P.R.A.Y
PAUSE
REJOICE & REFLECT
ASK
YIELD
Personal Worship
Paul shows us today what it looks like to join in on the work of the Spirit in our lives.
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 living water. I approach your throne thirsty and desperate for your presence. As I enter in allow me to lay it all down at your feet because there is no better place for me to bring all of my praise, all of my fears, and all of my needs today. Meet with me and fill me with your Spirit.
We choose to rejoice in the power of God’s Word, with all his people in Psalm 66:1-4:
Shout for joy to God, all the earth;
sing the glory of his name;
give to him glorious praise!
Say to God, “How awesome are your deeds!
So great is your power that your enemies come cringing to you.
All the earth worships you
and sings praises to you;
they sing praises to your name.”
Psalm 66:1-4
Today we are reflecting on the words of Scripture in Galatians 5:24-26, where we read:
And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.
Galatians 5:24-26
Paul wants us to see that we are not just passive players in this process. Yes, the Spirit is the one who transforms us, but we are invited in. As Christians, we can say, “I have been crucified with Christ”, as something that has been done to us and for us. It is also something that we are invited to join in on. We look back at the cross and the historical victory of Jesus on the cross. Then in our own lives, we can continue that by our ongoing desire to crucify the sinful nature that still lives in us. We can crucify our old nature in our hearts as we seek to desire Christ. As we enter into the power of the Holy Spirit we must remember that the Holy Spirit exists to glorify and magnify Jesus. So as we are destroying the sinful nature in us, we must replace those idols with Christ himself. We worship Jesus, with the help of the Holy Spirit, adoring him until our hearts find him more beautiful than all of the other things we used to hold onto. When we do that slowly but surely our sinful nature will be crucified and the Holy Spirit will continue to work in our lives.
Jesus, I ask that you show me what it looks like to keep in step with the Spirit in my daily life. I ask that you would give me the desire to crucify the sinful nature that still resides in me.
1)Where do I see any sinful nature in my heart?
2)What does it look like for me to crucify that sinful nature?
3)How can I behold Jesus and see him as far more beautiful than the idols that I cling to?
Lord, look upon your people and have mercy on us. We are lost like sheep without a shepherd. We need your Spirit to be poured out on us. Fill us with your Spirit and allow us to walk by the Spirit in this world. Revive our hearts and change our desires in this life.
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.
And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.
Galatians 5:24-26
Yielding Prayer
Jesus, I praise you that you are the God who was crucified for me. I have been completely justified by what you have done. I yield now that you don’t want me to stay where I was stuck in my sin. Fill me with your Spirit so that I can keep in step with the Spirit. Help me kill the sin that seeks to rip away the freedom you have for me.
Yielding Promise
And now, as I move into the day ahead, the Lord who loves me reminds me in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20:
Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20
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.