Steve High Rockford Campus July 15, 2023
SEEK: How to Pray
SMALL GROUP DISCUSSION GUIDE
REMINDERS
Leader Refresh (7/19) – It’s not too late to get signed up to come to our Summer 2023 Life Group Leader Refresh! This year, we’re hanging out in my backyard, enjoying great company as we take time to relax and be refreshed, together! Please RSVP with Kathyrn Jones ([email protected]) ASAP!!a
July Newsletter – if you haven’t had a chance to check it out, take a look at the July Newsletter here. This is our chance to continue to encourage you and share thoughts for your leadership in your groups.
TOGETHER IN LIFE
Steve High shared his story of skydiving with his family, freefalling 5,000 feet before pulling their parachute for another 5,000 feet to softly landing on the ground…
Tell a story of a time where you had to release fully to surrender. What feelings went through you? Was it easy or hard for you?
TOGETHER IN THE WORD
THIS WEEK’S KEY PASSAGE: Matt. 6:5-13
Note: We encourage you to read the entire text together as a group out loud.
SURRENDER
God accomplishes his will through us and invites us into the process of living his will through prayer.
QUESTION: Do you pray with a closed fist or open hand?
QUESTION: What is the connection to prayer and surrender?
QUESTION: Why does Jesus call us to pray in private?
Our Father knows what we need before we ask- he longs for us to ask him for all we need!
The words “Our Father” spoken in “the people’s language” was Jesus inviting everyone to enjoy a special, personal relationship with God.
Big Idea:
Jesus calls us to pray, surrendered fully to him because he is God and can be trusted.
SURRENDER OUR INDEPENDENCE
Opening our hand to hold the hand of others is a matter of surrendering our independence. God has made us to depend on him and each other!
As we move toward God in prayer, we bring with us all of our self: our emotions, thoughts, will, beliefs and desires. This can be challenging to be that vulnerable, especially if you feel hurt from past experience.
QUESTION: When you pray, what do you pray about? What does this reveal about how “open” or “closed” you are to God?
QUESTION: What are the things you hang onto that make it challenging to release your independence?
Big Idea:
We can release our Independence as people to be dependent on God for all we need because he is a loving Dad who can be trusted.
SURRENDER OUR DEFIANCE
Open your hand to release what is not yours to hold.
“Hallowed be your name”: Release Your Glory
QUESTION: Whose name do you want to be glorified in your prayers? How do our prayers reflect this? (cf Matt. 6:5). In what ways can you grow in reflecting God’s glory in your prayers?
“Your Kingdom Come”: Release Your Purpose and Authority
QUESTION: Whose kingdom are you building? How do your prayers show whose kingdom you are asking to be built?
“Your Will Be Done”: Release Your Desires and Expectations
Steve says: “The reason we experience the world the way we do is because God’s Will is rejected.”
QUESTION: How did Jesus live out this part of the prayer: “Your Will Be Done”? What does it look like in your life right now to pray this?
Big Idea:
Our lives are not our own, but bought through the blood of Jesus to be transformed into freedom. We can release the things we aren’t supposed to hold onto because God is worthy of our loyalty.
SURRENDER OUR DEMANDS
Open your hand to receive from God’s unending Grace.
We can come to God the Father with expectation, boldness, and delight knowing he wants to give us all we need (cf. Matt. 7:7-12).
QUESTION: What do you expect as the outcomes of your prayers? How does our expectation reflect our level of faith?
“Give us this day”: God already knows what we need for today.
“Forgive us”: Confession is a vital piece, recognizing our sin for what it is and releasing it to the Father to be forgiven. His Grace is our pathway back to right-standing with Him.
“Deliver us”: The soul’s cry out for help in our time of need.
Big Idea:
Our Father in Heaven knows what we need even more than we do. When we surrender our plans openly to Him, he will always deliver what our hearts and lives truly need.
TOGETHER IN ACTION
Take up a challenge: Consider journaling this week through “The Lord’s Prayer” and praying for specific things that matter to you.
Bring these back to the group next week and discuss what these prayers reveal about who you are and what you believe about what God does as you go to him with your prayers.
TOGETHER IN PRAYER
As a group, take time to pray through each part of the Lord’s Prayer together. Take turns going around the group circle praying one part at a time, then rotate to the next person for their prayers.
For example, “Our Father in Heaven Holy is Your Name…” pray out loud around the circle the attributes of God that remind you of what the Bible says about who He is. Then pray, “Your Kingdom Come” pray out loud the ways you long for the Kingdom to Come here and now.
