PRAYER IS NOT AN EXERCISE. IT IS THE LIFE OF THE SAINT. OSWALD CHAMBERS, MY UTMOST FOR HIS HIGHEST

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Jerome Garrison
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1 TITLE & PASSAGE To Know God is to Pray. Matthew 6:5-13 As you begin this week s study, pray and ask God to open your eyes and heart to the truth that he wants you to hear and which he wants to take root in your life. Let s look at what prayer is, why we pray, and how we pray (with the Lord s Prayer and ACTS as a model). INTRODUCTION If someone were to ask you, How is your prayer life? how would you respond? We are all at different stages in our prayer life. Some might be thriving and experiencing a high level of connection with God through prayers. On the other end of the spectrum, others find life to be all-consuming, busy, and prayer takes a backseat. If we re honest, sometimes we are unsure if God hears us or if prayer even matters, so we don t attempt to cultivate a rich prayer life. Sometimes we are unsure of how to pray or what to pray. PRAYER IS NOT AN EXERCISE. IT IS THE LIFE OF THE SAINT. OSWALD CHAMBERS, MY UTMOST FOR HIS HIGHEST WHAT IS PRAYER? Prayer is intentional and honest communication with God. We seek, listen, cry out, praise, surrender, submit, rejoice, and worship. Prayer is not magic. Prayer is not reciting a list of demands. It s not a guarantee against suffering, or a means for getting our way. Prayer is a mystery, not a transaction. Through prayer we profess our need for God and our desire to Know Him. In Psalm 63, the psalmist beautifully demonstrates his need for God and his love for God. O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you. So I will bless you as long as I live; in your name I will lift up my hands. My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food, and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips. Psalm 63: 1, TWELVE MARKS STUDY

2 Prayer is confessing to God that we try to be independent and self-sufficient when we should be professing our dependence on him. Prayer is a spiritual discipline in the life of a follower. Prayer is our privilege, because we can have a personal encounter with God. WHY PRAY? We come to God in prayer for a variety of reasons: to worship him, to confess our sins and ask for forgiveness, to thank him for his blessings, to ask for things for ourselves (yes, praying for our needs is Biblical, too), and to pray for the needs of others. Most importantly, we pray to know him. A healthy, strong and close relationship is based on communication. We speak, we listen and we seek to understand (Matthew 7:7-11). Take a moment and think about a current relationship that is important to you. How would that relationship be impacted if you rarely, if ever, communicated? How would that relationship grow if one party only asked favors? It s the same in our relationship with God. The creator of the universe desires to have a healthy, strong, close relationship with us, and a key component of that close relationship is communication. We pray because Jesus is our example. Doesn t it strike you that Jesus was the closest to the Father and yet He still cultivated a consistent and intentional prayer life? Jesus had a lot of demands on his time, yet he was not too busy to pray. Are we? We pray because it is the will of God Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Thessalonians 5:16-18 When we pray we enter into intimate communication with God. We move away from independence and acknowledge our dependence on him. We give him glory, honor and praise, and we gain strength in the spirit. In his book, The Praying Life, Paul Miller states, Self-will closes the door to the spirit of prayer. Praying demonstrates our utter dependence on God. We pray to be aware of our sin and to confess our sins: Search me oh God and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts, and see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. - Psalm 139:23-24 When we pray earnestly to God, we experience transformation. Tim Keller, author of the book, Prayer: Experiencing Awe and Intimacy with God, says this: The infallible test of spiritual integrity, Jesus says, is your private prayer life. Many people will pray when they are required by cultural or social expectations, or perhaps by the anxiety caused by troubling circumstances. Those with a genuinely lived relationship with God as Father, however, will inwardly want to pray and therefore will pray even though nothing on the outside is pressing them to do so. They pursue it even during times of spiritual dryness, when there is no social or experiential payoff. Take a moment and re-read the bolded sentence. HOW DO WE PRAY? First let s highlight a couple of things that are necessary for an authentic prayer life. We must be in God s word. The Word is one of the 12 marks of a multiplying follower of Jesus. If we are strong in the word, we will be stronger in prayer. If we are weak in the word, we will be weak in prayer. What we think about God and what we believe about God has a direct impact on if we pray and how we pray. 2 PARK COMMUNITY CHURCH

