P.R.A.Y
PAUSE
REJOICE & REFLECT
ASK
YIELD
Personal Worship
Today we take a brief pause on the hard saying of Jesus from Matthew 5 to look at the power of our eyes.
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 approach you I remind myself that you are the God who is in my midst. You are the God who is mighty to save. You are the God who rejoices over me with gladness, you quiet me with your love, and you exult over me with loud singing. Speak to me now.
***Adapted from Zephaniah 3:17
We choose to rejoice in the power of God’s Word, with all his people in Psalm 84:11-12:
For the Lord God is a sun and shield;
the Lord bestows favor and honor.
No good thing does he withhold
from those who walk uprightly.
O Lord of hosts,
blessed is the one who trusts in you!
Psalm 84:11-12
Today we are reflecting on the words of Scripture in Matthew 6:22-23, where we read:
“The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!
Matthew 6:22-23
All throughout the Scriptures the eyes play an important role in our lives. They are important because of the effect they have on the heart. What goes into the eyes seeps into the heart. So if we care about our hearts, we care about what goes into our eyes. The difference between a healthy eye and an unhealthy eye is where our focus lies. What we focus on our heart clings to. What our heart clings to is what we will worship in our lives. There are so many things vying for our focus that we will not stumble upon a focus upon Jesus. It is a learned habit and practice.
Lord, show me where my focus is. Give me eyes to see you and your beauty.
1)What are some of the things I tend to focus on in this life?
2)As I focus on different things (money, career, Jesus, kids, spouse, etc.) how does that affect my life and the way I live it?
3)What does it look like for me to practically make Jesus my focus in my day-to-day life?
Lord, we ask that you would pour out your Spirit on our lands. Will you meet with your people again? Revive us with the power of your Spirit. Transform us and let us see your glory.
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.
“The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!
Matthew 6:22-23
Yielding Prayer
Lord, with so many distractions in this life I need your help. Fill me with your Holy Spirit that I will have eyes to see you. Fill me with your light and let me flee from a darkness that consumes me. I obey you and desire to make you my focus above all else!
Yielding Promise
And now, as I move into the day ahead, the Lord who loves me reminds me in James 1:17:
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.
James 1:17
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.