Small Group Study Guide - Pinelake Church

Small Group Study Guide

Table of ContentsINTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

LOVE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 - 1 1Week One | Matthew 6:5-9a

FAITH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 2 - 2 1Week Two | Matthew 6:9b

SURRENDER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 2 - 3 1Week Three | Matthew 6:10

REQUEST . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 2 - 4 1Week Four | Matthew 6:11

FORGIVENESS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 2 - 5 1Week Five | Matthew 6:12, 14-15

DELIVERANCE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 2 - 6 1Week Six | Matthew 6:13

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P I N E L A K E S M A L L G R O U P S ,Welcome to our P40 journey! God is certainly going to do something In You, Through You, and With You as we learn and practice prayer together over the next 40 days. The Bible tells us that Jesus spent lots of time praying privately with the Father while also teaching the disciples how to pray. We have such a loving God who wants the best for us, and He has asked us as His followers to be about bringing His Kingdom to our world. Prayer plays a big part in this journey.

It is so important that we not only engage prayer privately but that we find a circle of friends that we can pray with collectively. Of course when we do this we recognize that we are all at different points of comfort and familiarity with prayer. With this in mind, it is our request that we just relax and talk with God like we would a loving father or friend. Eloquence and big churchy words are not the goal. God knows our heart, and we have no one to impress when we pray privatelyor out loud. It’s all an audience of one—Jesus.

As Small Groups we encourage your circle to engage prayer over the next 40 days far beyond what you have experienced so far. We hope this unique Study Guide will provide a fresh look to help you engage prayer.

We are providing some tools to help…

w Engage the journaling box in your weekly Small Group Study Guide.

w Grab a set of the P40 daily prayer cards from your campus.

w Your Small Group already meets. Carve out more time in your weekly conversation to pray longer together.

w Watch for Pinelake social media posts as we walk this journey together.

God hears our prayers and will change us as we pray over the next 40 days. May our focus on prayer teach us to pray and inspire us to pray as we see God show up and answer our prayers.

Pray Hard! Pray Boldly! Pray Together!

Expecting Great Things From God,

Steve Yarrow

Lead Pastor, Adult Groups

And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. Pray then like this:

‘Our Father in heaven,

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w P R E P A R A T I O N

Pre-Group

Do you long for a deeper

connection to God through

prayer? What would it look

like for you to pray with

power and effectiveness?

Throughout this series we

will answer those questions

by looking at Jesus’ teaching

on prayer. Jesus was the

Master Teacher, and He gives

us the model for how to pray.

Within this model we find six

Powerful Prayer Principles

that have the potential to

reshape your view of God,

yourself, and prayer.

Before you meet with your

group, take time during

the week to answer the

questions in the response

box to the right. Consider

these questions daily. Spend

time talking with the Father

before your meeting. Ask

Him to prepare your heart

for your discussion and

allow Him to reveal His

truth to you.

What or who are you praying for this week?

How is God answering your prayers?

What is He revealing to you?

MY PR AYERS THIS WEEK

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Truth in Life

+ Prayer draws me close to the Father’s heart and His love for me.

Your relationship with your earthly father was (and is) more significant than you may realize.

For some, the word “father” brings up good memories of a father who was supportive, loving,

encouraging, and self-sacrificing. For others, however, the word “father” takes on a different

meaning. Maybe their father was distant or altogether disengaged. Perhaps he wasn’t around or

left the family long ago. Some even experienced abuse from their father, verbally or physically.

The truth is, all earthly fathers, whether good or bad, fail us at some point. But Jesus came to

redeem our understanding of “father.” God the Father is always faithful, and He desires a love

relationship with you. He never fails to love you. Prayer draws you close to the Father’s heart

and His love for you.

How have you experienced God’s love in prayer? Give examples.

What words do you associate with “father”?

But when you pray

B U T W H E N

Y O U P R A Y

A N D P R A Y T O

Y O U R FAT H E R

W H O I S I N

S E C R E T

go intoyour room and shut the door

But when you pray

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w L E A R N I N G F R O M T H E M A S T E R

The Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5-7) is Jesus’ teaching on what it looks like to live with God and for His kingdom. In Matthew 6:5-13, Jesus teaches on one of the most essential aspects of a life with God—prayer. To do this, He gives instructions on how to pray (vv.5-8) and a model for prayer (vv.9-13).

Overall, Jesus is concerned about the condition of our hearts.1 And our posture in prayer is influenced by the condition of our hearts. That’s why Jesus instructs His followers to pray: 1) Regularly, 2) Secretly, 3) Naturally, and 4) Believingly.2 Prayer isn’t about putting on a show for others to see or praying as a repetitious ritual to get God to hear you.3 It’s about coming before God.

