A Way to P.R.A.Y.

I have shared with you before that I incorporate an app on my phone “Lectio 365” into my prayer and devotional life. You can also access this resource online at www.24-7prayer.com.

Lectio is the Latin word for “reading,” and the app incorporates scripture readings into daily prayers for both morning and evening. It also refers to a spiritual practice called “lectio divina,” which means “holy reading” or “sacred reading.”

I like the way the app sets up the daily readings and prayers. It uses the acronym P.R.A.Y. I have come to enjoy using this acronym in my prayer practice more generally, and I commend it to you for your consideration.

P stands for “pause.” It’s about pressing pause in our often busy and stressful lives, whether we’re just getting up in the morning or getting ready to go to bed or somewhere in between. It’s about putting aside your phone for a moment (even if you’re on your phone accessing the prayer guide), closing your eyes, taking a deep breath or two, and being still and simply being. It’s about recentering ourselves and putting ourselves in a posture of readiness to receive what the Lord would open to us.

R stands for a couple of things in the app, but I like the word “reflect.” It’s about reflecting on a passage of scripture. You can read the scriptures that are suggested in the app. You may have another reading plan you are following. There are several reading plans in the Bible app of various lengths that you can start any time. I’m following the “Read through the Bible in a Year” plan that our conference has suggested (https://www.holston.org/readtogether).

But whatever the scripture, read it reflectively. Maybe that means reading it aloud. Or a couple of times, or three. Or in a different version. Or maybe even in a different language. Ask yourself what words or images stand out in your mind. Is there something in this passage that speaks to you in some way? That comforts you. Convicts you. Inspires you.

A stands for “ask.” Ask of the Lord what you feel you need, what you feel you are lacking. Ask for yourself. Ask for someone else, someone you know and love. Ask for a stranger. Maybe your ask will be inspired by your reflection on the scripture passage. Maybe it will be inspired by something happening in your own heart and life. Maybe it will be inspired by something happening in your family, your congregation or community, or in the world. However it is inspired, ask—simply, clearly, confidently—trusting that the Lord is listening.

Y is “yield.” Like the triangular traffic sign, to yield is to let another have their way. It’s the phrase of the Lord’s Prayer: “thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” It’s the prayer of Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane: “not my will, but thine be done.” For me, this can be the hardest part of praying. But I’ve found that it can lead us into the very heart of what faith is—trusting that, come what may, God is always at work for our good and for God’s glory.