How To Pray | Practicing Prayer | Week 2
Opening
Invite your group to share any experience they have using the Lord’s Prayer as a model for their own prayer life. How was everyone’s experience in the service?
Overview
The early church prayed the Lord’s Prayer three times a day because they knew something that is still true today: to know and be like Jesus we have to pray like Jesus did. If that sounds complicated and hard to do, we can ask Jesus to teach us to pray. In fact, his disciples did just that and he left them what is most frequently called the Lord’s Prayer.
We can use the Lord’s Prayer as a model for our own prayer lives. “Our Father in heaven” sets the tone as relational, not transactional. We are welcomed into God’s family. “Hallowed be your name” is an invitation to worship and adoration; it is a call to live in such a way that God’s name is honored in our midst. “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” makes space for us to surrender our own will and request help for the people, places, and situations on our hearts. “Give us this day our daily bread” invites us to pray for the most practical needs. “Forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors” challenges us to name and confess our sins and to forgive others. “Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from the evil one” helps us to fight spiritual warfare.
Discussion Questions
- What does your prayer life look like now?
- Did you try anything new with prayer this past week?
Practice
Matthew 6 “This, then, is how you should pray:
“‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
10 your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us today our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.’
Work your way slowly through the prayer prompts together, making space for people to pray aloud as they feel led. Afterwards, discuss what the Spirit brought to mind during the prayer time and consider committing as a group to praying the Lord’s Prayer three times a day for the rest of the year. Decide on times, set alarms on your phones, and see what God does in the remainder of the year.
Closing
Plan a check-in time to discuss how praying the Lord’s Prayer has gone during the week. Be willing to change the times if you need to.