When Jesus gives the model for prayer, He first tells us to pray to God as “our Father.” Jesus uses the everyday Aramaic term “Abba,” which is the word Jewish children used to refer to their earthly fathers.4 “Abba” conveys the warmth, intimacy, and care of a loving father.5 This would have been radical in Jesus’ day, because “Abba” is a word of relationship, and it’s a relationship based on love. Jesus is telling His followers that this is the kind of relationship we can have with God, our Father.

1 For passages where Jesus addresses the heart, see Matt. 15:18-20; 22:37; Mark 7:21; Luke 12:33-34; Heb. 4:12-13 (the ‘word of God’ is understood to be Jesus, see John 1:1-14).2 Charles Price, Matthew: Can Anything Good Come Out of Nazareth?, Focus on the Bible Commentary (Fearn, Great Britain: Christian Focus Publications, 1998), 103–104.3 Jesus exposes the true motives of someone who prays more in public than in private. This person is more concerned about praise from men and their reputation than in God’s approval. He also exposes the misconception that the length of our prayers makes them more effective. Jesus called this pagan because pagan gods required incantation and repetition in order to be appeased. D. A. Carson, “Matthew,” in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Matthew–Mark (Revised Edition), ed. Tremper Longman III and David E. Garland, vol. 9 (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2010), 199-200.4 Crossway Bibles, The ESV Study Bible (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008), 1831.5 Ibid.

Consider the four ways Jesus instructs us to pray. Which way is most challenging for you? Why?

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w P O W E R F U L P R A Y E R P R I N C I P L E

The first Powerful Prayer Principle we see in Jesus’ teaching on prayer is love. If you

are a child of God, you have a love relationship with the Father. Prayer is your way of

accessing this love relationship in a powerful way. Prayer works because your Father

loves you.

w C H A N G E D B Y P R A Y E R

Praying Honestly

Jesus teaches us to pray to the Father honestly. You should give God who you really are. If

you’re struggling, pray. If you have doubts, pray. Even if you’re mad at God, pray. God is big

enough to handle the real you. The first step towards real life change is to be real with God

Explain the following statement in your own words: “Prayer works because your Father loves you.”

How would your prayer life be different if you saw it as an expression of your love relationship with the Father?

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week one | L O V E

in prayer. Admit your weakness. Acknowledge your small faith. Confess your sin. Like David,

ask God to search the depths of your heart to reveal these things (Ps. 139:23-24).

Praying Expectantly

Jesus also teaches us to pray expectantly to God. He even goes a step further to say that God rewards those who pray to Him! This is the kind of relationship Jesus invites us to have with the Father. Do you ever feel like your prayers just hit the ceiling and bounce back to you? Jesus assures you that the Father knows you and knows what you need before you ask.6 He hears you when you call to Him, and He answers you.

6“Prayer is not for the purpose of informing God. Rather, prayer expresses to him (and to ourselves) the fact of our impotence to meet our own needs.” Stuart K. Weber, Matthew, vol. 1, Holman New Testament Commentary (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2000), 80.

What keeps you from being real with God in prayer?

What does it mean to pray with expectation?

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Journal Time+ Take five minutes to complete the Reflection and Response section below.

Reflection ResponseH O W I S G O D S P E A K I N G T O . . .

Y O U R H E A R T ?

Y O U R P E R S P E C T I V E ?

Y O U R A C T I O N S ?

What is He teaching you?

In what ways is He reshaping how you see Him? How you see yourself ?

What is He calling you (or your group) to do?

Prayer Prompt+ Pray aloud as a group. In your prayer, do the following:

Thank God for His love and the love relationship you have with Him.

Praise Him for specific ways you see Him expressing His love in your life.

Ask the Father to help you believe and pray with bigger faith and expectation.

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ANS WERED P RAYER S

How did you see God answer your prayers th is week?

1 T H I N G for 1 M I N U T E at 1 O ' C L O C K each day

SUNDAY:

MONDAY:

TUESDAY:

WEDNESDAY:

THURSDAY:

FRIDAY:

SATURDAY:

P 4 0 C H A L L E N G E

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Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.

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Pre-Group

Jesus, the Master Teacher,

teaches us to pray to God

our Father, who loves us,

hears us, and answers us.

Through Him we have access

to God the Father. “I am

the way, and the truth, and

the life. No one comes to

the Father except through

me” (John 14:6) [Emphasis

added]. Because of your love

relationship with the Father,

your prayers have power.

Love is the first Powerful

Prayer Principle, and it’s the

foundation of prayer. From it

all other principles flow; all

prayer begins and ends with

the Father’s love for you.

Before your group meets,

spend time with the Father.

Ask Him to prepare your

heart for your discussion

and allow Him to reveal His

truth to you.





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week two | F A I T H

Truth in Life+ I pray with faith that God can do anything.

