Saturday October 11, 2014

Read Romans 15:30-33

It’s sad that our first response to a crisis or difficult situation is not prayer. Often I myself am guilty of trying plan A, then B then C and eventually remembering that prayer should have been plan A.

Setting a Kingdom focused life goal drives us to prayer. Back in Acts 6 when the number of disciples was increasing, the Hebrew and Grecian Jews encountered friction over the distribution of food. The Apostles considered the situation and chose 7 men to minister to the widows while they themselves remained committed to prayer and the ministry of the Word. These men had been given a mission from Jesus Himself and nothing, not even something as important as distributing food to the widows, could divert their energies. Their mission/Kingdom focus drove them to prayer.

Paul understood this as well. As he concludes the letter to the Romans he calls them to be active in ministry with him through prayer. This pattern of Paul is seen throughout many of his letters and flows directly from his kingdom focused life.

While there are many strategies for developing a passionate and vibrant prayer life, none are as fundamental as developing a Kingdom focused goal for your life. When you understand your God-given role in the world and in the local church everything in life changes. When you realise that God has good works which were prepared in advance for you to do, then you begin to realise the necessity and the power of prayer. With a mission focused goal, prayer becomes the powerhouse for all your life and work.

So how do we formulate a Kingdom focused goal for our individual lives? Here’s a few thoughts that may get you going.

· If there is a favourite Bible verse (Eg Acts 20:24) that the Lord has written on your heart, this could form the basis of your Kingdom focused goal.

· Think about the areas of ministry and service that you are passionate about. These will form the hub of your Kingdom focused goal.

· Consider the broad sweep of your life and what you would like to achieve in terms of Kingdom work. Do you see yourself as a discipler? Do you see yourself as an evangelist or a Bible teacher? Are you naturally a servant or a musician/singer? Do you enjoy hospitality?

· Consider also outreach and evangelism and how many people you would love to see come to faith in Jesus. You can have a monthly or annual figure. It really doesn’t matter as long as it’s in your kingdom focused plan.

· Write out a sentence or simple paragraph that sums up everything you’ve considered so far.

Having a Kingdom focussed plan for your life is like driving with a map or Navman. Rather than going in circles or getting lost regularly, you have a destination and you know exactly how to get there.

Prayer:

Use today’s Bible reading and notes to pray along the following lines.

Adoration:

Confession:

Thanks:

Supplication:

¨ Pray that everyone in your group/family would have a Kingdom focused life goal. Pray this too for everyone in your church.

¨ Pray that tomorrow’s service would be greatly glorifying to the Lord as we sing His praises, seek His counsel and sit under the authority of His Word.

 Word Moment:

Paul calls his fellow believers to prayer in almost every letter. Does prayer have an equally high priority in your life?

 Discussion Questions For Families and Groups

1. Share your Kingdom life goal if you have one. Explain to the group how it came into existence.

2. Does having a Kingdom life goal stop you from serving in areas outside of your goal? Please explain.

3. There are many believers who have no idea about where God wants them to be serving or what He wants them to be doing.  What should they do?

 Discipleship Moment For Girls

Intro: God wants us to have Kingdom plans and dreams. But we should never leave God out of the picture. God’s guidance is needed at every step.

Discuss a time when you had plans that differed to God’s plans. What happened? How did things work out? In what way was God glorified?

Read  James 4:13-17

What plans are made by the person in these verses?

What is the right way to make plans according to these verses?

Pray together that God would guide you and lead in making Kingdom plans.

 Discipleship Moment For Boys

Intro: God wants us to have Kingdom plans and dreams. But he never wants us to run off half cocked without Him at the centre of all our plans.

Discuss a time when you had plans that differed to God’s plans. What happened? How did things work out? In what way was God glorified?

Read  James 4:13-17

What plans are made by the person in these verses?

What is the right way to make plans according to these verses?

Pray together that God would guide you and lead in making Kingdom plans.