Lesson Four Discussion Guide Group/Individual Use (click more)
Opening Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank you for this time you have provided for us to come together to hear from you and have fellowship in your Word and to learn and apply your Word to our hearts. We need you, Lord. We need your grace all the time. We praise you for your goodness and your love and mercy. Please open our hearts to you and to one another and lead our discussion. Help us not to fear, but to put all of our hope in Christ. Help us to remember there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. May you be glorified in all our thoughts and words and deeds. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
I. LECTURE
Will someone share how the Lord used the lecture to speak to your heart? Did anyone have any questions or concerns about the lecture? If you ever have a question or something is unclear, please let us know. We want to serve you in any way we can!
II. PLEASE READ THE MAIN POINT FROM THIS WEEK’S HOMEWORK
Prayer is one of the greatest gifts the Lord has given to us. It is part of our sanctification process. It is the lifeline in our relationship with the Lord. Prayer plus faith is our very conduit to the grace and power and mercy of God. It is a pivotal ingredient in our journey of moving our hearts from sinful to Spirit-filled.
This week we focused on supplication, which is the process of making a humble and earnest plea before God on our own behalf and on the behalf of others. There are three key pillars to all prayer which must be anchored in the foundation of a humble and contrite heart that understands there is nothing we can do apart from God. Pillar One is “Trust in the name and person of Jesus.” Pillar Two is “Trust and obey the truth of God’s word.” And Pillar Three is “Faith in the power of the One who hears our prayers.”
III. QUESTIONS FROM THE HOMEWORK
Go through the homework, occasionally calling on women. Read scriptures aloud. After asking a question, remember to allow a brief period of quiet “wait-time” to give women a chance to think before answering. After pausing, if no one shares, go ahead with your answer, rephrase question, and/or move on.
DAY ONE
1. Read Matthew 11:28-30 and Romans 8:1 on the first page of Day One . There are three key pillars to prayer. Share vulnerably with one another which pillar you struggle with the most and why.
2. In Spurgeon’s devotion he stated, “When God does not answer His children according to the letter, He does so according to the spirit…If you seek physical health, should you complain if instead He makes your sickness result in your spiritual health?” Will someone share an example when God answered your prayer differently than you asked or anticipated?
DAY TWO
3. Read Daniel 6:10. Daniel stayed faithful in praying to the Lord three times a day even when he could be put to death for it. What stood out to you as you observed the outcome of Daniel’s obedience to God and commitment to prayer?
4. Are there prayers you have been praying for so long that you feel as though you have been losing hope or losing heart? Is there unbelief germinating or fear around unanswered prayer? Explain.
5. Is your dialog with God becoming more intimate? How? What obstacles hinder you in your prayer life?
DAY THREE
6. You were instructed to read several prayers from David, Jehoshaphat and Paul. What correlation do you see between the faith of all these men and their prayer lives?
7. What did you observe that can help you structure your own prayer life?
8. What does Paul instruct you to do in Philippians 4?
DAY FOUR
9. What did you learn from Abraham or Solomon’s example that you are going to apply to your own prayer life?
10. Where do you need to grow in your faith? How would it impact your thinking about your prayer life if you understood that God has entrusted it to you as a provision for you in your role in the body of Christ?
11. Do you wrestle with fully believing in the power of prayer? How so?
DAY FIVE
12. What did you learn from reading the verses in John’s gospel? What did you observe about Jesus’ prayer in John 17?
13. How has the Lord moved in your heart this week to make prayer a priority?
IV. PLEASE RECITE YOUR SCRIPTURE MEMORY VERSES TOGETHER
V. TAKING THE TRUTH TO HEART TIME
We will now focus on taking God’s truth to our hearts and bringing it to life. James 5:16a states; “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.” And 1 Peter 2:24 says, “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.”
Please turn to the Taking the Truth to Heart and Bringing it to Life page on Day Six. We will each have 3 minutes so that everyone will have a chance to share. Please record one another’s confessions on the Taking the Truth to Heart Guide on the following page so that you can pray for each other throughout the week. Leaders, please set the example by going first.
VI. PLEASE CLOSE IN PRAYER.
