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THINK
Read the following quote and ask your group what stands out to them:
‘If we want to leave an indelible mark on the world, there is no more powerful way to do it than by joining in God’s purposes through prayer. Our prayers can go where we cannot. While many things may seem impossible from a human standpoint, in the realm of prayer there are no impossibilities.’ Brother Andrew
TEACH US TO PRAY
Get the group to read through today’s passage. Explain that when the disciples saw Jesus praying, they realised the emptiness of their own prayers. In spite of the fact that they’d all prayed day-in, day-out their entire lives, there was something about the way that Jesus prayed that these disciples had never seen before. Jesus’ prayers were ‘alive’ somehow; they were real, raw and honest. Jesus’ prayers were a conversation - Jesus seemed to know God in a way that they’d only ever read about. So they asked him: ‘Lord, teach us to pray.’ In response, Jesus gave them some simple guidelines which are still helpful for us today.
Ask the group if they can summarise what Jesus was getting at in this passage.
REWRITE THE LORD’S PRAYER
Get the group to work individually or in small groups to rewrite The Lord’s Prayer in their own words. Get some volunteers to read out their prayers and ask them to explain their choices.
WATCH AND DISCUSS
Watch the ‘China: A story of revival’ video from the links section of the Youthwork website. This video tells the story of the Chinese Church over the last 70 years, exploring how Christianity, though outlawed, grew at an incredible rate. After you’ve watched it, discuss the following questions together:
• Christians in China were known for spending a lot of time praying. How much is prayer a part of our walk with Jesus?
• Christianity was forbidden in China and Christians were persecuted, so why do you think people joined the Church and why was it growing so fast? What lessons can we learn from the Chinese Church?
• What is the focus of your prayers? What do you think was the focus of the prayers of the Chinese Church? Does God answer all prayers?
THE THREE THINGS
A famous American Evangelist from back in the day, D.L. Moody, had a passion to see his mates come to know Christ. He prayed through a list of 100 friends each day, and he saw 96 of them give their lives to Christ in his lifetime. The other four became Christians at his funeral! Moody once said that ‘Every great movement of God can be traced to a kneeling figure.’
Get the group to sit quietly and then choose three things to pray for: one friend or family member, one persecuted believer and one nation closed to the gospel. Tell them to write down their chosen people and countries and keep a note of them – get them to set reminders on their phones to pray for those things each day for the next two weeks.
PRAYER CIRCLE
Get the group to stand in a tight circle, then bend their legs and all sit on each other. The whole circle should be supporting each other (hopefully). When asked how we should pray for persecuted Christians an Egyptian believer responded:
‘Please don’t pray for us. Please pray with us. If you pray for us, you will pray for the wrong things. You will pray for our safety. You will pray that persecution will cease. But if you pray with us, you will ask God to bring millions of Egyptians to faith in Christ. You will pray that when the inevitable Muslim backlash comes because of our witness, we will be faithful, even if it costs us our lives.’
Key Point
There’s a big lesson in perspective here. Praying brings us closer to God and that means our prayers can become less self-focused and much more outward looking. Ask someone to read Hebrews 13:3. Ask the group how they think we should pray for the persecuted. The situations can be so extreme and distant from our lives it can be hard to connect. Read the following quote from Brother Andrew: ‘There is one prayer the Church has used for 2,000 years: “Lord, have mercy.” As we learn of turmoil and tragedy, we find ourselves breathing this prayer. “Lord, have mercy on those who are suffering. Lord, have mercy on our brothers and sisters who are affected by this event.” With these words we acknowledge our helplessness and our need for God to intervene and use for good a situation that was probably intended for evil.’ Spend a while praying for Christians in North Korea, Somalia, Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, the top five worst places to be a Christian in the world. Pray with them, for their countries to see revival, for the church to boldly proclaim the good news of Jesus and for many to come to know Jesus. Pray ‘Lord have mercy’.
BLESSINGS , BLESSINGS
Read from 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18: ‘Always be joyful. Keep on praying. No matter what happens, always be thankful, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.’
Say: so often, we miss the wonderful blessings in our lives, but it’s important we thanks God for answered pray or the good stuff we have in our lives. End the session by telling the group to get into pairs. Each person in the group has to think of three really good things or answered prayers in their lives. Then together get the pairs to pray, saying thank you for those things.
