FEBRUARY 27
WHY PRAY?
Most of us pray. Even those of us unsure about God still pray, especially when we are in the midst of a crisis. Prayer can be a powerful experience in our lives, but we need to reframe how we view God. Prayer is not about telling God what to do. Prayer enables us to share our hearts with God and realign ourselves to who He is and what He has for us.
Work through the following questions and scriptures on your own, and get together with your running partner, life group, or friends and family to talk through what you are learning.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. How do you incorporate prayer into your life?
2. What stood out to you from the message?
3. Read Jeremiah 9:23-24.
a.) Make some observations about this passage (What does the text say):
• Who is talking? What is the circumstance?
• Any repeated phrases?
• What surprised you?
• What stood out to you?
b.) Make some interpretations (What does the passage mean)
• What questions do you have?
• Summarize the passage in 1-3 sentences – what are the main points?
• What do you learn about the nature and character of God as you read this?
• What do you learn about yourself or the world around you?
c.) Now make some applications (what’s my response)
• How do you respond to what you are reading?
• How could this apply to your life today?
• What is the central truth that you could put into practice from this?
• Who could you share this with for the sake of encouragement?
4. We were created in the image of God (Genesis 1:27). That means that we were created to reflect who God is to each other. We can only bear the image of God as we walk through life in loving connection with him. Do you live your life conforming God to your image or do you seek to reflect Him in all you are and do?
5. God wants a relationship with you. One where you talk to him about your highs and lows. More than anything else, God wants you, because He loves you. What is your relationship with God like? Do you talk with him like a close friend?
6. Prayer is personal. It doesn’t need to sound like anything formal – it needs to just be authentically you. There are many different ways we can pray. Which of these types of prayers do you most often and least often engage in? What could grow or change in your relationship with God by praying differently?
a. Adoration – praising God for who He is
b. Lament – wrestled with doubts, difficulty, and even depression with God
c. Thanksgiving – giving God praise for what He has done
d. Petition – asking God for something, whether for yourself or someone else
e. Deliverance – requests made to God to save us or others from difficult or even dangerous situations
f. Contrition – prayers that allow us to confess our wrongdoing and reconnect with our forgiving Heavenly Father
g. Guidance – express that God knows best and that we trust him to direct our lives when we ask Him for guidance
KEY SCRIPTURE
Jeremiah 9:23-24 This is what the Lord says: “Let not the wise boast of their wisdom or the strong boast of their strength or the rich boast of their riches, but let the one who boasts boast about this: that they have the understanding to know me, that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness, justice, and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight,” declares the Lord.
Genesis 1:27 So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them
DIGGING DEEPER
1. This week spend some time with God in Prayer. Maybe try a different way to pray- as we talked about in the message this week. You can’t mess it up, just be you and talk with God about what is on your mind.
a. Adoration – praising God for who He is
b. Lament – wrestled with doubts, difficulty, and even depression with God
c. Thanksgiving – giving God praise for what He has done
d. Petition – asking God for something, whether for yourself or someone else
e. Deliverance – requests made to God to save us or others from difficult or even dangerous situations
f. Contrition – prayers that allow us to confess our wrongdoing and reconnect with our forgiving Heavenly Father
g. Guidance – express that God knows best and that we trust him to direct our lives when we ask Him for guidance