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ask.learning to pray with Jesus
T E R M 1 L E A D E R S B O O K
3 |
This term we hope to grow as a church in bold and expectant prayer as we are again
amazed at who our God is and his readiness to hear and respond to the things we
ask him in Jesus’ name. We will begin the term by committing the year to our Lord in
prayer on Wednesday 1st Feb, 7:45 at church.
ask.learning to pray with Jesus
Title Passage Notes
5th Feb 1 Ask your loving Father
Lk 11:1-13 Jn 11:38-44 Lk 22:39-46
Prayer is speaking to our loving Father, who eagerly listens to his children
Key concept: relationship
12th Feb 2 Ask through the Son
Hebrews 4:14-5:10 We ask in Jesus’ name because he makes every prayer pleasing to God
Key concept: access
19th Feb 3 Ask with the Spirit’s help
Rom 8:15-30 Lk 3:21-22
The Spirit helps us pray like the Son
Key concept: help
26th Feb 4 Ask for forgiveness Psalm 51, Lk 22:31-34 Psalm 66:16-20
We ask our Father to forgive our sins, knowing he always will
Key concept: confession and forgiveness
5th Mar 5 Ask for your needs Matthew 6:5-14 Matthew 6:25-34 Nehemiah 1:5-11
We ask our Father for everything we need, because he knows our every need
Key concept: God’s power, sovereignty and care
12th Mar 6 Keep asking Lk 18:1-8, Hab 3:1-19
We keep asking our Father, even when we don’t see an answer
Key concept: perseverance
19th Mar 7 Ask for others Eph 3:14-21 John 17:20-26
We ask our Father to work in and for the sake of others
Key concept: intercession / wrestling in prayer for others
26th Mar 8 Ask the God of the Nations
Ps 67 Daniel 9:4-19
We ask our Father to work in the world for his glory
Key concept: praying for God’s work around the world
2nd April
9 Give thanks / (All-in service@10:30)
Ps 118 Matt 11:25-28
We give thanks to our Father: for who he is, what he has done and what is to come
Key concept: thankfulness
4 |
Passage: Luke 11:1-13 John 11:38-44 Luke 22:39-46
Prayer is speaking to our loving Father, who eagerly listens to his children
Key Concept: Relationship
What is the key to great prayer? Is it certain words? A certain structure? A certain attitude? A certain routine? The key to great prayer isn’t anything we can do, it’s who our Father is and that he loves to hear us pray.
Jesus’ teaching on prayer can be summed up in one word: ask. Asking is an act of dependence, when we ask things of our Father in prayer, we rely completely on his love and goodness, not the quality of our asking or worthiness.
Possible Outline:
Jesus taught us to ask our Father for all things (Lk 11:1-4)
Ask and it will be given to you (Lk 11:5-10)
Ask because of your Father’s goodness (Lk 11:11-13)
Key application points:
Great prayer isn’t about a technique or anything we do. It’s about realising who our Father is - his power, goodness and readiness to hear and answer
Pray expectantly - we will cover lots of the qualifiers to this in future weeks but for now just let this passage sit: ask and it will be given to you.
Praying expectantly declares many things about God - his power, his goodness, his generosity and his love for his children
Prayer isn’t emptying our minds - it’s engaging our minds as we talk to God
We can get caught up in all the things we know we should be praying - acronyms like ACTS (Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving and Supplication) have their place, but in the end prayer is simple - prayer is asking our Father for things.
Tool in prayer:
Memorising the Lord’s Prayer and using it to pray for all things
WEEK 1 - ASK YOUR LOVING FATHER
5th Feb
5 |
Passage: Hebrews 4:14-5:10
We ask in Jesus’ name because he makes every prayer pleasing to God
Key Concept: Access
We all know we’re meant to pray ‘in Jesus’ name. But is it a stuffy formality? Or is it where we find intimacy, confidence and hope in prayer?
We pray in Jesus’ name because he is our mediator - our prayers are heard because he deserves to be heard
When we pray in Jesus’ name he should also be our model - praying with Jesus’ privileged position and his priorities
We approach God in prayer with confidence because we come in Jesus name, approaching God the Father through Jesus, our high priest (Heb 4:14-5:4). Jesus was the perfect Son of God perfect pray-er (Heb 5:5-10), and we now approach God in prayer in his name, on the basis of his work
But what does praying in Jesus name look like?
