P.R.A.Y
PAUSE
REJOICE & REFLECT
ASK
YIELD
Personal Worship
Jesus has an invitation for us today to come and rest.
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, I approach your throne today in total confidence. I come to you confidently in prayer, not in my own merit or worth, but the only confidence I have is that Jesus, your beloved Son, suffered and died on my behalf. His blood is my access to you and it’s in his name alone that I pray.
We choose to rejoice in the power of God’s Word, with all his people in Psalm 108:1-4:
1 My heart is steadfast, O God!
I will sing and make melody with all my being!
2 Awake, O harp and lyre!
I will awake the dawn!
3 I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples;
I will sing praises to you among the nations.
4 For your steadfast love is great above the heavens;
your faithfulness reaches to the clouds.
Psalm 108:1-4
Today we are reflecting on the words of Scripture in Matthew 11:25-30, where we read:
25 At that time Jesus declared, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; 26 yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. 27 All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. 28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
Matthew 11:25-30
Jesus reveals his heart to us in this passage and it may not be what you expect. Jesus describes his heart as gentle and lowly. That is astounding because he is also the Son of God whom all things were created to, through, and for. His heart is approachable and he is for us. He has an invitation for us today. He knows we labor and we are heavy ladened in this life and he wants to give us rest. He wants us to trade out a yoke of performance and living up to the status quo for a yoke that is easy and a burden that is light. We seek to find rest in so many other ways and the King of the universe is saying stop looking at all of those other things, because I have exactly what you desire. And he asks us today, “Will you seek to find rest in me?”
Jesus, I ask that you would let me experience your rest today. The burden I am carrying is heavy and I long for rest.
You are the God who moves. I ask that you would do exactly what you have done in every century throughout history. Move in your people. Awake the sleepers. Save the lost. Meet this world in a supernatural way that brings you all the glory. We are crying out for a broken and messy world that needs your love so desperately.
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.
25 At that time Jesus declared, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; 26 yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. 27 All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. 28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
Matthew 11:25-30
Yielding Prayer
Jesus, I need you today. I desire a rest that I can only find in you. Forgive me for all of the other places I go and seek out rest when the only true rest is found in you. I hand over all of my burdens to you now and I ask that you would let me experience a yoke that is easy and a burden that is light.
Yielding Promise
And now, as I move into the day ahead, the Lord who loves me reminds me in James 4:8:
Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.
James 4:8
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.