Monday 6 May 2013

Weekly Challenge

What things have you given up on praying for in the past? Set aside a block of time this week to spend time in silence, solitude and prayer regarding those things.

 

Read: Matthew 7:7-12, Luke 11:1-13

I (Josh) genuinely look forward to the day that my daughter can talk to me. Since she is only four months old she will quite happily make all sorts of cute baby noises but she is not yet able to have a conversation with me. I can only imagine what it would be like to be able to talk to her one day. Conversely my heart aches at the idea that she would be able to talk to me and yet would choose not to. I wonder if this is the way God feels about us praying to Him. Does God also, like a loving father, long for the times when we sit and talk with Him. Does the fact that we could freely communicate with God through prayer and yet end up too busy to do so grieve God?

 

This comparison between the prayer relationship of God and mankind and the relationship of a parent and child is an important one to allow us to truly understand prayer. Jesus actually uses this language to describe prayer both in today's reading from Luke and earlier in the sermon on the mount. Before we explore how God's people are to pray and what Jesus teaches us about prayer in this section of the sermon on the mount it is worthwhile to briefly define prayer and discuss why God would have us pray to Him.

 

Simply put: "Prayer is personal communication with God." (Grudem, 2004 Systematic Theology: An introduction to biblical doctrine). Chuck Missler once put it this way "We have a 24-hour hot line to the throne room of the universe". The simplest way to think of the prayer relationship is to think of the way a child can personally communicate with a parent. That communication is not only about expressing needs but also talking about dreams, discussing life in general, proclaiming love and building relationship. Prayer is the same between man and God. Prayer is personal communication with the ruler of the universe where we are able to express our needs, praise God for who He is, talk about our lives and build relationship with Him.

 

God does not need prayer to know our needs. Jesus teaches in Matthew 6:8 that He knows what we need even before we ask, but still Jesus teaches about the need for us to be actively asking God, seeking God and knocking at God's door through prayer. Why? Because God desires that we pray in order to express our faith in Him and reliance on Him, to deepen our relationship with Him and to be involved in His work around the world. As a result He promises to answer our prayers: to the man who asks it is given, it is the man who seeks who finds and it is the man who knocks to whom the door is opened.

 

Consider your own prayer life this week. Do you regularly spend time together with God in prayer? Do you aim to build your relationship with Him by praying or do you neglect your prayer life? Do you set aside time to pray together with your family? With your spouse? With your cell? With the other members of your congregation? Consider again how you might grow in your relationship with God this week through intentional, regular prayer.

 

Prayer:

Write down your prayer points in the space provided. Use today’s reading to help you get ideas.

Adoration:

 

Confession:

 

Thanks:

 

Supplication:

¥ Praise God for who He is. Praise God that He has made a way for us to have relationship with Him through Jesus Christ. Pray that God would grow in His people deep faith in Him and a passion to pray to Him.

¥ Pray for all the members of the congregation who are going back to work again today after the weekend. Pray that they would be able to glorify God in their work and that their focus would be on Him in all they do.

 

My Additional Prayer Points.

1/.

 

2/.

 

Discussion Questions For Families and Groups

1. Is prayer for God's sake or for the sake of mankind?

2. Do you think prayer ever changes the way God acts? Why or why not?