How we see God determines how we pray. If we believe that God is big, we will pray big

prayers. If we believe that God is small, we will pray small prayers. So, how we see God is

important because it shows us the size of our faith. Jesus says that faith matters when we

pray. Our faith moves the Father to act. Praying with confidence that God can do anything

really does make a difference.


Jesus first teaches His disciples how they should approach God—as Father. Next, He teaches them what the Father is like. Jesus tells us that the Father is “in heaven.” Jesus gives us the Father’s place (or position)—He is the Sovereign Ruler over His creation. All of life begins and ends with God. He brought the universe into being. He calls the sun out by morning and knows every star by name. Our finite minds cannot comprehend how truly majestic God is. Nothing is impossible for Him; He can do anything.

How does someone with big faith pray? How does someone with small faith pray?

Why does praying with faith make a difference?

OurFather inheaven

O U R FAT H E R

I N H E A V E N

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But the Father also knows His creation intimately. Later in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says that God not only rules His creation, but He cares for it as well. He feeds the birds; He dresses the lilies in splendor (Matt. 6:26-30). The same God who “measured the waters in the hollow of His hand” (Isa. 40:12) knows your every thought—your fears, your desires, your concerns, your hopes.

Jesus also teaches His disciples that God is holy. To say “hallowed be your name” expresses a desire for God to be revered and worshiped for who He is. “Hallowed” is a way to say that God is “holy.”1 To be holy is to be set apart. And God is set apart from the world that He created because He is perfect in His character and actions.2 There simply is no one person or thing like God in all the universe.

1 “The verb hallowed means ‘to sanctify, make holy.’ Because the grammatic form here is unknown in English, we tend to take this line in Jesus’ prayer as a statement of fact, when, in fact, it is a request. Jesus was teaching us to make the request, ‘Lord, may your name be sanctified.’ Why should we pray to God that he would sanctify his own name? Probably as a reminder to ourselves to live a life that advertises a holy God.” Stuart K. Weber, Matthew, vol. 1, Holman New Testament Commentary (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2000), 81.2 On the holiness of God, A.W. Tozer writes, “Holy is the way God is. To be holy He does not conform to a standard. He is that standard. He is absolutely holy with an infinite, incomprehensible fullness of purity that is incapable of being other than it is. Because He is holy, His attributes are holy; that is, whatever we think of as belonging to God must be thought of as holy.” A. W. Tozer, The Knowledge of the Holy: The Attributes of God, Their Meaning in the Christian Life (San Francisco: HarperOne, 2009), 116.

How does seeing God as sovereign affect the way you pray?

Define “holy” in your own words.

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The second Powerful Prayer Principle that Jesus teaches us is faith. The author of Hebrews tells us that without faith it is impossible to please God. He goes on to say that “whoever would draw near to God must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who seek Him” (11:6). Did you know that it brings God pleasure when you come to Him with your needs? But that’s not all. The Father rewards you when you come to Him in faith! If you want to feel the Father’s pleasure, come to Him with faith that believes He can do anything, and He will reward you.


Praying to Praise

Jesus wants you to see the Father as holy. He is set apart and worthy of your worship. To make God’s name “hallowed” is to use your life as a way to show others what God is like. That means using every area of your life to bring God glory.3 The Apostle Paul tells us that, “whether you eat or drink, whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Cor. 10:31). With every new day, you can bring God glory in countless ways. By how you treat your co-worker. By washing dishes. By the way you do your taxes.

You can bring God glory through your prayers. The power of your prayers doesn’t come from what you say or how you say it. The power comes from God, who is sovereign (all-powerful) and holy (good). The bigger your faith, the bigger your prayers will be. The more you believe that God can do anything, the more you will come to Him with even the smallest requests.

Faith to believe God is like this changes the way you pray.

What does the fact that God rewards those who pray with faith tell you about Him?

3 To glorify God is to give Him “weighty importance and shining majesty that accompany [His] presence” (Chad Brand et al., eds., “Glory,” Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary [Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2003], 655.). You bring God glory when you praise Him and recognize His importance in your life and the weight your relationship with Him carries with you.

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The Father’s Delight

Did you know that God delights in you when you come to Him in prayer? He is your Father.

And like a good father, He wants to meet your needs. Because God is sovereign, He can do

anything. Do you believe that He can do the impossible for you? Because God is holy, you can

trust that how He answers your prayers will turn out for your good. Do you believe that God

is good? That, as your Father, He will never do anything but work for your good?

God’s answers to your prayers may not be the ones you expect, and they may not come when

you want them to. But God is holy and good, which means that He is trustworthy. He is your

Father and He delights to answer your prayers. But He will always answer you in His own

creative way and in His perfect timing, not yours.

Think of someone who lives to bring God glory. Describe them.

How does it make you feel that the Father delights in you when you come to Him in prayer?

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Y O U R H E A R T ?






