Harbor Church - Mid City

PRAYER

Ephesians 2: 14-22

“For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility,  15 by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace,  16 and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility.  17 He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near.  18 For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.   19 Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household,  20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone.  21 In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord.  22 And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.”

Summary:  Every believer has the right and responsibility to pray to the living God.  Prayer is a type of conversation with God and necessarily includes speaking forth confession, repentance, praise, thanksgiving and solicitation.  God loves when we pray.  Because of His love He always answers prayer.  He may not give the answer we want or expect, but God always answers prayer.  Prayer blesses us as much as it can bless those for whom we pray.

Key Words:

1.    Pray, praying, prayer

2.    Adoration, praise

3.    Confession and repentance

4.    Thanksgiving

5.    ACTS: Adoration, confession, thanksgiving and supplication

WORDS OF ENCOURAGEMENT

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

                 “Be joyful always;   pray continually;   give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

Hebrews 4: 14-16

“Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens,  Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess.  15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin.  16 Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”

PRAYER

1.   What is prayer?




 

2. Why we should pray.



 

3.  Four Key Obstacles to prayer.



 

4.  How do we pray? [ACTS]

a.   Adoration

b.  Confession

c.   Thanksgiving

d.  Supplication

5.  What do we pray about?

Community Group (“CG”) Questions

1.    What does prayer mean to you?
 

2.    How often do you pray?
 

3.    What do you pray about?
 

4.    What has hindered or prevented you having a consistent prayer life?
 

5.    What was new to you in the sermon?  Please elaborate.
 

6.    Has the sermon moved you to begin or change your prayer life?  Please explain.
 

7.    Please identify 2 things you want your CG members to pray about for you? (Please avoid generalities and hyper-spirituality.  Be specific.)
 

8.    Please make a list of things to pray for one another.  Choose a prayer.  Have a prayer leader assign a different person to pray for the items on the CG list and pray together out loud before you leave.  The goal is to have everyone pray and to pray for everything on the CG prayer list.

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