P.R.A.Y
PAUSE
REJOICE & REFLECT
ASK
YIELD
Personal Worship
We fix our eyes on Jesus today!
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 Ephesians 1…
To the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.
Ephesians 1:6
As you read the passages below, ask the Lord to cause a word or phrase to stand out to you.
Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
Hebrews 4:14-16
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?”
Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
Hebrews 4:14-16
Abraham got all the way down to 10 when pleading with God. Why did he not go down to one? Perhaps he knew that not one person was deemed righteous in those cities even his own nephew Lot. Abraham and Lot are not the heroes we need though. There is one righteous who can make payment for all the wicked. That is Jesus Christ.
Lord, give me faith that believes what these verses say. I ask that you let me receive mercy and find grace in my time of need.
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?
Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
Hebrews 4:14-16
Yielding Prayer
Lord, you are so good to me. You are a God who loves me so well even when my heart runs away. Let me experience exactly what you describe in this passage. Let me see you as the God who can sympathize with my weakness. Let me experience the confidence I have to come to you through your work on the cross.
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.