Tuesday - Pray Like This

Welcome to daily prayer.  This week we are focusing on the first priority and petition that Jesus taught us to pray: “Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.” This is about relationship. This is about trust and honor. We are his children and we are asking the Father to reveal himself in us and through us. Today we are looking at how hallowing God’s name flows from trusting him.

Each day we will simply pray P.R.A.Y. together:

P. Pausing to be with him and praise him. 

R-reading Scripture and rejoicing in God’s goodness and greatness.

A-acknowledging our needs and asking God to help us and others. 

Y-Yielding to God and saying Yes to God’s ways

Pause and Praise 

As we begin our time together, let’s remember that God is with us. Let’s quiet our hearts and minds before the Lord.

Lord, you have my heart. I surrender everything to you. 

I wait for you. 

Holy Spirit, open our eyes to see and our ears to hear. 

O Lord, open my lips and my mouth will declare your praise (Psalm 51:15). 

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. 

Father, today we praise you as the Rock Eternal. You are honored when you are trusted. We praise you that while everything else in this world shakes and changes, you never change. 

You are above all things exalted in heaven and you are the steady rock upholding us.

A Scripture Reading from Isaiah 26:3–4, 8–9:

“You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord himself, is the Rock eternal. Yes, Lord, walking in the way of your laws, we wait for you; your name and renown are the desire of our hearts. My soul yearns for you in the night; in the morning my spirit longs for you.”

A Time to Rejoice in the Lord:

Father, I rejoice that you are faithful and constant. You give perfect peace to those who trust in you. We don’t have to worry or be afraid because you are with us.

You are the anchor for my soul. Only you can satisfy. 

Father, make yourself known. Reveal who you are. 

You are worthy of all of our trust and all of our whole lives. 

I rejoice that when the nights are dark and when the morning feels heavy, you are a refuge. 

Lord, cause your goodness and glory to be known. 

A Time to Acknowledge and Ask:

Father, I acknowledge that my mind is often scattered and anxious and not fixed on you.

I confess that I allow my attention to be hijacked by the worries of this world and the desire for other things. Forgive me, Lord. 

I want to join with your Word and say, “you name and renowned are the desire of my heart.”

 It’s my desire to pray and mean that Lord. 

I admit that I often desire comfort, control, and personal validation more than for your name and renown to be known. I have walked in the way of my own desires rather than waiting for you and living for your name’s sake. 

Forgive me Lord and renew a right spirit within me. 

I open my heart and ask for a great revelation of who you are.  

Let's ask the Lord for help:

Father, today I ask that you would steady my mind. Give me an undivided heart that fears your name. Give me a steadfast gaze to look on your goodness. Lord would you reorder my deepest desires so that your reputation matters more to me than my comfort.

Lord, fill me with a holy longing for your presence in the night and a fresh longing for your glory everyday. 

Protect me from a shallow surface way of living, and help everyone in our church family to walk in your ways so that people see our faith and love and glorify you. Help us to honor your name by waiting on you with faith, living our lives with love and resting in your peace. 

As we listen to the passage again, let’s quiet our souls and listen for a specific word or phrase that the Holy Spirit may want to impress on our hearts today:

“You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord himself, is the Rock eternal. Yes, Lord, walking in the way of your laws, we wait for you; your name and renown are the desire of our hearts. My soul yearns for you in the night; in the morning my spirit longs for you.”

Yield and Say Yes:

Father, I say YES to your name and renown being the desire of my heart today. I give you my attention, my heart, and my allegiance.

I reject and renounce the lie that I can find peace apart from complete surrender to you. 

I yield my anxious thoughts and striving, and I choose to fix my mind on you. 

Lord, I trust in you and I rest my life upon you as the Rock of Ages.

Lord, fill us with your love. Help us to love you and to love and see others the way you do. Give us grace and courage to do what you say for the glory of your name.

Let’s finish by praying the Lord’s Prayer together: 

"Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, 

your kingdom come,

your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread. 

And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever. Amen."

*Special thanks to our friends at 24/7 Prayer and Lectio 365 for the outline P.R.A.Y.