P.R.A.Y
PAUSE
REJOICE & REFLECT
ASK
YIELD
Personal Worship
We turn to the Psalms to see the beauty of the Word of God 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, your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. As I approach your throne this morning I ask that you give me life according to your word. Let me experience your presence as I read and meditate on the word you have for me today.
We choose to rejoice in the power of God’s Word, with all his people in Psalm 119:
My soul clings to the dust;
give me life according to your word!
When I told of my ways, you answered me;
teach me your statutes!
Make me understand the way of your precepts,
and I will meditate on your wondrous works.
My soul melts away for sorrow;
strengthen me according to your word!
Put false ways far from me
and graciously teach me your law!
I have chosen the way of faithfulness;
I set your rules before me.
I cling to your testimonies, O Lord;
let me not be put to shame!
I will run in the way of your commandments
when you enlarge my heart!
Psalm 119:25-32
Today we are reflecting on the words of Scripture in Psalm 1:1-2, where we read:
Blessed is the man
who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
nor stands in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
but his delight is in the law of the Lord,
and on his law he meditates day and night.
Psalm 1:1-2
The Psalms open up with a description of the blessed man. And it is different to how this world defines who is blessed and who is not. Psalm 1 opens and defines the blessed life. It is one that is defined by what it takes in. What we fill our souls with is who we are. The blessed man is one whose delight is in the law of the Lord. One who delights in the Scriptures. There is so much delight that it is what the blessed man sets his mind and heart on all day and night.
Lord, I ask for this kind of delight in your Word. Fill me with your Spirit and teach my heart to walk in Word.
God, revive our hearts through the reading of your Word. Raise up a generation whose hearts are on fire for your teachings. Show us your glory.
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.
Blessed is the man
who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
nor stands in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
but his delight is in the law of the Lord,
and on his law he meditates day and night.
Psalm 1:1-2
Yielding Prayer
Lord, make this my life. Give a desire for your Word that cannot be quenched anywhere else. Let my life be blessed not by the things of this world, but by the Scriptures in my life.
Yielding Promise
And now, as I move into the day ahead, the Lord who loves me reminds me in Isaiah 40:8:
The grass withers, the flower fades,
but the word of our God will stand forever.
Isaiah 40:8
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.