Lesson 28: Disciples Pray and Praise Together

What we want students to learn: That embracing Christian community means being a part of a group that prays and praises together.

What we want students to do with what they’ve learned: To commit to increasing the practices of prayer and praise with their community of fellow Christ-followers.

Scripture Focus:

Ephesians 5:15-21 “15 Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. 18 Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, 19 speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, 20 always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. 21 Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.”

Acts 1:14 “14 They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.”

Overview: If you asked your students whether Christ-followers are supposed to pray and to offer praise and thanks to God, you probably wouldn’t have a single person push back in any way. The overwhelming majority of Christian teenagers realize that prayer and praise are essential aspects of their faith lives. But how many of them see corporate prayer and praise in the same way?

Is praying with your Christians friends is important to them? How about praising God together? Most of your students probably don’t see these actions as vital to their lives as Christ-followers. And yet, Scripture makes it clear that these are important.

We often come to Scripture looking through an individualistic lens. However, many of Paul’s letters were written to entire church congregations to inspire them to pursue God together. Ephesians is one of those letters. The point of Ephesians was to move the entire church together toward the thoughts Paul outlines. In Ephesians 5, Paul uses the idea of our “walk” relating to the way that we are to live our Christian lives (5:1-2). In this lesson, we will look at Ephesians 5:15-21, where it becomes apparent this Christian “walk” is not solitary, but involves others. Specifically, Paul draws out the idea of worshipping together.

We’ll also look at Acts 1:14. Just after Jesus had ascended to heaven, the disciples were huddled together in obedience to Jesus’ command to stay Jerusalem until they received the Holy Spirit. What was the first order of business for the small group of believers who would carry the name of Jesus to the ends of the earth? Prayer. Prayer together was their first priority.

The Main Point

The Christian life was never meant to be limited to a walk alone with God. It was meant to be a march alongside others as we pursue God together. From the early church in Acts, to the church at Ephesus, and all the way to the church of today, God wants us to pursue Him together with others. In this lesson, we will look at the early church in Acts and Paul’s words to the Ephesians to see how pursuing God is fleshed out in praising and praying together. In Ephesians 5:15-21, we will see how praising God together is crucial if we want to gain the other benefits of Christian community. We will also look at Acts 1:14 to see the early church’s example of praying together as a first priority. This lesson will show students how praising together and praying together is part of what binds together Christian community, and helps us grow as disciples of Jesus.

The Strength of the pencils is not in their individual make up, but in being bound together. Likewise, much of our strength as disciples comes from being together with other disciples. We need each other.

In addition, if enough of us disperse and don’t stick together, we make the entire gathering weaker. So we need to stick together. Here is the question: “What are the things that we can do with one another that bind us together as a Christian community?”

The lesson today is all about the value of praising and praying together as a Christian community. Our praise and prayers help bind us together. By praising God and praying to God together, we get close to one another so that we can enjoy all the benefits of the Christian community as we seek to grow as disciples.

We are going to talk about two practices that we can do together that help bind us together as a Christian community: praising together and praying together. As we looked at in Acts 2 earlier in this series of lessons, we see both of these practices on display in the earliest church.

At the very beginning of the church and the movement of Christianity, we see these Christ-followers praying and praising God together. Nearly 2000 years later, as we all continue on our journey to grow as disciples of Jesus, these two things are just as essential for our Christian community.

FIRST, read or have a student read Ephesians 5:15-17. Remember that when Paul was writing this message, it was to a church and not to an individual. So when Paul says we should “look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise” this is something that our Christian community can help us do. Ask:

What are some of the other things mentioned in this passage that the Christian community could help us do?

Answers: Avoiding foolishness, understanding the will of the Lord, etc.

Explain that as you have been discussing these last few weeks, our Christian community can help us in many ways to grow as a disciple. However, in order to benefit from the Christian community, we must take steps to stay close to one another. Remind students that as you continue moving through this passage, you will see one of the things that keeps us close and growing together.

NEXT, read or have a student read Ephesians 5:18-21. Say something like:

One second, Paul is talking about walking with wisdom with one another, and now he is talking about getting drunk. At first glance, this seems a little odd, but can you “get” the point Paul is making?

What affect does it have on us when we are in step with God, especially the Holy Spirit’s leading?

