Prayerful dependence is essential in a vibrant relationship with God. As we strive to grow in praying and trusting God, we offer these resources as tools to equip us for a strong prayer life.
In Luke’s account of the Lord’s Prayer, one of the disciples asked Jesus, “Teach us to pray.” In response, Jesus provided a model of how to draw close to God in worship and make requests in humble dependence. Like the disciples, we’re asking God to teach us to pray. Through this Night of Prayer specific series, we’ll ask Jesus to instill in our hearts that same humility as we come to him with our praises and burdens.
SERIES INTRO
The first two words of the Lord’s Prayer mark the nature of our relationship with God. Our connection to him is both personal and intimate. Like Jesus, we can call upon our loving Father—the Ruler of all things—confident that he already identifies with us, knows our needs, and is sufficient for us.
In this first request that God’s name be hallowed, or “made holy,” we express ownership of his cause, aligning ourselves with the mission to advance his Kingdom. To ask that God’s name be treated as holy means that we commit ourselves to that work with our words and actions.
Pray TO: Take a moment to talk to God as your Father, keeping in mind that regardless of the nature of your earthly father, God is loving, stable, and trustworthy. Express your confidence in his goodness and nearness.
Pray FOR: Pray that God’s holiness would be known throughout the world. Specifically, ask God for opportunities to make his goodness known to those around you—both believers and non-believers.
Pray WITH: Join your brothers and sisters in Christ to pray for the Church’s work in the world. Pray that as a local body of believers, we would help each other to advance the reputation of our loving Father in our community in tangible ways.
My Kingdom Come
Teaching: Jim Taylor
God’s kingdom has already come through the world’s true king: Jesus. However, because God’s reign and rule are not yet fully realized, we continue to pray for the coming of the kingdom. As long as sin, death, and the devil are forces of opposition in the world, there is still work to be done. So, we pray for Jesus’ kingship to be made manifest. As citizens of the heavenly kingdom, we work personally on earth to advance his will in our lives, and we work corporately, engaging the Church to display God’s will to the world.
Pray TO: Ask God to advance his kingdom in your own life. Express your commitment to God’s mission by asking his kingdom to come in your work, relationships, and daily activities.
Pray FOR: Consider the ways you see God’s kingdom being attacked in the world. Pray for God’s grace and goodness to extend where Christ’s kingship is resisted or completely ignored. Ask that believers would join their will with God’s good desire to bless the world he made.
Pray WITH: As the Church, ask the Lord that we would be a people who reinforce and invite his kingdom to arrive through our hands and feet. Pray that his will and work would be done through the Church with the attitude of Jesus Christ.
Our Daily Bread
Teaching: Herson Lopez
These words teach us to humble ourselves and depend on God. Our physical needs remind us that God is the Creator, and we are his creatures. We are designed to need sustenance. But even when we do pray for God’s provision, we want security for the year, the decade, our lifetimes—not simply today. However, since Jesus has met the greatest need of our souls, we can rest in his provision each day. Furthermore, this prayer is for “us”—not just our individual needs. When we are blessed with abundance, it is an invitation to trust God by giving to someone else. We can give to others with confidence because we know God will resupply us each day.
Pray TO: Focus on the reality of God’s provision as he sustains your life each day. Ask him to grow you in contentment and gratitude for all the ways he provides for your needs, both physically and spiritually.
Pray FOR: Pray specifically for those who are without the food, clothing, protection, or provision that they need. Petition God’s provision for them.
Pray WITH: Ask God to help us continue growing in the kind of church community that meets the needs of those around us. Pray that we would be living channels of God providing daily bread for the hungry in our communities.
Pray during meal times and contribute money, or find a way to provide food, to those in need.
Invite a friend, neighbor, or acquaintance over for a meal with the goal of blessing them with what God has given you. Ask if you can pray for them before they leave.
Set an empty place setting at dinner one night as a symbolic reminder to pray for those without a home, table, or family—that God would give them the fellowship you enjoy and make us a means of answering this prayer.
Buy someone a gift card to eat at a restaurant you enjoy and pray that God will remind them that they are seen and cared for.
Forgive Us
Teaching: Blake Payne
Forgiveness is an integral part of our life together as children of God. Our adoption into God’s family is made possible through Jesus’ sacrificial work on the cross—where he cancels the debt of our sin and absorbs its cost. And because God has forgiven us of so much, how can we then withhold forgiveness from those who have wronged us? It is only through extending forgiveness to others that we can experience true community. While it may be tempting to try and achieve justice through withholding forgiveness, resentment has a great cost. However, forgiveness is a compelling demonstration of God’s Kingdom in our lives. May we be defined and recognized as a forgiven and forgiving community of believers.
Pray TO: Take some time to recognize your fault before God. Take hold of the forgiveness given to us in Jesus Christ, knowing that the consequences of death have been fully paid in Jesus’ perfect offering.
Pray FOR: Reflect and pray for someone you know who is bound by sin, asking for God’s forgiveness to set them free. If you are struggling to forgive them for wrongs against you, pray for God’s help in releasing any bitterness or resentment.
