Friday, March 6th

P.R.A.Y.- Pause, Rejoice, Ask, Yield.

Yield. Or we can call it surrender, surrender to his presence, his holiness, and his power. We surrender in silence, listening to his truth, maybe it is meditating on a passage. Listening to his will, “God, what do you have for me in this?” It can be through a time of confession, where you know your life is lining up with his desire, will, or kingdom. It can also be trusting in his power, especially in relation to spiritual warfare (Ephesians 6).

Psalm 62:5-7- 5 Yes, my soul, find rest in God; my hope comes from him. 6 Truly he is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will not be shaken. 7 My salvation and my honor depend on God; he is my mighty rock, my refuge.

Psalm 139:23-24- 23 Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. 24 See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
Where do you need to yield to God today? As he searches your heart, what needs to be tended to?

A great visual of this is the practice of palms down, palms up. Palms down is laying down of all that you are carrying, your anxious thoughts, confusion, doubts, insecurities, lies, control. Palms up is asking and trusting Jesus for His peace, His courage, His presence, His love or His direct action, in place of the worry, concern, anticipation or request that you had just released.

I know this isn’t a complete guide to the essentials of prayer. It is something to get you started and give you direction. If you want to take more steps in prayer, I encourage you to come to a “Time of Prayer” 1st and 3rd Thursdays at 6:30PM. Also encourage you to check out this prayer resource, prayercourse.org.

My desire is that we aren’t just a church that prays, but that we are a praying church. Which means, let us not simple be a people that pray, but be men and women of prayer.
Tanya Godsey shares it pointedly. "I believe, in this moment in our world, God is looking for a people who know how to return to the purity, the power, and the safety of His relational heart — one repentant confession, one hungry cry, one humble prayer…one day at a time. May we be the generation that answers “yes” to this holy return."