P.R.A.Y. - Penny Snowden

P.R.A.Y.

Pause

Reflect

Ask

Yield

Together we will pray (P.R.A.Y.) each day –

‘P’: PAUSING to be still.

‘R’: REJOICING with a Psalm and REFLECTING on a Scripture.

‘A’: ASKING God to help us and others and

‘Y’: YIELDING to His will in our lives, come what may.

Pause

As I enter prayer now, I pause to be still; to breathe slowly; to re-centre my scattered senses upon the presence of God.

Pause and pray

Prayer of Approach

Gracious Father, give me diligence to seek You, and wisdom to find You today. May my ears hear Your voice; my eyes see Your goodness; and my tongue proclaim Your name as I commit my life to pleasing You. (Adapted from a prayer by Benedict of Nursia)

Rejoice and Reflect

I choose to rejoice in God’s thoughtful care for everyone today, joining with the ancient praise of all God’s people in the words of Psalm 8...

When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers—

the moon and the stars you set in place—

what are mere mortals that you should think about them,

human beings that you should care for them?

Yet you made them only a little lower than God

and crowned them with glory and honor.

Psalm 8:3-5Today I am reflecting on God’s patient care for the exhausted prophet Elijah as God begins to lead him on a journey of recovery from the emotional trauma he has suffered.

The angel of the Lord came back a second time and touched him and said, ‘Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you.’ So he got up and ate and drank. Strengthened by that food, he travelled for forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God. There he went into a cave and spent the night.

There is a time for everything,’ the preacher says [Ecclesiastes 3:1]. There is a time to rest and there is a time to get up and go. Elijah is asleep; again. Feeling alone, afraid, and unqualified, he seems to have shut down. But God’s messenger wakes him a second time. ‘Get up and eat,’ he says, ‘you have a long road ahead of you.’ It will be a journey to a new face-to-face encounter with God.

Ask

Am I lying asleep when I should be preparing for a new challenge, a new journey, a fresh purpose?

Lord, teach me to be kind to myself when I need to rest, but help me be alert to Your voice calling me to ‘Get up and eat’. I know that the road is long; give me Your strength for the way.

Pause and pray

Lord, I pray for someone I know who needs God’s encouragement in the challenges of life they are facing. Awaken them from spiritual sleep into new hope and new possibilities.

Yield

As I return to the passage, I open my ears to hear Your Word, and my heart to yield to Your will once again.

The angel of the Lord came back a second time and touched him and said, ‘Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you.’ So he got up and ate and drank. Strengthened by that food, he travelled for forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God. There he went into a cave and spent the night.

1 Kings 19:7-9

Elijah’s 40 day journey through the wilderness to Horeb will take him to the very place where Moses had met with God 400 years before:

Elijah’s 40 day journey through the wilderness to Horeb will take him to the very place where Moses had met with God 400 years before: the place of the burning bush. This is a journey back into the roots of Elijah’s faith. It is a journey out to the lonely desert and a journey into his own soul.

Yielding Prayer

Lord, I yield myself to your way; the way of love, the way of Jesus. I yield myself to the journey ahead. ‘May I see you more clearly, love you more dearly, and follow you more nearly, day by day.’ (Prayer of Richard of Chichester)

Yielding Promise

And now, as I prepare to take this time of prayer into the coming day, the Lord who loves me says in the words of Isaiah:

Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, ‘This is the way; walk in it.’

Isaiah 30:21

Closing Prayer

Father, help me to live this day to the full,

being true to You, in every way.

Jesus, help me to give myself away to others,

being kind to everyone I meet.

Spirit, help me to love the lost,

proclaiming Christ in all I do and say.

Amen.