P.R.A.Y
PAUSE
REJOICE & REFLECT
ASK
YIELD
Personal Worship
Today we see what it looks like to plead with God on someone else’s behalf.
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, 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.
I choose to rejoice, with all God’s people, in the powerful promise that God gives us in 1 Peter 2:9…
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
1 Peter 2:9
As you read the passages below, ask the Lord to cause a word or phrase to stand out to you.
So the men turned from there and went toward Sodom, but Abraham still stood before the Lord. Then Abraham drew near and said, “Will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked? Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city. Will you then sweep away the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous who are in it? Far be it from you to do such a thing, to put the righteous to death with the wicked, so that the righteous fare as the wicked! Far be that from you! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?” And the Lord said, “If I find at Sodom fifty righteous in the city, I will spare the whole place for their sake.”
Genesis 18:22-26
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?”
So the men turned from there and went toward Sodom, but Abraham still stood before the Lord. Then Abraham drew near and said, “Will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked? Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city. Will you then sweep away the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous who are in it? Far be it from you to do such a thing, to put the righteous to death with the wicked, so that the righteous fare as the wicked! Far be that from you! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?” And the Lord said, “If I find at Sodom fifty righteous in the city, I will spare the whole place for their sake.”
Genesis 18:22-26
Now it is just Abraham and God. We see how Abraham responds to God’s invitation. Abraham draws near. This is more than him just getting physically closer to God. He is approaching like one approaching a judge. He is about to become the legal priest for the people of Sodom and Gomorrah. He is going to plead on their behalf. His argument is can the few save the many? It is difficult for us in our individualistic culture to think in terms of corporate responsibility. When we do it is usually the opposite, can the sins of a few condemn the many? Abraham is reversing that. He is saying God will you sweep away the righteous for the sins of the wicked even if the righteous are a much smaller number. He is still going to plead, but he shows he is going to trust God with the outcome. He says, “Shall not the judge of all the earth do what is just?” He is teaching us what intercessory prayer is all about. We go on behalf of someone else to God begging and pleading for him to do something, but in the end, we trust that God is just and will do exactly what should be done.
Lord, show me my calling to intercede on behalf of those around me. Give me a heart to take everything to you in prayer hoping and trusting you are good.
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.
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?
So the men turned from there and went toward Sodom, but Abraham still stood before the Lord. Then Abraham drew near and said, “Will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked? Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city. Will you then sweep away the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous who are in it? Far be it from you to do such a thing, to put the righteous to death with the wicked, so that the righteous fare as the wicked! Far be that from you! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?” And the Lord said, “If I find at Sodom fifty righteous in the city, I will spare the whole place for their sake.”
Genesis 18:22-26
Yielding Prayer
Lord, give me a heart for the wicked. Let me not turn a blind eye to wickedness, but don’t let my heart of mercy grow cold either. Give me eyes to see my own city in the way Abraham saw these cities. Teach me what it looks like to come into your presence on behalf of the righteous and the wicked.
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.