P.R.A.Y
PAUSE
REJOICE & REFLECT
ASK
YIELD
Personal Worship
This week our focus is on our kids and their relationships with others!
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, as I begin my week I remind myself that I am yours. I will wear many different hats this week based on my roles in this life, but underneath all of that is the truth that I am your child. My identity is secure and my future is certain. My performance doesn’t change the love you have for me. You died on the cross and set me free from the opinions of others. Let me live in that freedom today.
I choose to rejoice, with all God’s people, in the powerful promise that God gives us in Ephesians 1…
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.
Ephesians 1:3:10
As you read the passages below, ask the Lord to cause a word or phrase to stand out to you.
Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise,
but the companion of fools will suffer harm.
Proverbs 13:20
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?”
Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise,
but the companion of fools will suffer harm.
Proverbs 13:20
We end this series focused on our kids and the other people around them. We know we are not raising kids in a vacuum, but others have influence on them. Our desire for our children is that those influences lead them to Jesus day in and day out. We begin in Proverbs this week. Proverbs is all about acquiring wisdom. Wisdom isn’t defined by an IQ test, but wisdom is skill in living. Wisdom needs to be taught from one generation to another. Wisdom has a lot to say about friendship and the influences we surround ourselves with. Proverbs 13:20 is pretty cut and dry. We are influenced and in many ways become like those we spend our time with. Teaching this lesson to our kids before they learn it the hard way should be on our minds and hearts.
Lord, I ask that you give me wisdom and pour out your wisdom on the coming generation.
Lord Jesus, center me in you today. Teach me what it means for me to “live is Christ.” Give me courage to honor you in my body in whatever you bring to me, and I specifically ask you to live through me, bringing your power, strength and love, in the following events of my day…
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?
Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise,
but the companion of fools will suffer harm.
Proverbs 13:20
Yielding Prayer
Lord, give me the courage to obey you and seek after wisdom. Let my life be filled with a community that takes me towards Jesus and not away from him. Give me a heart to pour this kind of wisdom into the next generation. 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 Lamentations 3…
The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;
his mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
Lamentations 3:22-23
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.