LESSON FIVE: Opening Prayer and Discussion Guide for Group or 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

Jesus is there for you, Jesus has been there for you, and Jesus will be there for you. He wants you to be utterly dependent on Him. He hears every word, every praise, every whimper, every moan. If we are going to be light in the world and a city set on a hill, we have to have persistent, personal, and private prayer in place. As God’s daughters, we have been given complete access to the power of heaven. We must hide ourselves in our prayer closets and separate ourselves from the world around us long enough and purposefully enough. We want to be able to impact our world, rather than the world impact us. We have been given complete access to the power of heaven but if we do not use it, we are going to be pathetic, paltry, and painted facades, good for nothing. The most important work we do in our relationships with the Lord, with our families, and in our church or occupational ministries is to pray. The Word of God tells us that we are dust and to dust we shall return – that we can do nothing apart from Him – but there is no measurement for what we can do with Him and in Him through prayer! We are ambassadors for His kingdom, and our most efficient and effective work is accomplished in prayer so that we might glorify and enjoy Him!

III.         QUESTIONS FROM THE HOMEWORK

1.    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    Devotion: Private, Power-filled Prayer

2.    Would someone please share what spoke to your heart from Day One?

DAY TWO

3.    Quiet Moment - Do you have a place you can run to with the pressures, concerns, and demands of your world? Is it a place where you know you will have uninterrupted fellowship with the Lord? Is it a place where you know He will meet with you? Are you building that secret garden of prayer with Him?

4.    Going Deeper Question #1 - What did you learn from Jesus’ example of prayer in these verses?

5.    Question #4 - Is there anyone you have had a disagreement with? Have you done everything you could to restore that relationship? Is there any unforgiveness in your heart?

6.    Question #5 - What keeps you from praying? What keeps you from going to the Lord first and always and continually?

DAY THREE

7.    Quiet Moment - What do both Jesus and James instruct in Matthew 7:7-11 and James 1:5-8? What do you need to ask yourself? Do you doubt the power and effectiveness of prayer? Do you sometimes feel that you are praying to the four walls around you? Do you go to the Lord with all your concerns, lay them at His feet, and then know they have been addressed and that they are in His hands? 

8.    Going Deeper Question #1 - What did you observe from reading Luke 11:1-13?

DAY FOUR

9.    Going Deeper Question #1 - What does James say are the hindrances to prayer?

10. Question #3 - What is the reason that we are to love and pray for our enemies according to Matthew 5:45?

DAY FIVE

11. Quiet Moment - What does praying in earnest look like to you? How can you pattern this principle in your family, with your children, or with your friends? What is the benefit of earnest prayer?

12. Question #2 - Whom do you need to be interceding for as Abraham did?

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 your Taking the Truth to Heart and Bringing It to Life page. We will each have 3 minutes so that every woman 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 you can pray for one another throughout the week. Leaders, please set the example by always going first.

VI.         PLEASE CLOSE IN PRAYER