill me with the Holy Spirit for faithful obedience today.
Yielding Promise
And now, as I move into the day ahead, the Lord who loves me reminds me in Titus 3…
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 3:4-7
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