P.R.A.Y
PAUSE
REJOICE & REFLECT
ASK
YIELD
Personal Worship
This week, we begin a new series titled, “The Questions God Asks”. We expend a lot of energy asking God questions and demanding answers back. Why did this happen? Should I take this job? Why is my child going through this? All valid questions and all questions we can and should take to God. We spend less time and energy studying the questions God asks in Scripture. Throughout the series we want to meditate on these questions and the stories around them. Pray that God would reveal his character and his desire to be in a relationship with a fallen humanity. Pray that God would show us who we are in light of the questions that he asks and to be honest with ourselves. This is why the series is called “The Questions God Asks” and not “The Questions God Asked” because we believe these questions still transform the lives of his people today.
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 promises that you give more grace. I ask for more grace today. Let my broken heart receive more grace for my sins. In a world full of comparison let my doubtful heart experience more grace. Let my fearful heart receive more grace and fill me with your strength. Let me see your face today. Speak to me now as I listen for what you have for me.
I choose to rejoice, with all God’s people, in the powerful promise that God gives us in Psalm 111…
Praise the Lord!
I will thank the Lord with all my heart
as I meet with his godly people.
How amazing are the deeds of the Lord!
All who delight in him should ponder them.
Everything he does reveals his glory and majesty.
His righteousness never fails.
He causes us to remember his wonderful works.
How gracious and merciful is our Lord!
He gives food to those who fear him;
he always remembers his covenant.
He has shown his great power to his people
by giving them the lands of other nations.
All he does is just and good,
and all his commandments are trustworthy.
They are forever true,
to be obeyed faithfully and with integrity.
He has paid a full ransom for his people.
He has guaranteed his covenant with them forever.
What a holy, awe-inspiring name he has!
Fear of the Lord is the foundation of true wisdom.
All who obey his commandments will grow in wisdom.
Psalm 111
As you read the passages below, ask the Lord to cause a word or phrase to stand out to you.
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.
And God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” And God made the expanse and separated the waters that were under the expanse from the waters that were above the expanse. And it was so. And God called the expanse Heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day.
Genesis 1:1-8
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?”
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.
And God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” And God made the expanse and separated the waters that were under the expanse from the waters that were above the expanse. And it was so. And God called the expanse Heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day.
Genesis 1:1-8
We begin this series by going back to the very beginning where God not only acts by creating, but he shows us who he is. Moses didn’t give us Genesis as a science textbook as much as some of us would have liked that. He gave us not just a description of what was created but shows us who the Creator is. God is a God who brings order to chaos. He is the God who chose to create. There was no need for him to create to fill some missing void. We also see that he is a God of resurrection. If I asked you to tell me about your day you would begin at the beginning and not the end. It is odd that Moses says, “And there was evening and there was morning,..”. This is not a mistake. Nighttime and sleep all throughout the Bible are related to death. At the same time, morning and awakening are related to resurrection. And we see that motif here. God from the very outset is showing us that he is a God of resurrection power.
God, I ask that you show me who you are. Show me that you are the Creator of all things.
Our Father, we thank you that we, as your church, are being built into a temple, a spiritual house. This picture given to us in scripture calls us to an increased awareness of your very presence among us as we meet. Lord, I pray now for the members of Rio, build us into this spiritual house where our sacrifices are acceptable to you. Let us experience your great presence as we meet together. Is there something you would say to me about this now…
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?
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.
And God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” And God made the expanse and separated the waters that were under the expanse from the waters that were above the expanse. And it was so. And God called the expanse Heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day.
Genesis 1:1-8
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 2 Corinthians 5…
For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
2 Corinthians 5:21
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.