Answers will vary. Help students see that when the Spirit leads us, our focus becomes God and the things that honor God. So it makes sense that Paul suggests that the Spirit will lead us to address others with “psalms and hymns and spiritual songs” (v. 19).

Paul says that the Spirit leads us to address others with “psalms and hymns and spiritual songs.” What does that mean exactly? Are we jumping into a weird church musical where we sing with one another instead of talking?

Answer: No… Thank goodness. Paul is talking about worshipping alongside each other as Christian do in churches all across the globe when they gather. It’s not a mistake or a recent invention that we sing when we are in church with each other. Our praises are an overflow of the Spirit working in each of our lives causing us to sing to God in one accord. We live with thankful hearts when praising God is our focus (v.20).

But why is praising and giving thanks together such a big deal?

Answers will vary. Allow students to answer as they will.

When we worship together under the Spirit’s leading, we are all focused on one thing: God. In this way, we drop our personal agendas and become more open to what God has for us, and more focused on living for the good of those around us. In fact, this leads us to submit to one another out of the reverence for God (v.21).

When each of you had your own ideas about which way to go, you got nowhere. However, when you were focused on one voice, you began to move with a lot more ease. The same thing is true in worship. When we worship together, we become focused on God and what He desires. We are also compelled to live humbly and for the good of others in the Christian community. Praising together in Spirit and truth is one of the essential things that binds us together in Christian community. It makes us thankful together and pushes us onward. We need to praise together so that we can keep moving forward together, and help one another in this discipleship journey. But praise isn’t the only practice that helps bind us together.

Read or have a student read Acts 1:14. This moment from Scripture happened shortly after Jesus had ascended to heaven.

What was the first step for the small group of believers who would carry the name of Jesus to the ends of the earth? Prayer. Prayer was their first priority. But this wasn’t everyone dispersing to have their own private quiet times (though time alone with God is important). They were “devoting themselves to prayer, together.”

Notice that in the first part of the verse it reads, “All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer.” The original language that the Bible was written in uses a word here that means “one mind, one accord, with one passion.” Their praying together contributed to them sticking together so they could launch out into the calling God had for them as disciples. Say something like:

We see these original disciples making it a priority to pray together. As they did so, they were united together in the cause and calling that God had placed on their lives. Prayer changes things, but it also changes us. By praying together with others, we become more focused on each other, more generous with one another, and more attuned to being used by God to help each other grow. Praying together helps us to be united in mind and passion.

This isn’t something that is optional about the Christian life. There is a lot at stake for those that fail to praise together and pray together with others in a Christian community. There are many students that leave for college or a career determined to keep their faith, but only make plans to pursue their faith alone. Eventually, their lack of connection with other believers in praise and prayer catches up to them, and deeply affects their growth as a disciple. We need each other in praise and prayer so that we can grow to the potential that God has for us as disciples!Goal: To help students take practical steps toward praising together and praying together in their discipleship journey.

Why is it such a big deal to come to church when we all gather together?

Answers may vary, but you are looking for students to connect back to the ideas that you have been talking about over the last few weeks, especially praising together and praying together.

What if you are not a good singer? Does that let you off the hook for praising God together? Why or why not?

The answer is no, but press students to think about why the quality of their vocal performance has nothing to do with singing heartfelt praises to God. This is a big deal for some students.

Why is it important that you keep praising together even when it may not be your favorite choice of psalms, hymns, or spiritual songs?

Answers may vary. Help students break out beyond personal preferences to understanding how praising together is more important than getting my preference.

What if you feel uncomfortable praying in front of others? How can we help each other be more comfortable about praying together?

Answers may vary. Help students think creatively about helping those who have fear of praying in front of others. If prayer is talking with God, then praying with each other is just talking to God together.

What is the next step that we need to take to make praising together and praying together a reality for our group?

Answers may vary. Encourage your students to be creative with this.

If praising together and praying together are crucial for our Christian community and our own journey to becoming mature disciples, then we need to be serious about committing to it as a group. We also need to be serious about encouraging this in our church worship gatherings. Often it is the students who help lead out a worshipful heart for the entire church. The results can be a revival within a local church. Let’s be students that God can use to spark something special in worship and prayer in our own church!