03-08-2020
Dr. E. Dale Locke, Rev. Trevor Johnston, Pastor Efrain Silva
Sermon Series: How to Pray, A Simple Guide for Normal People
Week 1: Mythbusters
English PDF file for printing.
Para imprimir el archivo PDF en Español.
1. Share your memories of the phone you had in your childhood home before cell phones became common.
2. Begin learning the memory verse for this sermon series: Luke 11:1 – “One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, ‘Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.’”
3. We’re in the season of Lent, the 40 days (plus Sundays) leading up to Easter when Christians make an extra effort to remember what Jesus did for us on the cross. We suggest you use our Prayer Walk on the West Campus to reflect on Jesus’ sacrifice for you. It’s a great thing to do with your family or small group and then discuss your thoughts over a picnic meal at the tables under a pavilion at the end of the pathway in the woods.
What are you doing this year during Lent to remember Jesus’ sacrifice?
This series is based on the book by Pete Greig, How to Pray, A Simple Guide for Normal People. This would be a great book to read during Lent.
4. Read what Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes 3:11: “He [God] has also set eternity in the human heart.” What do you think Solomon meant by this?
5. The Westminster Shorter Catechism states, “The chief end of humanity is to know God and enjoy Him forever.” How do you do this?
4 Myths regarding prayer:
Myth: Only a few people pray.
Truth: We all pray.
6. Discuss this myth and the corresponding truth. Why might someone assume that only a few people pray?
7. Why do so many people pray, even people who aren’t religious?
Myth: Only a few people actually know how to pray.
Truth: We all can learn more in this area.
8. What has been the most challenging aspect of prayer for you personally?
9. Name a person you know who seems to have a strong prayer life. What have you noticed about their prayer life?
10. Share about a positive experience you’ve had with praying.
Myth: Prayer always works if you do it right.
Truth: Even Jesus lived with unanswered prayer.
11. You may have heard someone pray in a way that sounded like God was a genie in a lamp who had no choice but to do their bidding. If so, describe how that felt. Why do some people do this?
12. If your prayer request is wrong, God may say, “No.” If the timing is wrong, God may say, “Slow.” If some things in your life aren’t in order, God may say, “Grow.” But ultimately all of this only works sometimes. Discuss each of these scenarios and how you’ve experienced it in your own prayer life.
13. Read about Jesus’ prayer in Matthew 26:39. “Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, ‘My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.’” Why wasn’t this prayer of Jesus answered?
Myth: God does whatever He wants whether we pray or not.
Truth: Prayer changes things.
14. Read James 4:2c: “You do not have because you do not ask God.” And read James 5:16b-18: “The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. Elijah was a human being, even as we are. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops.”
What do these verses teach about prayer?
15. Community of Hope will have a 24-7 Prayer Week from Sunday, April 5th – Sunday, April 12th. Mark your calendar for this, and remember to sign up for a time-slot to pray.
16. Close your group time by saying the Lord’s Prayer together.