Praying in Jesus’ name means praying with the confidence of the Son (Jn 11:38-44), because we don’t come before God on our merits but on his. Praying in Jesus’ name also means praying with the priorities of the Son (Lk 22:39-46), for the one to whom the Father always listened was the one who prayed, ‘not my will, but yours be done’.
Possible Outline:
What does it look like to pray in Jesus’ name?
Jesus is our mediator - making every prayer pleasing to the Father (Heb 4:14-5:4)
Because Jesus was the perfect, praying Son (Heb 5:5-10)
We can now pray, and be heard, as the perfect Son is heard
Key application points:
Praying ‘in Jesus name’ isn’t a formality - it is the basis of our hope in prayer
God listens to our prayers as eagerly as he listens to Jesus’ prayers
We stand in Jesus’ shoes when we pray so share an immense privilege
We should also stand in Jesus’ shoes as we consider our priorities in prayer
Valuing that you can pray at all!
Try praying ‘backwards’ - starting ‘in Jesus’ name’ - how will that effect your confidence? How will that effect the content or tone of your prayers?
Tool in prayer:
‘Praying backwards’
WEEK 2 - ASK THROUGH THE SON
12th Feb
6 |
Passage: Rom 8:15-30 Lk 3:21-22
The Spirit helps us pray like the Son
Key Concept: Help
How does the Spirit help us as we pray? Emptying our minds? Focusing our minds?
The Spirit makes us sons who can call God ‘Father’ and he helps us to start praying like sons of our Father.
Possible Outline:
The Spirit unites us to the Son and makes us children of God who can call God ‘Father’ (Rom 8:15-17)
The Spirit prays for us when we can’t (Rom 8:18-27)
The Spirit forms in us the dependence of the Son (Rom 8:28-30, Lk 3:21-22)
The Spirit shows us the will of God in his word (1 Cor 2:6-16)
Key application points:
You are not alone in prayer - the Spirit is allowing you to pray, helping you to pray and praying when you can’t
By the Spirit you are welcomed into a conversation that started long before you got there - you don’t need to break the ice!
Use the bible to pray things in line with God’s will
Your prayer is ‘Spiritual’ if it approaches the Father relying on the Son
Your prayer is ‘Spiritual’ if you seek to pray God’s will as revealed in his word - ‘God is fond of his own handwriting’
Tool in prayer:
Praying the Psalms
WEEK 3 - ASK WITH THE SPIRIT’S HELP
19th Feb
7 |
Passage: Psalm 51 Lk 22:31-34 Psalm 66:16-20
We ask our Father to forgive our sins, knowing he always will
Key Concept: Confession and Forgiveness
Where do we go with our guilt and shame? Ignore or Deny it? Minimise it, Explain it away or Blame others? Try to make amends? We are to confess our sins to our heavenly Father, knowing he will forgive.
Possible Outline:
We need to ask for forgiveness (Psalm 51)
Our sin is firstly against God
We need to own our sin and confess it
We have a Father who is pleased to forgive because of his great mercy
Knowing forgiveness leads to longing for holiness and proclamation
Key application points:
Forgive as you have been forgiven (Mt 6:14)
We are to confess our sins, even though our sins are already forgiven
The place of corporate confession
How sin can affect our prayers - the difference between fatherly displeasure and being cut off / not heard
The joy of confessing rather than excusing or explaining away sin
The joy of confessing sin to our Father who will surely forgive
Now we are sure of the Father’s forgiveness:
• We must flee from sin but have somewhere to go with our continued sin (1 John 1:8-2:2)
• Sin still affects our relationship with God (Ps 66:16-20, 1 Peter 3:7, Heb 12:4-11)
» The idea of Fatherly displeasure and discipline vs. wrath
Tool in prayer:
Books or collections of prayers:
Valley of Vision
Prone to Wander
Book of Common Prayer
WEEK 4 - ASK FOR FORGIVENESS
26th Feb
8 |
Passage: Matthew 6:5-14 Matthew 6:25-34 Nehemiah 1:5-11
We ask our Father for everything we need, because he knows our every need
Key Concept: God’s Power and Sovereignty
Where do you go with your needs?
Do you get to work? Go to others? Start worrying? Or do you bring your needs before your heavenly Father?
