P.R.A.Y
PAUSE
REJOICE & REFLECT
ASK
YIELD
Personal Worship
Today, we turn from the patterns of our old life and remember together that in Christ we have been made new.
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
Jesus, you are above all things and everything in my life. I humbly come to your feet in worship. Remind me by the power of your Word of who you are, of who I am, and what you have called me to in this life. Fill me with a desire to behold you now.
I choose to rejoice, with all God’s people, in the powerful promise that God gives us in Psalm 32…
Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, O righteous,
and shout for joy, all you upright in heart!
Psalm 32:11
As you read the passages below, ask the Lord to cause a word or phrase to stand out to you.
Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming. In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all.
Colossians 3:5-11
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?”
Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming. In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all.
Colossians 3:5-11
Because we belong to Jesus, we are no longer called to live according to the desires and patterns that once defined us. Paul invites us to put to death what belongs to our old nature and to put away anger, dishonesty, and destructive speech. This transformation is more than behavior modification; we are being renewed into the image of our Creator. In Christ, the labels and divisions that once separated us no longer determine our identity or our worth. Together, we can live today as people who have taken off the old self and are continually being made new in Jesus.
Lord, break me of all that does not come from you, and by the power of your Spirit free me from the footholds of sin that are a part of my life.
Lord, revive our hearts and expose anything within us that does not reflect Jesus. Give us a fresh desire for holiness and renew us more fully into the image of Christ.
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?
Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming. In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all.
Colossians 3:5-11
Yielding Prayer
Father, I surrender the habits, desires, attitudes, and words that belong to my old life. Give me the strength of your Spirit to put them away and to walk today as the new person you are forming me to be.
Yielding Promise
And now, as I move into the day ahead, the Lord who loves me reminds me in 2 Corinthians 5…
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
2 Corinthians 5:17
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