Prayer Prompt+ Split up into groups of 2-3 people and pray for the following:

Pray for the impossible. What impossible things are you asking God to do?

Pray for faith. Where do you want God to give you more faith?

Pray in faith. What truth about God do you need to declare?



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SUNDAY:

MONDAY:

TUESDAY:

WEDNESDAY:

THURSDAY:

FRIDAY:

SATURDAY:


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Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

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Pre-Group

Love and faith work together in prayer. Love establishes your relationship with the Father. The Father loves you with the same intensity with every breath you take. Love gives you security and trust in your relationship with the Father. You can come to Him about anything and at any time. Faith is your response to the Father’s love. Because you have a relationship with the Father, you can pray in faith that He hears you and answers you. And God delights in you when you come before Him.

Prayer isn’t passive. It’s active. It’s going before God with your needs. But it’s also going before God in order to get on His page. He has a plan for your life, and prayer is a way to connect with the Father and discover what He is doing and where He is taking you. Before your group meets, take time to go before the Father. Ask Him to prepare your heart for your discussion and allow Him to reveal His truth to you as you learn what it means to surrender to Him through prayer.




MY PR AYERS THI S WEEK

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week three | S U R R E N D E R

Truth in Life+ Prayer is about surrendering my plans for God’s plans.

We all make plans. A couple sits at the kitchen table putting together an itinerary for their summer vacation. A college student mulls over which career path to pursue. A pregnant mother changes the guest room into a nursery. We think about the future a lot, whether it’s later that afternoon or years down the road. What will it look like? What do I need to do? What do I need to change?

Yes, we are planners. God is a planner, too. He planned out all your days long before you came into being. “Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be” (Ps. 139:16 [NIV]). God is the Author of your life’s story. And your story is happening within another story, God’s kingdom story. God has a plan for your life, and it’s greater than you could ever imagine.

Jesus teaches us what it’s like to live in God’s kingdom story. You have a role to play in a grand story that’s bigger than yours and better than one you could write for yourself. When you pray, you give your “Yes” to God and get on the same page as Him. Prayer is about surrendering your plans for

God’s plans.

Do you consider yourself a "planner"? Why or why not?

How does it make you feel to know that God has planned all your days before you ever came into being? What does that say about God?

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Y O U R

K I N G D O M

C O M E

O N E A R T H

A S I T I S

I N H E A V E N

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In teaching His disciples to pray, Jesus gives six petitions that we should pray. The first is

for God’s name to be hallowed. Jesus calls us to revere and worship God as holy. Next, Jesus

gives two more petitions we should pray that are related to God’s kingdom. The second

petition is “Your kingdom come.” This isn’t a prayer for God’s kingdom to come as if it hasn’t

arrived. God’s kingdom already arrived when Jesus first came.1 Rather, this is a prayer for the

advancement of God’s kingdom on earth. God’s kingdom advances as Jesus reigns in the lives

of believers in His church. This happens when believers reflect His love and obedience, live

to serve Him and others, and declare the good news of God’s kingdom.

The third petition is “Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”2 As believers, God has

told us how to live for Him and His purposes. The Bible and the indwelling Holy Spirit reveal

God’s will. Jesus’ prayer is that God’s will, which is done perfectly in heaven, would be done

likewise on earth. It’s a desire for God’s kingdom to be fully realized here until Jesus returns

to establish it forever. The focus of the first three petitions is on God’s name, kingdom, and

will. They are a plea for God’s people to make His name holy, surrender to His reign, and

do His will.3 This is what it looks like to be a citizen of God’s kingdom—to pursue holiness,

surrender, and obedience.4

1 Jesus acknowledged the arrival of God’s kingdom when He inaugurated His ministry with the declaration: ““The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:15).

2“Christians are to strive to know the will of God for their lives (Ps. 143:10; Eph. 5:17; Col. 1:9; cp. Rom. 1:10). Christians are to discern God’s will through prayer (Col. 1:9) and also pray that God’s will for the world be done (Matt. 6:10). Jesus counted those who did God’s will as His own family members (Matt. 12:50). They, like Jesus, will live forever (1 John 2:17).” Chad Brand et al., eds., “Will of God,” Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2003), 1673.

3 D. A. Carson, “Matthew,” in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Matthew–Mark (Revised Edition), ed. Tremper Longman III and David E. Garland, vol. 9 (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2010), 205.

