WEEK 1 | INTRO

Importance of Prayer

Romans 12:12 “… be constant in prayer”

1 Thessalonians 5:17 “pray without ceasing”

Colossians 4:2 “Continue steadfastly in prayer…”

Paul Miller (author of A Praying Life) explains that, “if you are not praying, then you are quietly confident that time, money, and talent are all you need in life. You'll always be a little too tired, a little too busy. But if, like Jesus, you realize you can't do life on your own, then no matter how busy, no matter how tired you are, you will find the time to pray.”

D.A. Carson (author of Praying with Paul) explains, “we will not grow in prayer, unless we plan to pray.”

Pray is our way of staying in a relationship with God. Think about it, you communicate regularly with those that you want to stay connected too. You come to them with your struggles and trust that they will be there for you. You listen to them when they have concerns or want to share their heart with you. This is what we do in prayer; we grow in relationship with God.

Why the Lord’s Prayer?

In the gospel of Matthew we see Jesus explain how we are to pray. Jesus walks through a beautiful prayer… The Lord’s Prayer. In this discipleship plan, we will walk through what Jesus is saying in the Lord’s Prayer and how it should/can influence our prayer life.

Tips for this time…

Go slow. Learn to rest in God’s presence.

Be real. The real you needs to come before the real God.

Listen well. Prayer is both speaking and listening.

I would encourage you at the beginning of every meeting to read through the Lord’s prayer.

Questions

What are you excited to learn from this plan?

How can you make time to pray?