Pray WITH: Engage in prayer on a corporate level. Ask that God would help us as community groups, ministries, and as a whole church to embody a culture of forgiveness and extend God’s forgiveness in Jesus to those around us.
Schedule a time to confess habitual sins you have not been able to overcome to a pastor, community group leader, or professional counselor.
Study Scripture passages devoted to the reasons for and accomplishments of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection (Philippians 2:1–11, Ephesians 4, Romans 12:9–21). Consider how Jesus’ sacrifice secures forgiveness for yourself and others, empowering us to live in unity as a body of believers.
Devote yourself to a regular (daily, weekly, or monthly) practice that will require you to assess your own sin and extend forgiveness to others.
Read the Scripture’s teaching on debt/debtors, greed, and generosity (Leviticus 25, Proverbs 6:1-5, Proverbs 28:8, Romans 13:8). Consider practicing forgiveness financially as a symbolic extension of Jesus’ forgiveness—pay down the financial debts of a family member or others in a way that would free them to be more devoted to the Lord.
A Praying Life
Paul Miller
Why is Prayer a Discipleship Issue?
Podcast
Prayer
Timothy Keller
Praying with Paul: A Call to Spiritual Reformation
D.A. Carson
Lectio 365
Daily Devotional
24-7 Prayer App
The Lord’s Prayer
Kevin DeYoung
The Valley of Vision
Arthur Bennett
Pray through the Psalms by reading one verse at a time and then reading it again a few phrases at a time. Pause to think about what the words mean, and then voice your thoughts to God—doubts, fears, confusion, hope, praise, or discouragement.
Keep a Google doc or hard copy prayer journal. If your mind wanders when you attempt silent prayer, writing or typing your prayers keeps your hands moving in such a way that your mind can get absorbed in actually talking to God.
Take index cards and fill out specific prayer requests for each person in your household.
Download a prayer app or a habits app for your smartphone that will help create a rhythm of prayer in your daily life.
Pair a specific physical activity with prayer. Walk or run a certain route in your neighborhood.
Choose a particular place and time each week where focus on prayer will be undistracted. For example: “On Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 6-6:30, I will walk the neighborhood and pray out loud after listening to an audio of a Psalm from my YouVersion Bible App.”
Schedule a regularly occurring meeting to pray one-on-one or with a couple weekly, monthly, or quarterly.
Teach your kids to pray by using repetition or “share prayers” where they simply repeat after you as you pray short phrases before dinner. You can also pray the Lord’s Prayer once a week at the dinner table as a “share prayer” and let one of the kids lead that prayer.
Craft a one-sentence “breath prayer” that can be said with one or two breaths—“Jesus, have mercy on me,” or “Father, Son, and Spirit: You are love.” Use these to focus your heart, center your attention on God, and crowd out other distractions. If you are anxious or simply don’t know what to pray, fall back on these “breath prayers” until God gives you more words. You could also select a phrase or sentence from your readings of the Psalms and make it your “breath prayer” for that week.
Create a format, a shared document, or an assigned group member in your biblical community to share prayer requests within that group. Make sure that this can remain confidential to the group for more personal topics, but create a welcoming context to promote community. Remember, it is “Our” Father, and “our” sins, and that “we” forgive others (Matt 6:9-13).
SERIES INTRO
TEACHING
The first two words of the Lord’s Prayer mark the nature of our relationship with God. Our connection to him is both personal and intimate. Like Jesus, we can call upon our loving Father—the Ruler of all things—confident that he already identifies with us, knows our needs, and is sufficient for us.
In this first request that God’s name be hallowed, or “made holy,” we express ownership of his cause, aligning ourselves with the mission to advance his Kingdom. To ask that God’s name be treated as holy means that we commit ourselves to that work with our words and actions.
Pray TO: Take a moment to talk to God as your Father, keeping in mind that regardless of the nature of your earthly father, God is loving, stable, and trustworthy. Express your confidence in his goodness and nearness.
Pray FOR: Pray that God’s holiness would be known throughout the world. Specifically, ask God for opportunities to make his goodness known to those around you—both believers and non-believers.
Pray WITH: Join your brothers and sisters in Christ to pray for the Church’s work in the world. Pray that as a local body of believers, we would help each other to advance the reputation of our loving Father in our community in tangible ways.
WEEK 1
Spend time in prayer recognizing God’s sovereignty over all situations. Acknowledge his power and glory, and express a confident trust in his ability to accomplish good things.
WEEK 2
Spend time in prayer recognizing God’s care and concern for his children, along with his willingness for us to cast our cares and anxieties on him. Bring whatever burdens you are carrying to him.
WEEK 3
Pray for our lives to be full of integrity while we care for others in our homes and workplaces, that we might model and represent the character of our God well.
WEEK 4
Pray for the ministry partners we work with at Grace (Project HOPE, JUMPSTART, Homes of Hope, Jasmine Road) that as we work together, God’s reputation in the community would be elevated.
