P.R.A.Y
PAUSE
REJOICE & REFLECT
ASK
YIELD
Personal Worship
Paul begins his final invitation to the Galatians and he writes it in his own hand.
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 your presence, I wait expectantly to hear from you today. Fill me with your Spirit and illuminate what you have for me. Let my heart trust that you are the God who meets with his people and you will meet with me at this moment.
We choose to rejoice in the power of God’s Word, with all his people in Psalm 68:4-6:
Sing to God, sing praises to his name;
lift up a song to him who rides through the deserts;
his name is the Lord;
exult before him!
Father of the fatherless and protector of widows
is God in his holy habitation.
God settles the solitary in a home;
he leads out the prisoners to prosperity,
but the rebellious dwell in a parched land.
Psalm 68:4-6
Today we are reflecting on the words of Scripture in Galatians 6:11-16, where we read:
See with what large letters I am writing to you with my own hand. It is those who want to make a good showing in the flesh who would force you to be circumcised, and only in order that they may not be persecuted for the cross of Christ. For even those who are circumcised do not themselves keep the law, but they desire to have you circumcised that they may boast in your flesh. But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. For neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation. And as for all who walk by this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God.
Galatians 6:11-16
Paul tells the scribe to pass the quill over to him. Remember Paul loves this church and he wants to write this final appeal to them himself. First, he wants to convince them that real Christianity based on the true gospel is a matter of inward change, not just an external observance. The false teachers want to make a good showing in the flesh. They want to force external observance of the law through things like circumcision so that in fact they are not persecuted by the cross. Remember, the cross is offensive because it says that we are so sinful that Christ had to die for us. No performance of ours could pay for the infinite debt we owe to God. In order to grasp the beauty and the sweetness of the cross, we have to first take its offense. Paul is saying there is no boasting in your own performance or external observance of the law. The only place to boast is the cross of Jesus. The cross frees us from the judgment of God, but it also frees us from the need to please the world. We die to the world because no longer is that where we find life and the world dies to us because no longer is it our idol that we live for. Paul says because it is all about inward change and transformation God through the true gospel makes us new creations. No longer are we what we were, but we have been created anew by God to live for God.
Lord, I ask that you show me what it means that I am a new creation. Show me that my performance doesn’t save me. You love me and died for me so I can live for you now.
1)How does verse 14 thrill me? How does it challenge me?
2)In which areas of my life am I knowing the peace of living by the gospel? In which ways am I forfeiting that peace by living for the world’s approval?
Jesus, revive our hearts. You have come to give your people abundant life. An abundant life that can only come from you. Break us of our desires for this earth that promise to satisfy us, but leave us empty inside. Give us a spirit of repentance to turn from the ways of this world and come back into union with you. In our brokenness would you fill us mightily with your Spirit? May all the glory and praise belong to you.
As I read the passage again slowly, I listen for anything that You would say to me in it. Help me see how to position my life in order to yield to your word.
See with what large letters I am writing to you with my own hand. It is those who want to make a good showing in the flesh who would force you to be circumcised, and only in order that they may not be persecuted for the cross of Christ. For even those who are circumcised do not themselves keep the law, but they desire to have you circumcised that they may boast in your flesh. But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. For neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation. And as for all who walk by this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God.
Galatians 6:11-16
Yielding Prayer
Lord, let my life follow these beautiful truths that Paul is preaching to me through this letter. Free me from my desire to please this world. Show me what it looks like to be free. Let me not run back to my performance, but seal in me my ultimate value and worth is found in you and you alone.
Yielding Promise
And now, as I move into the day ahead, the Lord who loves me reminds me in Ephesians 1:3-10:
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.
Ephesians 1:3-10
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.