Is my life characterized by prayer? What if prayer became a significant part of my life? What could God do in and through me if I would just pray like Jesus prayed? This is a new message series with a big challenge.
Lifegroup Discussion Questions after the jump!
If you are the discussion leader, be sure to have everyone open to this page on their mobile device. Remind everyone that the everyone in the group (including you, the leader) has the same amount of preparation for this discussion available to them, in the form of the podcast and this discussion guide. Have people share the reading responsibilities.
What are some things that people typically worry about?
Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.
-Philippians 4:6-7
On Sunday, one of the main thought was this:
Prayer is the substitute for worry.
Is this really possible? Can we actually substitute one for the other? Have you ever tried this? Has it worked? Has it failed?
If this could really happen, what would the result be? How was that described during this sermon on Sunday?
God said this to us, so we know it is true. But, it can be frustrating, because we just aren’t there yet. That is why this is a growth process. It isn’t automatic, and it doesn’t happen overnight.
The path to peace is prayer
What would it be like in our lives if we really didn’t worry about being overcome, but we truly became overcomers? Wouldn’t you want that?
“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
-Jesus, Matthew 6:9-10
I made a pretty bold statement about this on Sunday, saying that we don’t really pray this. I even said that some of us don’t want to pray this. Do you agree with that statement? Why or why not? What direction do our “fingers of prayer” typically point?
How can we, in our life group, each cultivate a Jesus style of prayer into our lives?
What should we as a group do together this evening?
And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you.
-Philippians 4:8-9
