P.R.A.Y
PAUSE
REJOICE & REFLECT
ASK
YIELD
Personal Worship
Jesus turns today from loyalty to love knowing that our loyalties stem from what we truly love.
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
As I enter into your presence today I remind myself that you are the God who makes known to me the path of life. In you, there is fullness of joy and at your right hand, there are pleasures forevermore. With that reminder, I ask that you meet with me now.
*Adapted from Psalm 16:11
We choose to rejoice in the power of God’s Word, with all his people in Psalm 96:
Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice;
let the sea roar, and all that fills it;
let the field exult, and everything in it!
Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy
before the Lord, for he comes,
for he comes to judge the earth.
He will judge the world in righteousness,
and the peoples in his faithfulness.
Psalm 96:11-13
Today we are reflecting on the words of Scripture in Matthew 10:37 where we read:
“Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a person’s enemies will be those of his own household. Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
Matthew 10:34-39
Jesus understands that where our loyalty lies are what we love. So he continues on from yesterday and he is helping us to diagnose what we love. He is going to make comparisons here. He says if you love your father or mother more than me. He is not saying that loving your father or mother is wrong, but he is saying that Jesus as Lord and Savior deserves to be what we love the most. He is the eternal Son of God who went to the cross so that we could be reunited with God. He sacrificed his life for ours. He took our debt so we could be set free. He is worthy of it all.
Jesus, there are so many things vying for my love and attention. Show me now where my heart desires and loves people, places, or things more than you. Fill me with your Spirit so I can be honest in your presence knowing that you are the God who knows me and loves me.
1) What is Jesus saying to me personally from the text this morning?
2) Do I think Jesus is being harsh or unfair?
3) What right now is taking the place of Jesus in my heart?
Jesus, revive our hearts. You have come to give your people abundant life. An abundant life that can only come from you. Break us of our desires for this earth that promise to satisfy us, but leave us empty inside. Give us a spirit of repentance to turn from the ways of this world and come back into union with you. In our brokenness would you fill us mightily with your Spirit? May all the glory and praise belong to you.
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.
“Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a person’s enemies will be those of his own household. Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
Matthew 10:34-39
Yielding Prayer
Jesus, I want to know you and love you with my whole heart. In this life that is so difficult. I have tried to obey you on my own and I have failed time and time again. I ask now that you pour out your Spirit on me. Give me your power to yield to these hard sayings of yours. I want you and all that you have for me.
Yielding Promise
And now, as I move into the day ahead, the Lord who loves me reminds me in Matthew 28:20:
And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age
Matthew 28:20
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.