P.R.A.Y
PAUSE
REJOICE & REFLECT
ASK
YIELD
Personal Worship
God destroys Sodom.
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, your Word tells us, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” I ask now that you would do a work in me through your Word. Fill me with your Holy Spirit. Give me understanding and transform my heart.
I choose to rejoice, with all God’s people, in the powerful promise that God gives us in Psalm 145…
The Lord is near to all who call on him,
to all who call on him in truth.
Psalm 145:18
As you read the passages below, ask the Lord to cause a word or phrase to stand out to you.
The sun had risen on the earth when Lot came to Zoar. Then the Lord rained on Sodom and Gomorrah sulfur and fire from the Lord out of heaven. And he overthrew those cities, and all the valley, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground. But Lot’s wife, behind him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.
And Abraham went early in the morning to the place where he had stood before the Lord. And he looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah and toward all the land of the valley, and he looked and, behold, the smoke of the land went up like the smoke of a furnace.
So it was that, when God destroyed the cities of the valley, God remembered Abraham and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow when he overthrew the cities in which Lot had lived.
Genesis 19:23-29
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?”
The sun had risen on the earth when Lot came to Zoar. Then the Lord rained on Sodom and Gomorrah sulfur and fire from the Lord out of heaven. And he overthrew those cities, and all the valley, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground. But Lot’s wife, behind him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.
And Abraham went early in the morning to the place where he had stood before the Lord. And he looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah and toward all the land of the valley, and he looked and, behold, the smoke of the land went up like the smoke of a furnace.
So it was that, when God destroyed the cities of the valley, God remembered Abraham and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow when he overthrew the cities in which Lot had lived.
Genesis 19:23-29
Lot gets out with his two daughters and on their way out Lot’s wife looks back. It is not that she just turned her head, but she ran back towards destruction because she would rather die in Sodom with all her stuff than set out with her family into the unknown. This part of the story ends with Abraham looking out at the land and seeing Sodom and Gomorrah in flames. Abraham’s prayers were not answered. God did not find 10 righteous people there. At this point, Abraham didn’t know that God had rescued Lot. That’s a lot for Abraham to work through.
Lord, I ask that you give me eyes of faith when you say no to my pleas in prayer. Teach me to trust you when you do what pleases you even if I don’t understand.
Lord, we come before You with humble hearts, yearning for Your presence to fill our lives. We seek Your Spirit to awaken a revival within us—renew our minds, purify our hearts, and ignite our spirits with Your love and truth. Let our communities be transformed by Your grace and let Your light shine through us in a dark world. May we be vessels of Your peace, hope, and justice, drawing others to Your saving power. Revive us, O Lord, and lead us to live fully for Your glory. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.
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?
The sun had risen on the earth when Lot came to Zoar. Then the Lord rained on Sodom and Gomorrah sulfur and fire from the Lord out of heaven. And he overthrew those cities, and all the valley, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground. But Lot’s wife, behind him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.
And Abraham went early in the morning to the place where he had stood before the Lord. And he looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah and toward all the land of the valley, and he looked and, behold, the smoke of the land went up like the smoke of a furnace.
So it was that, when God destroyed the cities of the valley, God remembered Abraham and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow when he overthrew the cities in which Lot had lived.
Genesis 19:23-29
Yielding Prayer
Lord, as I end this week let me see that you are a God of judgment and mercy. That you are a God that calls evil, evil. You don’t let evil run rampant forever. Let me see that when you show me great mercy it is because your Son took the judgment that I deserved. Let me feel the weightiness of grace in my life and let my heart love you more because of it.
Yielding Promise
And now, as I move into the day ahead, the Lord who loves me reminds me in Deuteronomy 31…
It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.
Deuteronomy 31:8
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.