4“What is the relationship of the church to the kingdom? On the one hand, the church is a ‘pilot plant’ of the kingdom of God. It is not simply a collection of individuals who are forgiven. It is a “royal nation” (1 Pet. 2:9), in other words, a counterculture. The church is to be a new society in which the world can see what family dynamics, business practices, race relations, and all of life can be under the kingship of Jesus Christ. On the other hand, the church is to be an agent of the kingdom. It is not only to model the healing of God’s rule but it is to spread it. […] To spread the kingdom of God is more than simply winning people to Christ. It is also working for the healing of persons, families, relationships, and nations; it is doing deeds of mercy and seeking justice. It is ordering lives and relationships and institutions and communities according to God’s authority to bring in the blessedness of the kingdom.” Timothy Keller, Ministries of Mercy: The Call of the Jericho Road, third ed. (Phillipsburg, New Jersey: P & R Publishing, 2015), 54.

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The third Powerful Prayer Principle is surrender. It’s what the Christian life is all about—

surrendering your will for God’s will. It’s daily laying down your life in exchange for the life

God has prepared for you. “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good

works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (Eph. 2:10). Prayer

puts you in the posture of surrender. It’s holding your future with open hands, not closed

fists. It’s saying, “God, take my life and use it for your kingdom purposes.” If you want to

get on God’s page, you have to surrender to Him.

In what ways do you live for God’s kingdom to come in your life?

What keeps you from surrendering your will to God’s? What makes you want to surrender your will to God’s?

Describe what it means to be a citizen of God’s kingdom in your own words.

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Getting on God’s Page

You can’t pray “Your will be done” sincerely without first surrendering yourself to God. If you

want to get on God’s page, you must accept whatever He wants for your life. The Father has a

role for you to play in His kingdom, and He will reveal it to you. As much as prayer is about

talking to God, it’s also about listening to Him. God speaks to you through Scripture, the Holy

Spirit, and others. How is God revealing His will to you? What is He saying? When you listen,

God speaks. When He speaks, you will see how to get on His page. Knowing this will give you

confidence when you pray.

What’s one thing you can do to be a better listener in prayer?

What would it look like for you to be on God’s page more in your life?

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Y O U R H E A R T ?






Prayer Prompt+ As a group, pray for the following:

Pray to surrender. What is God asking you to surrender to Him?

Pray to hear. Where is God speaking into your life right now?

Pray with confidence. Where is God leading you to step forward in confidence?



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SUNDAY:

MONDAY:

TUESDAY:

WEDNESDAY:

THURSDAY:

FRIDAY:

SATURDAY:


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Give us this day, our daily bread

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Pre-Group

Prayer is active, not

passive. The Father reveals

His love to you, and He

gives you faith to pray

with confidence. You pray

to get on God’s page and

be obedient to His will

for your life. When you

do this, you assume a role

in His grand, kingdom

story. And when you live

for God’s kingdom, you

live the life God always

intended for you. Before

your group meets, go

before the Father in prayer.

Ask Him to prepare your

heart for your discussion

and allow Him to reveal

His truth to you about

how He meets your needs

in every new day.





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week four | R E Q U E S T

Truth in Life+ God gives me what I need to live for Him today.

Jesus was right. Each new day brings with it new troubles. Do you sometimes wonder whether

you have what it takes to get through the day? Bills are due. Your children need your attention

and care, and you’ve already put in a full work week. That exam is tomorrow, and you are

swamped with other responsibilities. You could probably fill in the blank with a dozen or more

needs you have right now.

To be human is to need. God created us to depend on Him to supply our needs. The Father

knows you have needs, and He wants to meet them. Our God is a God of Provision. Throughout

Scripture, from the garden in Genesis to the new heavens and new earth in Revelation, God

shows us that He provides for His people. God gives you what you need to live for Him today.

There is no need too big or small that God can’t meet in your life.

What need did you wake up with this morning?

What does it say about your relationship with God that you were created to depend on Him?

G I V E U S

T H I S D A Y

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When Jesus teaches His disciples to pray for God to “give us this day our daily bread,” He directs their attention to food, a basic necessity for life. Bread was an essential part of one’s diet in Jesus’ day. We have relatively easy access to food today. We can go to the grocery store, McDonald’s, or the convenience store. When Jesus walked the earth, food was scarce. And most first-century laborers worked for a daily wage, not a salary. Break a leg or fall ill and you and your family risked going hungry or worse.1

The fourth petition that Jesus gives is for God to supply our daily needs. Jesus doesn’t teach us to pray for something extravagant. No, He prays for God the Father to meet our basic needs one day at a time. And, really, that’s what we need—for God to take care of today because all we can really handle is today. Later in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus expounds on our relationship with the Father. He tells us that God knows exactly what we need and provides for even the smallest need.2

1 D. A. Carson, “Matthew,” in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Matthew–Mark (Revised Edition), ed. Tremper Longman III and David E. Garland, vol. 9 (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2010), 205.2 To illustrate this truth about the Father, Jesus points His followers to look at the birds in the air and the flowers in the field (Matt. 6:25-34). They do nothing for God, and, yet, He satisfies the bird’s hunger and makes the flowers beautiful beyond comparison. Then, Jesus asks, “Are you not of more value than they?” (v.26). Of course, this is a rhetorical question. Birds don’t bear God’s image. Neither do flowers. You do. By that fact alone, you are far more valuable to God.