Possible Outline:
Your ‘unseen’ Father cares about your ‘seen’ needs (Mt 6:5-13) The seemingly ‘small’ and ‘worldly’ request of daily bread made it in here with God’s kingdom coming and our sins being forgiven!!
Your Father knows your needs, so simply ask (Mt 6:7-8)
We have a Father on which to cast our needs, worries and anxieties (Matthew 6:25-34, Philippians 4:6-7, 1 Peter 5:7)
Ask and Act: surrendering our needs in prayer, solving our problems and seeking his kingdom in action (Matthew 6:33, Nehemiah 1:1-2:10 (look at the broad narrative and how prayer and action are related), Nehemiah 4:8-9)
Key application points:
We are to bring our needs to God
Nothing is too small or too big
The purpose of prayer to a God who already knows everything
The place of anxiety and worry in light of prayer
Entrusting to God and getting to work: the relationship between praying and doing
Tool in prayer:
Keeping a Prayer diary
WEEK 5 - ASK FOR YOUR NEEDS
5th Mar
9 |
Passage: Luke 18:1-8 Hab 3:1-19
We keep asking our Father, even when we don’t see an answer
Key Concept: Perseverance
Sometimes our requests are met with delay, denial or darkness. How do we keep praying?
Possible Outline:
Always pray and don’t give up, because your loving Father will act (Lk 18:1-8)
Persevering Prayer remembers God’s power and asks him to act (Hab 3:1-15)
Persevering Prayer trusts in our Loving Father more than a particular outcome (Hab 3:16-19)
Key application points:
We should expect some delays in prayer
Perseverance in prayer
What to do with unanswered prayer
Our need for others to pray with and for us
Paul’s thorn in the flesh (2 Cor 12:7-10)
Tool in prayer:
Asking others to pray with and for us
WEEK 6 - KEEP ASKING
12th Mar
10 |
Passage: Eph 3:14-21 John 17:20-26
We ask our Father to work in and for the sake of others
Key Concept: Intercession / Wrestling in prayer for others
All the things we most want for others we cannot do. We are to bring them and their needs before our Father, who can do abundantly more than we ask or imagine.
Possible Outline:
What do we want for others and what can we do?
We ask for the needs of others, especially their greatest needs (Eph 6:18)
We ask that others would know God better (Eph 3:14-21, Jn 17:20-26)
We ask that others would grow in God (Col 1:9-12)
Key application points:
We are called to pray for others
• For their needs
• That they would know God
• That they would grow in God
Wrestle in prayer for others (like Epaphras)
The most loving thing to do for someone is pray
The best way to love someone more is to pray for them
Tool in prayer:
Prayer lists
WEEK 7 - ASK FOR OTHERS
19th Mar
11 |
Passage: Ps 67 Daniel 9:4-19
We ask our Father to work in the world for his glory
Key Concept: Praying for God’s work around the world
We ask that God would work, so that he will be glorified We ask that many would be saved, so that God will be glorified We ask for those in authorities, that God would be glorified We commit ourselves to God’s work in prayer, so that he will be glorified
Possible Outline:
We ask that the nations would know God (Ps 67:1-7)
We ask that we would help the nations to know God (Ps 67:1 & 7)
We ask for authorities, that the nations may know God for his glory (1 Tim 2:1-6)
We ask it all for his glory (Ps 67:1-7, Dan 9:15-19, Jn 12:23-30)
Key application points:
One of the highest callings we have is to pray for the work of the gospel in the world
Prayer for global mission ‘connects our local, momentary and fragile labours with God’s global, eternal and invincible purposes’ - John Piper
Prayer is a form of political action!
Tool in prayer:
Missionary letters
WEEK 8 - ASK THE GOD OF THE NATIONS
26th Mar
12 |
Passage: Ps 118 Matt 11:25-28
We give thanks to our Father: for who he is, what he has done and what is to come
Key Concept: Thankfulness
Possible Outline:
Ps 118
Give thanks for who God is
GIve thanks for what he has done
GIve thanks for what is to come
Key application points:
Being thankful
Giving thanks in our prayer
Tracking and remembering answers to prayer
Giving thanks for unanswered prayer
Thanklessness is at the heart of sin (Rom 1:18) and Thankfulness is at the heart of effective witness (Phil 2:14-18)
WEEK 9 - GIVE THANKS / (ALL-IN SERVICE@10:30)
2nd April
13 |
ask.learning to pray with Jesus T E R M 1 L E A D E R S B O O K