P.R.A.Y
PAUSE
REJOICE & REFLECT
ASK
YIELD
Personal Worship
We begin a new 3 week series this week focused on our kids!
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, take me deeper into my relationship with you today. In a world full of distractions I ask that you pour out your Spirit on me now. Meet me where I am at, but don’t leave me here. Give me grace where grace is needed. Give me strength where obedience is needed. Hear my prayers and speak to me now.
I choose to rejoice, with all God’s people, in the powerful promise that God gives us in Psalm 34…
I will bless the Lord at all times;
his praise shall continually be in my mouth.
My soul makes its boast in the Lord;
let the humble hear and be glad.
Oh, magnify the Lord with me,
and let us exalt his name together!
Psalm 34:1-3
As you read the passages below, ask the Lord to cause a word or phrase to stand out to you.
“Now this is the commandment—the statutes and the rules—that the Lord your God commanded me to teach you, that you may do them in the land to which you are going over, to possess it, that you may fear the Lord your God, you and your son and your son’s son, by keeping all his statutes and his commandments, which I command you, all the days of your life, and that your days may be long. Hear therefore, O Israel, and be careful to do them, that it may go well with you, and that you may multiply greatly, as the Lord, the God of your fathers, has promised you, in a land flowing with milk and honey.
Deuteronomy 6:1-3
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?”
“Now this is the commandment—the statutes and the rules—that the Lord your God commanded me to teach you, that you may do them in the land to which you are going over, to possess it, that you may fear the Lord your God, you and your son and your son’s son, by keeping all his statutes and his commandments, which I command you, all the days of your life, and that your days may be long. Hear therefore, O Israel, and be careful to do them, that it may go well with you, and that you may multiply greatly, as the Lord, the God of your fathers, has promised you, in a land flowing with milk and honey.
Deuteronomy 6:1-3
Over the next 3 weeks, we will look at the relationships that matter in our children’s lives. We begin this week with our kids and God. This is not just a series for those who are actively parenting but as a church, we want to see the next generation to be on fire as disciples of Jesus Christ. We begin today thinking about obedience and the fear of the Lord.
Lord, give me a desire and passion to see the next generation come to know Jesus. Let me not look down on them because they are young, but let me find my place in raising up the next generation as disciples of Jesus.
Oh, Lord, would you rend the heavens and come down? Meet with your people for a season of supernatural revival again. Pour out your Spirit. Set the captives free and bring faith to those who lack. Do not forsake us in our errors, but come again in power and glory.
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?
“Now this is the commandment—the statutes and the rules—that the Lord your God commanded me to teach you, that you may do them in the land to which you are going over, to possess it, that you may fear the Lord your God, you and your son and your son’s son, by keeping all his statutes and his commandments, which I command you, all the days of your life, and that your days may be long. Hear therefore, O Israel, and be careful to do them, that it may go well with you, and that you may multiply greatly, as the Lord, the God of your fathers, has promised you, in a land flowing with milk and honey.
Deuteronomy 6:1-3
Yielding Prayer
Lord, you call me to love you and obey your commands. In my sinful nature, I desire to pursue my own interests but transform my heart. Let me see that your commandments are for my good and your glory. Fill me with your Spirit now!
Yielding Promise
And now, as I move into the day ahead, the Lord who loves me reminds me in John 6…
Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.
John 6:35
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.