Do you pray for God to meet your basic needs? What are they?

How would you see life and its concerns differently if you focused more on today than the future?

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The fourth Powerful Prayer Principle is request. Jesus promises you that the Father responds to your requests and gives you good things (Matt. 7:7-11). Your Heavenly Father is 10,000 times better than the world’s best father ever could be. So, just imagine the good things He will give you when you ask Him.3 Because the Father loves you and cares for you, He welcomes you to come to Him with your needs. You can be confident that His answer will be a gift for your ultimate good.


Persistent Prayer

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you” (Matt. 7:7). Ask. Seek. Knock. Those three words point to persistence in prayer. That’s what Jesus calls us to be when we go to the Father. God will answer your prayers in His perfect timing. If God’s answer for you is “not yet,” don’t stop praying. Pray with persistence through the waiting. Remember that

God is at work in your heart, even in the waiting. Change so often happens in the waiting.

3 James tells us that we don’t have because we don’t ask (James 4:2). When you give God your requests, you give Him the opportunity to show up and provide for you. Prayer isn’t pestering God. He isn’t annoyed when we ask Him for things. Trust that God wants to provide for you.

In what ways can God’s answer be a gift, even when it’s one that you don’t want or expect?

What are some practical ways to be persistent in your prayers?

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The Promise of Prayer

God’s answers are always what’s best for you. As your Father, He never does anything to harm

you. He will never honor a bad request because He knows better than you what’s best for you.4

Yes, His answers may not always be what you want to hear. Sometimes God says “no” or “not

yet.” The promise of prayer is that the Father will always answer you for your good and at just

the right time.

What’s one thing you can do this week to remember the promise of prayer?

4 Sometimes we have unrealistic expectations in our prayers or we pray for the wrong things. The truth is, we aren’t fully aware of how much our sinful self affects our prayers. Because of this, we are often unprepared for the answers God gives us. When God answers our prayers in unexpected ways, we sometimes wonder how they are really “answers.” They only seem to come with more pain, more waiting, or more trouble. The truth is, God’s best gifts often come to us in unexpected ways that include a path of suffering or sorrow before there is joy. Jon Bloom, “The Unexpected Answers of God,” Desiring God, July 11, 2014, https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/the-unexpected-answers-of-god (accessed January 8, 2018).

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Y O U R H E A R T ?






Prayer Prompt

Make a list of personal requests for daily needs.

Pray for them out loud as a group.



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FORGIVENESS

and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.

For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

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week five

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SS w P R E P A R A T I O N

Pre-Group

So far, we have seen that the power of prayer rests on your love relationship with the Father. The Father shows His love for you by giving you eternal life through His Son, by caring for your daily needs, and by giving you a new story to live in—His kingdom story. The life you were always meant to live is a life with God, and prayer is the path to living daily with the Father.

Prayer isn’t a duty. It’s a delight. Our joy in prayer is that we can experience the treasure of knowing the Father right here, right now. Prayer is a way to live in communion with God, our Greatest Treasure. Prayer isn’t just something you do with words. It’s a way to behold God in your everyday. Even in the seemingly mundane, humdrum of life, you can meet with the Father as Jesus did.1

Before your group meets, go before the Father in prayer. Ask Him to prepare your heart for your discussion and allow Him to reveal His truth to you.




MY PR AYERS THI S WEEK

1 “While Jesus certainly prayed vocally both in private and public, these utterances did not encompass the fullness of His relationship with His Father. A fuller reading of the Gospels shows that Jesus lived in constant communion with the Father even when no words were used. This fuller understanding of prayer is often perplexing to those who have only known prayer as communication.” Skye Jethani, With: Reimagining the Way You Relate to God (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2011), 113.

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week f ive | F O R G I V E N E S S

Truth in Life+ Confession seeks forgiveness from God and the ability to forgive others.

The heart of the gospel is the forgiveness of sin. Jesus died to pay the penalty we deserve for our sin. In return, we are forgiven and made right before God. But that’s not all. The wonder of the gospel is that Jesus did more than just cancel the debt of sin. He brought us into the family of God. Now, we get to enjoy life with God as our Father. That changes the way we relate to God.

Gospel living is a life lived in light of forgiveness. The gospel reminds us of the depths of our sin but also the depths of God’s grace. How often is the gospel the driving force behind our thoughts and actions? If we’re honest, we can be gospel amnesiacs. We forget that we are, moment-by-moment, ever in need of God’s grace. Why? Because sin still dwells in us. And that sin hardens our hearts to hide sin and withhold forgiving others.

