P.R.A.Y
PAUSE
REJOICE & REFLECT
ASK
YIELD
Personal Worship
Jesus comes to us today with a hard saying about love.
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
We join King David as we pray the words of Psalm 86:
Incline your ear, O Lord, and answer me, for I am poor and needy. Preserve my life, for I am godly; save your servant, who trusts in you—you are my God. Be gracious to me, O Lord, for to you do I cry all the day. Gladden the soul of your servant, for to you, O Lord, do I lift up my soul. For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving, abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon you. Give ear, O Lord, to my prayer; listen to my plea for grace. In the day of my trouble I call upon you, for you answer me.
We choose to rejoice in the power of God’s Word, with all his people in Psalm 89:
Let the heavens praise your wonders, O Lord,
your faithfulness in the assembly of the holy ones!
For who in the skies can be compared to the Lord?
Who among the heavenly beings is like the Lord,
a God greatly to be feared in the council of the holy ones,
and awesome above all who are around him?
O Lord God of hosts,
who is mighty as you are, O Lord,
with your faithfulness all around you?
You rule the raging of the sea;
when its waves rise, you still them
Psalm 89:5-9
Today we are reflecting on the words of Scripture in Matthew 5:43-45a where we read:
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven.
Matthew 5:43-45a
Jesus continues his normal pattern of taking the law and confronting our hearts with more. This time is a little different though. In no place will you find Scripture ever saying hate your enemy. The Old Testament law was to love your neighbor as yourself. Jesus is confronting them for how they have been living. They have been living in a way where they love those who are like them and hate those who are not. They have made enemies and they have discarded them. Jesus is saying that is not the way. He commands them and us to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. That’s a hard saying. Our heart towards those that we deem as our enemies is one of love. A love that prays for that person. It is really hard to hate a person you are praying for it turns out. Verse 45 shows us that if we are children of God we will look like him. We will love the way that he loves. We will care for those in the same way he cares for us.
Lord, transform my heart to be more like yours. Teach me and show me what it looks like to love those that I deem as my enemy. Give me the desire to pray for them.
1)Who do I deem as my enemy? Why are they my enemy?
2)What would it look like for me to actively love my enemy?
3)How am I praying for them today?
Lord, you are mighty to save and I ask that you would look upon your people with favor. See us in our brokenness and meet us. Would you power out your presence and power on us? Send your Holy Spirit. Bring revival to our land and let us glorify you because of it.
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.
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven.
Matthew 5:43-45a
Yielding Prayer
God, this world would look different if your people obeyed this passage. This is a difficult task, so I ask for your help today. Let me see my heart and the hatred that I am holding and set me free from it. Transform me and show me what it looks like to love those around me in the way you have loved me.
Yielding Promise
And now, as I move into the day ahead, the Lord who loves me reminds me in Romans 5:10:
For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.
Romans 5:10
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.