P.R.A.Y

PAUSE

REJOICE & REFLECT

ASK

YIELD

Personal Worship

We begin on series on the Book of 1 John titled “God is…”. The Apostle John will turn our attention back to who God is and who we are in light of that.

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.

Pause

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

O God, for you alone my soul waits in silence in this moment. I wait in your presence for my salvation comes from you and from you alone. You alone are my rock and my fortress. In you I place my trust. (Psalm 62:1-2) I ask that your Holy Spirit would fill me as I enter in.

Rejoice and Reflect

We choose to rejoice in the power of God’s Word, with all his people as we remember Jesus’ Incarnation in John 1:14-18…

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’”) For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.
John 1:14-18

Today, we reflect on the words of Scripture in 1 John 1:1-4, where we read:

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life— the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us— that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.
1 John 1:1-4

We begin our study in the Book of 1 John this week. 1 John was written by the Apostle John, the disciple whom Jesus loved, who also is the author of the Gospel of John. 1 John was written to a number of churches in the region as a reminder of what they believe. At some point in the life of these churches they got off track. New teachers came in and distorted the true gospel of Jesus that John was an eyewitness of. They sought to lead the people astray and break off from the churches that they were a part of.

1 John begins with what John hoped for these churches and for us today to see. That the truth of the gospel, the good news of Jesus, is based off of a historical reality. A reality which was seen and touched. This reality is the fact that the eternal Son of God Jesus Christ left heaven and came to earth in the flesh. He made himself manifest in a way that he could be seen and touched. He made himself a reality to the people. A reality that was witnessed by thousands. John, the author, now proclaims to use what he saw, so that we too with the help of the Holy Spirit can see the true and living Jesus who reigns from heaven in his glorified body.

This is our hope that the Spirit would work in us through this study. That we would see Jesus and that our beliefs about him would come directly from the proclamation of those who saw him. With those beliefs we will seek for our lives to match those in action.

Ask

Jesus, I ask that you would reveal yourself to me through your Word. That your Spirit would allow me to see you clearly for who you proclaimed yourself to be. That my beliefs would not be tainted by the ideas of this world or the culture that I now live in. Would your Spirit illuminate my heart right now to show me where I have not trusted your Word and allowed my beliefs to be shaped by another source?

Reflection Questions:
1) Where do my beliefs about Jesus come from?
2) Is there any beliefs in my life currently that do not stem directly from Scripture?

Lord, I praise you that you speak to your people today through your Word. That we do not worship a God who is absent in speaking, but we worship a God who has given us incredible access to what he has to say to us! I thank you for the generations that have faithfully proclaimed your Word throughout the ages that I have received because of their witness. I thank you for the men and women who have sacrificed their lives so that I can read your Scriptures. I praise you that your Word does not come back void in this world.

Yield

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…

Yielding Prayer

Jesus, I surrender my life to your Word. I go to it for life. I yield to its commands. I trust in its promises. I commit to its rebukes because I trust that it is from you. Store it it in my heart and make it a lamp unto my feet.

Yielding Promise

And now, as I move into the day ahead, the Lord who loves me reminds me in 2 Timothy 3:16-17…

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
2 Timothy 3:16-17

Closing Prayer

As I go from here, may I feel your love as my Father, your presence as my friend, and your mercy as my Savior. Fill me, Holy Spirit, that I may walk in step with what you would have for me today! Seal in me the truths declared from your Word. Teach my heart to bow before you as my Lord in every opportunity you give me today.