P.R.A.Y

PAUSE

REJOICE & REFLECT

ASK

YIELD

Personal Worship

This week we meditate on how Abraham pleaded with God on behalf of Sodom.

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.

Pause

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, you are the God who created all things, yet you see me now. You are the Father inviting me as your child into time with you. Let me not miss today and what a miraculous blessing it is that you care about me and what I am going through currently in my life. Let me experience all that you have for me today.

Rejoice and Reflect

I choose to rejoice, with all God’s people, in the powerful promise that God gives us in 1 Chronicles 29:11…

Yours, Lord, is the greatness and the power
    and the glory and the majesty and the splendor,
    for everything in heaven and earth is yours.
Yours, Lord, is the kingdom;
    you are exalted as head over all.

1 Chronicles 29:11

As you read the passages below, ask the Lord to cause a word or phrase to stand out to you.

Then the men set out from there, and they looked down toward Sodom. And Abraham went with them to set them on their way. The Lord said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do, seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? For I have chosen him, that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice, so that the Lord may bring to Abraham what he has promised him.” Then the Lord said, “Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great and their sin is very grave, I will go down to see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry that has come to me. And if not, I will know.”

Genesis 18:16-21

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?”

Genesis 18:16-21

This week we will see Abraham become the intercessor between God and the people of Sodom. He will seek and plead with the Lord in order to save the people of Sodom. This story begins in an interesting way. We have the Lord say to himself in verse 17 whether or not he wants to bring Abraham in on the plan. God decides if Abraham is going to be a man that will bless all the nations of the earth he needs to understand what righteousness and justice are in order to do that. God says there has been an outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah. The word “outcry” is used in a way where oppressed people are under torment and distress and are crying out because of it. Our point today is that it is wild that God invites Abraham in on this discussion. God trusts Abraham enough to share this information with him and allow Abraham to respond. God invites Abraham to take his place as an intercessor between God and man. It is up to Abraham to say yes or no to that.

Ask

Lord, you invite your people in to speak on behalf of others. You invite your children to beg and plead with you to move. Search my heart this week concerning my feelings about who or what surrounds me and what I will do with what I find.

Coming into this, what do I know about the story of Sodom and Gomorrah?
How would I define righteousness and justice?
Who are the oppressed in our society whose outcry God hears?
Why do I think God invites Abraham in to have a discussion with him about it?
Where has God invited me in?

Lord, bring revival to Fort Lauderdale. Revive the hearts of the saints and sinners alike. Revive those who draw near to you and revive those who are far from you. No one is too far gone for your gracious mercy to save, so do what only you can do. Bring life and light into our city this week.

Yield

As I read the passage for the final time, I listen for 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?

Genesis 18:16-21

Yielding Prayer

Lord, you are the God who invites his people in. You invite me in not just once in my life, but you want to be in a relationship with me daily. You desire to communicate with me. Let me in obedience understand that and turn to prayer more often in my day today. Let me speak and listen to what you have for me.

Yielding Promise

And now, as I move into the day ahead, the Lord who loves me reminds me in Isaiah 55…

“Seek the Lord while he may be found;
    call upon him while he is near;
let the wicked forsake his way,
    and the unrighteous man his thoughts;
let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him,
    and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
    neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
    so are my ways higher than your ways
    and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Isaiah 55:6-9

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.