1-14-17 Prayer Class Fill-in
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Introduction
Last week, we were introduced to a couple who were struggling spiritually: Steve and Sarah. It used to be the case that they were faithful Christians who were active in the work of the congregation they were members of for so long. But over time, something changed. Their attendance became sporadic. Little by little, they withdrew themselves from God’s people, and after a while, they began worshipping on Sundays with another church that they felt “filled the emptiness” inside that they were feeling.
But then they were visited by one of their shepherds who were concerned for this couple (brother Davis). He wanted to do what he could to gently teach and encourage them to be faithful. He sympathized well with them. He understood their feelings. He had felt many of them in the past himself. But then he asked them if they were willing to make a deal with him. He offered them a challenge to try to get things turned around. He wanted to sit down with them for three months so he could study with them while they continued to come to worship with God’s people during that time. He wanted to study with them what had helped him when he in the past had felt like Steve and Sarah were.
He wanted to help them to do something important - to learn to really draw near to God in prayer. In my very limited experience, I have seen that this brother’s approach is a good one. Whenever it is the case that someone is not doing well spiritually or feel like something is just missing in their spiritual life, it is often the case that somewhere along the line they fell off the wagon in one of two areas - either spending time in scripture or in their prayer life.
And it was the case for these two that they were not praying and communicating with God as they should have been. They were not sustaining their relationship with God through prayer. So Sarah, wanting to try anything to get their spiritual life to burn hot again, agreed to study with brother Davis over the next three months. Steve agreed also, but he was a little more negative and skeptical about how their time together would turn out. But they set a day for their first study with brother Davis.
Lesson 1
So this brings us to lesson one on page 8 of our workbooks. It may be good for us to begin with a short overview of what is going on with Steve and Sarah leading up to the study they have with brother Davis on page 9.
Steve and Sarah keep their side of the commitment they made, although Steve is still pretty negative about it all in the first couple paragraphs, but then things change when he wakes up to see just how much his wife was struggling spiritually. He was also woken up to his own arrogance in thinking everything was alright and that they just needed a change of scenery to fix things, and he saw how he was making things more difficult for his wife who was struggling, so he put his heart into trying to make things right.
So this brings us up to the time they spent in study on page 9. What the author of our workbooks wants us to do at this point is to put ourselves into Steve and Sarah’s shoes and to look at the passages they are asked to look at and to interact with the comments and questions of their teacher. It is a neat approach.
THE CHALLENGE THAT BROTHER DAVIS GIVES: JUST PRAY IT!!!
Let’s look at each of the points of their study:
“16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” (, ESV)
Parallel: If I were to say, “I like jazz music, I listen to it all the time,” what would I mean? That I am listening to it secretly right now, even without you knowing?
hyperbole - exaggeration to prove a point…
Rejoice Always
The injunction Be joyful always is at first sight a little surprising coming from one who had had to suffer as much and as continually as Paul. But he learned that affliction and deep joy may go together (; ), and he rejoiced in tribulations (; ; cf. ; ). So he counsels perpetual rejoicing to a suffering church (cf. 1:6). The note of joy is often struck in his other letter to a Macedonian church, that to the Philippians (cf. ).
Pray without ceasing
“1 And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart.” (, ESV)
The point is, I believe: Keep on doing it. Don’t stop. Be persistent, even.
The point is: Keep on doing it. Don’t stop. Always be ready to do it because God is worthy and He wants us to be doing these things!
Give Thanks in All Circumstances
God is worthy of thanksgiving for everything He allows to happen in our lives. Whether things are good or bad, God needs be thanked because He is at work in our lives in some way (Rom 8:28).
In all of these points, we see that prayer needs to be part of our lives daily. It needs to become a habit. Something that we do because we just want to talk to God, even though we may not know everything there is to know about prayer, how it works, or how God answers. We should just desire to do it because we want to draw near to God.
Brother Davis then gives Steve and Sarah a few examples of what is teaching:
Example: Daniel in
How did Daniel demonstrate “praying without ceasing”?
Daily schedule of three times per day. He was so consistent in it that even his enemies knew that Daniel was a praying man and couldn’t be taken away from it.
How often did Daniel pray before the new law was put into place?
3x per day.
How do you think his daily schedule helped him to pray even when the law was put into place?
Yes, it gets you to do it no matter what. Habits are difficult to break. He was a man that could not go without praying to God.
Do you think having a prayer schedule is beneficial? Why or why not?
Definitely - Helps you be consistent.
What kind of prayer schedule do you have right now?
Try to pray at least once every day for about 15-30min
Example: Apostles in
“1 Now Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour.” (, ESV)
Why do you think Peter and John were going to pray together?
It was a Jewish custom for Jews to pray three times per day. Since they were in Jerusalem, they went to the temple together for this.
Do you think having someone to hold you accountable is a good thing?
Always, as long as the person actually holds you accountable. they need to follow up with you and ask questions about how you are doing.
Example: Jesus
- “35 And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed.” (, ESV)
- “23 And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone,” (, ESV)
- “12 In these days he went out to the mountain to pray, and all night he continued in prayer to God. 13 And when day came, he called his disciples and chose from them twelve, whom he named apostles:” (, ESV)
Preparing to choose His apostles.
- concerned that He would glorify God, prayed for His apostles, and prayed for all believers.
- “39 And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.”” (, ESV)
To devote Himself to God’s will
How does Jesus demonstrate praying without ceasing in all of this?
Frequent, various times and reasons.
If Jesus, God in the flesh, needed to pray like this, what does this mean about us and our prayer lives?
We need to pray like this more!
INSERT PRAYER CHALLENGE FROM TEXT
The Spirit’s Help in Prayer ???
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- “26 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. 27 And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.” (, ESV)
This is a challenging passage. The Spirit who dwells among us is helping in our prayers in some way. Exactly what He is doing, how He is doing it, or when he is doing this work - we don’t know. All we can do is speculate.
ADD QUESTIONS
Developing Our Prayer Habit
What is your prayer schedule going to be? When are you going to pray this week?
Three times per day every day (9-12-3) Meal prayer, praying with kiddos, etc.
What do you think Satan will use to hinder a consistent prayer schedule in your life?
Busyness with sermon prep, visits, studies & prep…
What plans and commitments can you make right now to keep from succumbing to Satan’s hindrances?
Put it on my calendar and resolve not to let anything take it’s place.
Who will you enlist as an accountability partner?
Laura, one of the elders or deacons
Why do some naturally avoid picking someone else to hold them accountable? How will you overcome these objections?
partner may let you down or share what you say with others
afraid to be open with someone
don’t want to share that we fail
What will you do with your accountability partner to help maintain your prayer commitments?
Things to pray about:
Prayer list in bulletin
Using scriptures in prayer (psalms & things I am studying)
Specific prayers for elders
Prayers for lost people I am working with