3 Ask yourself: Do I believe God s promises in the Bible are true for my life? Do I trust God in all areas of my life? Do I need God? Do I pray like I need God? Am I in awe of God? Can I be honest, brutally honest, with God about my flaws and weaknesses? Earnestly Seeking God must be our primary motivator for prayer, or else prayer may become a series of requests we make without the desire to really know God. Am I seeking God or merely expecting an answer to my request? SO THEN, HOW SHOULD WE PRAY? Before you read the Lord s Prayer in the next paragraph, pray for God to give you a fresh revelation of Jesus s words. These verses below may have become so familiar to us that it can be easy overlook how Jesus is teaching us! Jesus gives his disciples a model of how to pray in Matthew 6:7-13: And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. Pray then like this: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. 10 Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us this day our daily bread, 12 and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Prayer is the open admission that without Christ we can do nothing. And prayer is the turning away from ourselves to God in the confidence that He will provide the help we need. Prayer humbles us as needy and exalts God as wealthy John Piper Prayer is a privilege. Prayer is a declaration of dependence. Prayer is a discipline. Prayer is an invitation. Prayer is the source for growth and perseverance in our spiritual lives. There are many ways to have a focused prayer time. You can pray the promises found in scripture. You can have a grocery list of prayer requests. You can have a journal and write out your prayers, You can pray individually, have a prayer partner, or pray in small groups. We need to pray! The Lord s Prayer gives us a great model of how to pray. Many also find the ACTS prayer model to be helpful. ADORATION. Worship God. Begin your time of prayer by adoring God and giving him praise and honor. Praise him for who he is and for his character. Remember Psalm 63:3: Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you. 3 TWELVE MARKS STUDY

4 CONFESSION. Get honest with God about your sin your thoughts, actions and behaviors that have not honored him and that have caused distance between you and God and between you and others. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9 THANKSGIVING. Verbalize your gratitude to God. What you re grateful for in your life and in the world around you. Remember 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18: Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. SUPPLICATION. Pray for your needs and for the needs of others; friends, family, co-workers, your pastors, missionaries, government leaders, persecuted Christians around the world, the city, and those who do not know Jesus. Consider the example of Colossians 1:9-10: And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. DON T PRAY WHEN YOU FEEL LIKE IT. HAVE AN APPOINTMENT WITH THE LORD AND KEEP IT. A MAN IS POWERFUL ON HIS KNEES. - CORRIE TEN BOOM QUESTIONS 1. What three words describe your prayer life right now? What did you learn from the preaching on prayer that could improve your prayer life? 2. As you reflect on this past week, how have you applied the last study on the word? What change has occurred in your life? 3. As individuals or as a small group, are you taken part in the Lenten Bible Reading challenge? How has God been teaching you through the Lenten reading? (example: redeemer.com/learn/resources_by_topic/lenten_devotionals/lent_day_1_the_dust) 4. What are common distractions that keep us from praying, or distract us while we are praying? List as many as you can. 5. Read Matthew 6:5. What are we told not to do? 6. Scripture is our best teacher on prayer. Read the following scripture passages and write down the promise it teaches about prayer. Hebrews 11:6 Psalm 34:4 1 John 1:9 4 PARK COMMUNITY CHURCH

5 7. Scripture also directs us how we should pray. Read the following passages and write the specific command we are given. Next to each, write one way you can apply that command in your personal prayer life. SCRIPTURE COMMAND/INSTRUCTION PERSONAL PRAYER LIFE APPLICATION ROMANS 12:12 PHILIPPIANS 4:6 MATTHEW 5:44 EPHESIANS 6:18 MARK 1:35 8. Read 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 and Colossians 4:2. How would you summarize each of these verses? When you think of your prayer list (past or present), where do you need steadfast praying and praying without ceasing? Do you have an example of God answering a steadfast or unceasing prayer? 9. Read the Lord s Prayer. Matthew 6:7-14. And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. Pray then like this: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day 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. 5 TWELVE MARKS STUDY

