Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Luke 11 - P.R.A.Y?

Maybe you've heard or read or practiced the P.R.A.Y. model of prayer. If not, it is a model that gives some guidelines on how to talk to God. It goes like this:

P - Praise. Tell God how great he is.
R - Repent. Admit the stuff you've done wrong to God and turn from it.
A - Ask. Let God know what you want for yourself and others.
Y - Yield. Relax, be quite and listen for God's response to your prayer.

If we look at this model in relation to Jesus example of prayer in Luke 11:2-4, what do we find?

P - "Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come"
R - "Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us"
A - "Give us each day our daily bread." "And lead us not into temptation"
Y - ?

Okay, How about Matthew 6:9-13?

P - "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come your will be done on earth as it is in heaven."
R - "Forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors."
A - "Give us today our daily bread." "And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one."
Y - ?

I'm not seeing Y as modeled specifically in prayer.
Have we added Y to prayer as an expedient to making this more like a conversation?
Do any of you practice this model regularly and if so, how does the Y part go for you?
Have we added Y to prayer because it is easier to do it there than in the rest of our lives?

Personally, I've never had an experience where I've prayed and heard God speak (or move or influence or prod) specifically when I yielded. Instead, His voice has reached me when I've yielded in other parts of my life.

So, I'm yielding now (Not to God, but to you) so I want to hear your voice. What do you think about this?

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