Topic for this week: Prayer
Below are 10 Items to use throughout the week for your Spiritual Growth. Feel free to pick the items that connect you to God the best.
Bible Dialogue
On a typical day, when are you likely to pray?
Read 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.
Who taught you to pray?
- Nobody
- I’ve picked up little things here and there
- My parents taught me this while I was growing up
- Jesus
- I had to teach myself
- Someone at church
- Someone at school
- I could use some help
- Other
What part of “The Lord’s Prayer” is your favorite?
- Our Father, who art 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
- Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors
- Lead us not into temptation
- Deliver us from evil
- Yours is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever
- Amen
- Other
What happens when you pray? When you pray “The Lord’s Prayer”?
- Nothing
- Something
- Everything
- I feel like I’m doing Matthew 6:7-8
- I’m more concerned about saying the right words than their meaning
- It’s just a habit
- I don’t really know The Lord’s Prayer
- It seems like I’m praying the way Jesus wants me to pray
- Other.
What part of “The Lord’s Prayer” is your favorite?
- Asking God to forgive you
- Debt – you owe something, such as _______________
- You must forgive someone else
- Someone else owes you something, such as _______________
- A request for God to forgive you the same amount you forgive others
- Unconditional forgiveness—God will forgive you no matter what
- A change of heart
- Other
Why did Jesus tell us to pray, “Lead us not into temptation”?
- Jesus doesn’t want us to be tempted
- We don’t want to be tempted
- It keeps Satan and his temptations a long way from us
- This asks for way for us to not give in to temptation
- Sometimes God tests us, and we think it’s God tempting us
- Temptation is a big, big problem
- This was just for Bible times, not for today
- It makes me wonder if God would ever lead us into temptation
- Other
How satisfied are you with your prayer in your life?
When is prayer important to you?
Prayer Experiences
- Pick a phrase or portion of The Lord’s Prayer found in Matthew 6:9-13.
- Say it silently in your mind. Say it out loud. Think about it slowly.
- Ask God to deepen your understanding and your experience of that part of The Lord’s Prayer.
- Imagine being one of the disciples who heard Jesus speak this the first time.
- Repeat it the phrase. Ask Jesus to tell you more.
- Listen for impressions from Him.
- Pray it again.
- Listen again.
Discussion Questions
- What do you want to say to God? How do you do that?
- What does God (want to) say to you? How does He do that?
- When does prayer become a conversation instead of one-way communication?
- When are you likely to pray?
- When are you likely to not pray?
- Do you do more talking or more listening when you pray?
- What is your posture in prayer?
- Are you more likely to pray with prayer prompts, journaling, or music?
- How can a person “pray without ceasing”? How is prayer like texting?
- Why do you pray (or not pray)?
Application Ideas
- Pray this prayer as you start the day. At the end of the day, reflect and see which portion(s) of the prayer were answered at some time during the day. Prayer the prayer again as a prayer of thanks as you go to bed.
- Write your own paraphrase of The Lord’s Prayer.
- Select a phrase you have prayed and put it into action so God answers the prayer through you. For example, “hallowed be thy name” means to honor God, specifically God’s name. What can you do (or not do) today to express or demonstrate honoring God’s name. One way is to say it with reverence. Another is to kneel before God and say what’s on your heart. Another is to speak about God as being great in a conversation with another person.
- Forgive another person for something they have done against you. Do it because that’s the right thing to do, because God has forgiven you for what you’ve done wrong, and do it because according to this prayer, you’ve asked God to forgive you the same amount you forgive others (forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors).
- Go on a “Prayer Walk.” This involves taking a stroll and paying attention to what you observe as you walk. Let that spark a prayer and pray it immediately. For example, you might see something of beauty as you walk, so thank God for that beauty. You might see a person in a vehicle or riding a bike, so pray for that stranger even if you don’t actually talk with the stranger. Pray for the people who live in a house as you walk by that house, even if you don’t personally know those people. Pray for the business you walk by, whether it’s open or closed. Pray for the pizza place and those who go in and those who deliver the pizza. You get the idea—pay attention and let what you observe spark prayers for you. You can do this without having a conversation with anyone but God, or you can choose to interact with others on your walk. Just tell them you’re doing a prayer walk and ask them if there is anything they’d like for you to pray about, and then pray aloud about that right then.
Sharing Options
- Pray this prayer with another person at some point during the day.
- Share with another person which part of this prayer is easy for you to understand and to live.
- Share with another person which part of this prayer is hard for you to understand and/or hard for you to live.
- Post the printout of this prayer someplace where you live and someplace where you spend most of your day.
- Take a copy of the printout and give it to someone else
- Ask somebody to share with you what they pray and what their prayer life is like.
- Post a prayer on your social media that is appropriate and helpful for that platform.
- Ask somebody to pray for you.
- Ask God to lead you to somebody with whom you can pray today. Then respond when God takes you to that person and pray right then for that person.
- Other: _____________________________
Bible in my Head, Heart, and Hand
- If you haven’t already done so, memorize “The Lord’s Prayer” from Matthew 6:9-13.
- You can post it on your refrigerator or on your bathroom mirror as a reminder and help as you memorize it.
- Download one of the copies we have posted, or do a google search or create your own. If this memory verse is too long for you right now, memorize just one part of it.
- Include it in your daily prayer and continue to add to it until you’ve memorized the entire prayer. If it’s already familiar, and maybe too familiar to you, memorize it in a different version.
Sing-a-Long
Enjoy the variety of music with the prayer theme. From our very own Duckett family to popular artists with their rendition of the Lord's Prayer