What are we to do? Jesus teaches us that confession is the cure for gospel amnesia. Confession reminds you that sin is your biggest problem and that Jesus is greatest your solution. Confession in prayer helps you see your sin and forgive others.

Andforgive

Why is it so difficult to forgive sometimes?

Why is it necessary to understand the depths of your sin in order to understand the depths of God’s grace?

us ourdebts

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as we also haveforgiven

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In teaching His disciples to pray, Jesus moves on to a fifth petition. This petition is two-fold:

1) for God to forgive your sin and 2) for God to give you the ability to forgive others. Jesus is

teaching us to bring our sin into the light by confessing it to the Father. He isn’t teaching that

you should daily pray for justification.2 That was already taken care of at the cross. Confession

is your way to appropriate God’s grace into your daily life. It’s saying to God, “I still need help.

Forgive me that I don’t walk as I should. Forgive me and grant me the grace to live for you,

not sin.” Sin doesn’t break your relationship with the Father. You always have that. But sin can

become a road block to your fellowship with God. Confession restores your fellowship with

the Father that sin so often hinders.3

The second part of Jesus’ petition relates to forgiving others. In light of what God has done for

us through Jesus, we should be eager to forgive others. Gospel living is a life filled with gratitude.

Because we have been forgiven much, we forgive much. Jesus goes on to say that if we forgive

others, God will forgive us. Jesus isn’t saying that we earn forgiveness by forgiving others. Rather,

we give witness to our forgiveness by forgiving others. In other words, our forgiving others

evidences how the gospel changes us.4

2 The concept of justification is forensic and “based on the work of Christ upon the cross, whereby a sinner is pronounced righteous by the imputation of the righteousness of Christ.” James White, “Justification,” ed. Chad Brand et al., Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2003), 970. When you are justified, you no longer stand condemned before God because of your sin (Rom. 8:1). Justification is given to those who exercise faith in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ (see Rom. 3:21-31).

3 Crossway Bibles, The ESV Study Bible (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008), 1832.

4 “The change of mind that characterizes our repentance towards God must be a change of mind that characterizes our attitude towards others—particularly those who need our forgiveness.” Charles Price, Matthew: Can Anything Good Come Out of Nazareth?, Focus on the Bible Commentary (Fearn, Great Britain: Christian Focus Publications, 1998), 108.

What sins are blocking your fellowship with the Father currently?

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The fifth Powerful Prayer Principle is forgiveness. The truth is, sin will continue to be a problem in your life. That means you will always be in need of God’s grace and forgiveness. You are a grace work-in-progress, and the Apostle Paul promises us that He “who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ” (Phil. 1:6). That means that you daily need to confess your sin and pray for a heart to forgive others as God

continues to shape you more into the image of His Son.5


Prayer Blockers

The goal of sin is to keep you from the Father. Just as Adam and Eve hid from God in shame

after they sinned, your natural inclination is to run from God (and not to Him) when you sin.

Describe what a life filled with gratitude looks like.

How does it encourage you to know that you are a “grace work-in-project” that God is not finished with?

5 The purpose of the Christian life is to become more and more like Christ. God’s work in you is to use your life and relationships to shape you in Christlikeness (see Rom. 8:29).

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That, or you downplay or try to ignore the sin you see. Unconfessed sin is a prayer blocker,

because it turns you from God, not to him. The solution, then, is confession. It’s turning back

towards God to acknowledge your sin, repent of it, and ask for forgiveness. Confession allows

God to show His grace and bring you back to Him.

Another prayer blocker is an unforgiving heart. To truly believe the gospel is to see your sin

for what it is (your greatest problem) and to see Jesus for who He is (your greatest solution).

When you refuse to forgive those who have sinned against you, you diminish what Jesus has

done for you. An unforgiving heart holds on and focuses on the wrong done. A grace-filled

heart lets go and focuses on God’s love, which is most clearly seen at the cross.

Forgiveness is, Forgiveness is Not

It’s important to understand what forgiveness is and what it is not. Forgiveness is: 1) a choice,

2) an act that makes you look like Jesus, 3) a refusal to use the weapons of anger, vengeance,

and retaliation, 4) giving up your right to get even, or 5) saying that you will not hurt someone

for hurting you. Forgiveness is not: 1) minimizing the offense, 2) excusing what happened, 3)

denying the hurt, or 4) subjecting yourself to continued abuse from others.

What’s one thing you can do this week to focus on God’s love and forgive rather than focus on the wrong done to you?

Who is someone you need to forgive? Who is someone you need to seek forgiveness from?

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Y O U R H E A R T ?






Prayer Prompt

Spend time in private prayer, asking God to see forgiveness as He sees it.

What is He revealing to you? Whom do you need to forgive?

Then, pray together as a group.

What one area of forgiveness can you pray for with others?



