Matthew – Chapter 7:7-11
Read Matthew 7:7-11 and your notes from Sunday morning’s sermon.
Intro: Prayer is a central practice in Christianity and something we probably all have experience with. As Christians, we often speak about the power of prayer. We ask for prayer from our brothers and sisters in Christ. We often tell each other in response to hearing of a difficult situation: “I’m praying for you.” But do we believe that God answers our prayers and the prayers of others? Jesus sheds light on the effectiveness of prayer in these verses. Jesus gives us three different ways of looking at prayer. Each example emphasizes the need for continuous action on our part and the result is always an answer to prayer.
- Ask and it will be given
- Seek and you will find
- Knock and the door will be opened
In verses 9-11 (The story of the son asking his parent for food) Jesus brings home the idea that even though we are sinful, God still wants to give us good gifts. He shares the beautiful truth that God gives to those who ask Him. He provides for our needs when we pray.
Questions:
- Are you ever tempted to doubt this truth, that God gives when we ask? Why?
- Read 1 John 5:14-15. What else do we learn about prayer from this passage? (ie: faith, His will)
- What do you spend the most time talking with God about?
Feel free to discuss or ask additional questions as they arise
Spiritual Practice:
We are in our second week of practicing the spiritual discipline of prayer. Last week, we learned that there are 4 main types of prayer (as defined in John Mark Comer’s book, Practicing the Way.) As a reminder, our goal is to learn to set aside time to intentionally be with God and that as a result, we will walk closer to God in our daily lives. Each type of prayer is important as we develop our relationship with God over time. This week we will look at the first type of prayer.
Talking to God – praying premade prayers like the psalms or liturgy, or singing prayers at church, and so on.
Read Luke 11:1-4. The disciples ask Jesus to teach them how to pray, and he gives them an example of what to pray and how to pray – in other words he is giving us a theology on prayer. I encourage you to dive into this short scripture on your own and see what truths you can attain from this premade prayer. Today I just want you to view this as an example of a memorized or premade prayer. Jesus says “when you pray, say this…”
This is what is meant by talking to God. Praying a prayer that someone else created for followers of Jesus across the world to pray. Lets look at other examples:
- The lords prayer for example was prayed 3 times a day by the first christians.
- The psalms, most of which were written to be prayed.
- Praying scripture back to God
- Singing worship music to God.
- Formal Liturgy – Often practiced by catholics and other historical streams of the church. (One example is The book of Common Prayer.)
- Prayer Apps on our phones
These are all examples of premade prayers. All are helpful when we are first learning (or re-learning) to pray, but also in other situations like when you find yourself falling out of your normal prayer rhythms, or when you are exhausted and can’t focus, when your’e in a demanding season of life, when you are sick, when you need help finding the right words to say, or when you just don’t feel God’s presence. The applications are truly endless.
This week, begin to find your own intentional daily prayer rhythm. Bring the same request to God that disciples brought Jesus: “Lord, teach me to Pray.”
Additionally, you may like to try saying a premade prayer to God each day. You can use the Lords’s prayer, a psalm, or even research to find a different pre-made prayer. Because this type of prayer can sometimes feel inauthentic It is important to slow down during this time and really focus on opening our hearts to God and bringing our hearts intentions to Him even when the words are not our own. Remember that when you are praying these premade prayers you are adding your voice to millions around the world and through history.
Next week we will talk about Talking with God.
Closing Verse: Psalm 116:1-2 – I love the Lord, for he heard my voice; he heard my cry for mercy. Because he turned his ear to me, I will call on him as long as I live.
Recent Comments