P.R.A.Y
PAUSE
REJOICE & REFLECT
ASK
YIELD
Personal Worship
Today, we come before the Lord asking him to give us humble hearts, clear eyes, and gracious discernment toward others.
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 Sermon on the Mount, would you soften my heart to what you have for me? Let my ears not just hear, but let my heart obey. Fill me with your Spirit.
I choose to rejoice, with all God’s people, in the powerful promise that God gives us in Psalm 139…
Search me, O God, and know my heart!
Try me and know my thoughts!
And see if there be any grievous way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting!
Psalm 139:23-24
As you read the passages below, ask the Lord to cause a word or phrase to stand out to you.
“Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.
“Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you.
Matthew 7:1-6
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?”
“Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.
“Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you.
Matthew 7:1-6
Jesus warns us against a judgmental spirit that sees the faults of others while ignoring the sin in our own hearts. We are not called to be blind to what is wrong, but we are called to begin with repentance before correction. When we let God remove the log from our own eye, we become people who can help others with humility instead of pride. We need the Lord to make us discerning without being harsh, truthful without being self-righteous, and loving without being careless.
Lord, I ask that you show me the log in my eye now. Draw me to repentance.
Lord, revive us by giving us humble hearts before you. Search us, expose what is hidden, and rescue us from prideful judgment. Make us a people who receive your mercy deeply and extend your mercy freely. Awaken us to our own need for grace so that we may become instruments of grace in the lives of others.
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?
“Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.
“Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you.
Matthew 7:1-6
Yielding Prayer
Father, I yield my critical spirit to you. I surrender my desire to judge, compare, and condemn. Teach me to examine my own heart before I try to correct someone else. Make me humble, gentle, truthful, and wise. I choose to obey Jesus by walking in repentance, mercy, and discernment today.
Yielding Promise
And now, as I move into the day ahead, the Lord who loves me reminds me in James 4…
Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.
James 4:10
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