P.R.A.Y
PAUSE
REJOICE & REFLECT
ASK
YIELD
Personal Worship
Today we are reminded that the way we handle our possessions reveals what our hearts treasure most.
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, you are the Good Father who hears your children and desires to draw near to them. I thank you for who you are. Meet with me now, fill me with your Spirit, and reveal to me what you want today.
I choose to rejoice, with all God’s people, in the powerful promise that God gives us in Psalm 73…
Whom have I in heaven but you?
And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.
My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
Psalm 73:25-26
As you read the passages below, ask the Lord to cause a word or phrase to stand out to you.
“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
“The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!
“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.
Matthew 6:19-24
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?”
“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
“The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!
“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.
Matthew 6:19-24
Jesus connects our treasure directly to our hearts because money and possessions have tremendous power to compete for our devotion. Giving helps loosen their hold by reminding us that our greatest treasure is not something we can accumulate on earth. Every tithe, offering, and act of generosity can become a declaration that Jesus is more valuable to us than what we possess. We cannot ultimately serve both God and money, so Jesus calls us to choose where our allegiance belongs. When Christ is our treasure, generosity becomes less about losing something and more about investing our lives in what will last forever.
Lord, I ask that you teach my heart what to treasure and let me see what I am treasuring right now.
Father, revive in me a greater love for Jesus than for anything this world can offer. Break the power of materialism and greed in my heart and in your church, and turn our hearts toward eternal treasure.
As I read the passage for the final time, I listen to 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?
“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
“The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!
“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.
Matthew 6:19-24
Yielding Prayer
Lord, you are my treasure. I surrender my money, possessions, plans, and security to you. Keep my heart from serving what I possess, and teach me to use everything you have entrusted to me for your kingdom and glory.
Yielding Promise
And now, as I move into the day ahead, the Lord who loves me reminds me in 1 Timothy 6…
As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy.
1 Timothy 6:17
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