6 a. Underline what we are told not to do. What are examples of how we can do that today? b. Circle who we pray to and how they are to be addressed. What does it mean to be hallowed? What are synonyms for hallowed? c. Put a box around the specific items we are instructed to pray for. What are specific examples in your life for each of these? Following the example of the Lord s Prayer, write your prayer for today. And pray that prayer for the next several days. PERSONAL APPLICATION 10. From the study, what did you learn on why we pray and how we can pray that you can put into practice this week? Be specific. 11. What is the best time and location, free from distractions, for you to cultivate a deeper prayer life? 12. As you review our XII marks that we ve studied so far Love, Follow, Word, and Pray what is one specific mark where you would like to prayerfully see God bring growth and transformation in your life? Be specific. What verse encourages (or challenges) you as you pray this prayer? Set up this prayer as your daily reminder in Echo Prayer. 13. What action steps do you need to put into place as you work toward this prayer goal? For example, if your goal is scheduling time in prayer, why not add that to your daily calendar right now? Or if it s accountability, who can you ask for accountability? Send the text today! SMALL GROUP APPLICATION 14. What is a current strength of the prayer requests and prayer time in your small group? What are specific areas your small group could improve in the depth of prayer requests shared and the time devoted to prayer in small group? 15. How can prayer requests be shared to be God-focused (vs me-focused ) and expectant for Gospel transformation? (For example, rather than Pray for my job and my time in the word, the prayer request would be Pray for my attitude during a stressful season at work, and that I would be disciplined to wake up and spend time in the word and prayer, applying that through the day.) 16. What, if any, adjustment to your small group time that needs to be made so that dedicated time is spent in prayer? 6 PARK COMMUNITY CHURCH

7 17. As a small group, put this lesson into practice, spending Minutes praying in your small group using the ACTS model of prayer. Rather than spending time giving updates and prayer requests, lift those up during the appropriate time of adoration, confession, thanksgiving, or supplication. As you pray, pray scripture in each of the areas, as appropriate. ADORATION. Worship God. Begin your time of prayer by adoring God and giving him praise and honor. Praise him for who he is and for his character. Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you. Psalm 63:3 CONFESSION. Get honest with God about your sin thoughts, actions and behaviors that have not honored him and that have caused distance between you and God and between you and others. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9 THANKSGIVING. Verbalize your gratitude to God. What you re grateful for in your life and in the world around you. Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 SUPPLICATION. Pray for your needs and for the needs of others; friends, family, co-workers, your pastors, missionaries, government leaders, persecuted Christians around the world, the city, and those who do not know Jesus. For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. Colossians 1:9-10 FOLLOW-UP Memorize Matthew 6:9-13: Pray then like this: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day 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. ADDITIONAL RESOURCES BLOGS & ARTICLES: 10 Question on Prayer with Tim Keller. (desiringgod.org/blog/posts/10-questions-on-prayer-with-tim-keller) Praying Scripture. (cdn.desiringgod.org/pdf/blog/3183_twwy_3rd%20edition_online%20version.pdf ) 31 Days of Prayer for your Child. (lifeway.com/lwc/files/lwcf_kids_31_days_prayer.pdf?emid=95) 31 Days of Prayer for your Spouse. (familymatters.net/blog/2014/01/01/31-days-of-prayer-for-your-spouse-day-1-love/) BOOKS: Tim Keller, Prayer Bill Hybels, Too Busy Not to Pray Stormie Omartian, The Power of a Praying Woman 7 TWELVE MARKS STUDY

A Prayer Triad: Prayer In Community

A Prayer Triad: Prayer In Community What is a Prayer Triad? A prayer triad is a group of three people who meet on a regular basis to pray together for each others spiritual burdens, needs and struggles,