P.R.A.Y
PAUSE
REJOICE & REFLECT
ASK
YIELD
Personal Worship
Today, we bring our anger, bitterness, and broken relationships before Jesus, asking him to make us people of peace.
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 ask that you would meet with me. By the power of the Holy Spirit, would you enter into my world? Where you are able to be praised, let me praise you. Where I need to confess and repent, let me do so quickly. Where I can obey, you let me do so without pause. Transform my heart to look more like yours.
I choose to rejoice, with all God’s people, in the powerful promise that God gives us in Psalm 34…
Come, O children, listen to me;
I will teach you the fear of the Lord.
What man is there who desires life
and loves many days, that he may see good?
Keep your tongue from evil
and your lips from speaking deceit.
Turn away from evil and do good;
seek peace and pursue it.
Psalm 34:11-14
As you read the passages below, ask the Lord to cause a word or phrase to stand out to you.
“You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire. So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison. Truly, I say to you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.
Matthew 5:21-26
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?”
“You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire. So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison. Truly, I say to you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.
Matthew 5:21-26
Jesus takes the command against murder and presses it into the hidden places of the heart. He shows that anger, contempt, insults, and resentment are not small things before God. We may never physically harm someone, but we can still carry hostility, speak with contempt, or refuse to pursue peace. Jesus calls us to take reconciliation seriously. Worship and relationships are not disconnected. If we are clinging to bitterness while trying to offer ourselves to God, Jesus lovingly calls us to stop, humble ourselves, and pursue peace. Kingdom righteousness is not only about avoiding obvious sin; it is about becoming someone whose heart reflects the mercy of God.
Lord, I ask that you show me what is buried in my heart. Reveal to me the hate, anger, and bitterness that I am storing inside.
Lord, revive my heart where anger has made it hard, cold, or defensive. Expose bitterness before it grows deeper. Give me humility where I have been proud, gentleness where I have been harsh, and courage where I need to pursue peace. Let your Spirit make me quick to repent, quick to forgive, and quick to seek reconciliation.
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?
“You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire. So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison. Truly, I say to you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.
Matthew 5:21-26
Yielding Prayer
Father, I yield my anger to you today. I give you the names, memories, frustrations, and wounds that I have been carrying. Teach me to speak with grace, to refuse contempt, and to pursue peace wherever it is possible. I do not want to excuse my bitterness or hide behind religious activity. Make me obedient to Jesus in the way I treat others, especially when I feel wronged.
Yielding Promise
And now, as I move into the day ahead, the Lord who loves me reminds me in Romans 12…
If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.
Romans 12:18
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