P.R.A.Y
PAUSE
REJOICE & REFLECT
ASK
YIELD
Personal Worship
We go back to the Old Testament and hear the charge from Jeremiah about how we should live in our cities.
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 Galatians 2…
I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
Galatians 2:20
As you read the passages below, ask the Lord to cause a word or phrase to stand out to you.
“Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.
Jeremiah 29:4-7
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?”
“Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.
Jeremiah 29:4-7
The Bible makes it very clear that this world is not our home. The Bible also makes it clear how we should live while we are here. When the people were in exile they knew that this was not their forever home, so what did God instruct them to do? Were they supposed to just wait around and not invest because this isn’t where they would be forever? No, he calls them to seek the welfare of the city while they are there. To pray on the city’s behalf. South Florida is not our eternal home or it may not even be your home the whole time you are on this earth, but while you are here you have a purpose. To seek the welfare of the city.
Lord, give me eyes to see that you have placed me in this city on purpose for this time in history. Show me why you have me here and show me what it looks like to seek the welfare of this city.
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?
“Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.
Jeremiah 29:4-7
Yielding Prayer
Lord, let me be obedient to what you have for me here. Our city isn’t perfect, but it is where you have me right now. Let me seek the welfare of the city. Show me what it looks like to do that. Fill me with your Holy Spirit that I may be a light that points to you for those in my city to see.
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.