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And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

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Pre-Group

Prayer is about connecting to the Father. It’s a way to commune with Him anywhere and at any time. This is the kind of love relationship you have with the Father. He is available to you, and He is pleased when you come to Him. Your relationship with the Father is safe and secure. It’s safe, because God is trustworthy. He will never act outside of His perfectly loving character. It’s secure because nothing will ever be able to

separate you from His love.1

The Father knows what you need. And out of His goodness, He works to meet your needs. He is holy and will never do anything to harm you. The Father sovereignly reigns over the universe He created, which means there is no circumstance that is beyond His control. He has a story for your life better than any story you could write for yourself if you had all the control. When we surrender control of our lives to Him, we start to enjoy the life we were meant to live—a life with the Father.

Before your group meets, go before the Father in prayer. Ask Him to prepare your heart for your discussion and allow Him to reveal His truth to you.




MY PR AYERS THI S WEEKERANCE

1 You have unmatched security in your relationship with the Father. If you’re His child, there is nothing you can do nor can anything be done to you to keep you from the Father. “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 8:37-39).

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Truth in Life

+ Prayer is a weapon that keeps me from sin and its stronghold.

We walk into battle every day. Some days don’t feel like a fight. Life seems to be going just fine. But there are days when the battle is intense, and we feel under assault. Temptations come, and, despite our love for God and a desire to do His will, we feel the pull towards sin. The battle against sin is real, and becoming a Christian doesn’t excuse us from the fight. Actually, being a Christian makes us more aware of the fight. The Apostle Paul once reflected on the inner tension he experiences in the war against sin and his flesh. Eugene Peterson paraphrases his words in Romans 7:21-23:

It happens so regularly that it’s predictable. The moment I decide to do good, sin is there to trip me up. I truly delight in God’s commands, but it’s pretty obvious that not all of me joins in that delight. Parts of me covertly rebel, and just when I least expect it, they take charge.2

How do you fight the sin that’s still in you? By praying. Prayer is a weapon that keeps you from sin and its stronghold. It keeps you from falling into temptation. It keeps you from forgetting whose you are. You belong to the Father. No longer do you belong to sin. Jesus’ victory at the

cross released you from sin’s stronghold. Now, you can live to please God, not sin.

What words would you use to describe the battle against sin?

fromevil2 Eugene H. Peterson, The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language (Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress, 2005), Rom. 7:21–23.

How would you explain that prayer is a weapon to a non-believer?

fromevil

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Jesus’ final petition addresses the battle against sin and evil. God never tempts us to sin.3 It isn’t in His character because He is holy. So, the prayer “lead us not into temptation,” is a prayer for God to not allow us to give into sin.4 It’s a prayer for direction. God will always give you a way of escaping temptation. Nevertheless, sin is subtle, and it tempts you in deceitful ways. Therefore, Jesus teaches you to pray daily and often for the Father to move you towards Himself and away from temptation and sin.5

Jesus teaches His disciples to pray for God to “deliver us from evil.” This is a prayer of protection. Sin never makes good on its promises. It promises life but gives death. It promises happiness but makes us miserable. It promises satisfaction but leaves us discontented. Behind sin’s deceit is an enemy that doesn’t want us to live the life God designed for us. He doesn’t want us to Jesus frees you in the fight against sin. God’s promise in Christ is that we can live victoriously and be free from sin’s stronghold. Not because of what we do, but because of what Jesus has done for us (1 Cor. 15:55-57).

3 “Although God never directly tempts believers (James 1:13), He does sometimes lead them into situations that ‘test’ them (cf. Matt. 4:1; also Job 1; 1 Pet. 1:6; 4:12). In fact, trials and hardships will inevitably come to believers’ lives, and believers should ‘count it all joy’ (James 1:2) when trials come, for they are strengthened by them (James 1:3–4).” Crossway Bibles, The ESV Study Bible (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008), 1832.4 The Bible tells us that there is never a situation where sin is our only option (1 Cor. 10:13). The only reason we sin is because we choose to sin. We have no one to blame but ourselves when we give in to it.5 God makes you fit for the battle against sin. In Ephesians 6:10-18, Paul gives us the picture of the believer’s spiritual armor. When we put on this armor, we ready ourselves for the battle against sin and evil.

Define sin in your own words. What is it? How does it work?

Where do you need more protection against sin in your life right now?

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The sixth Powerful Prayer Principle is deliverance. You can’t escape sin’s presence in your

life. It still dwells in you, and you will have to contend with it daily until you die or Jesus

returns. While you can’t escape sin’s presence, you are free from sin’s power over you. You

have been delivered from living as a slave to sin. Paul tells us believers in Rome that “you

who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching

to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of

righteousness (Rom. 6:17-18) [Emphasis added].


Don’t Be Foolish

God gives you wisdom, but sin makes you foolish. Prayer puts you in a position to receive God’s

wisdom. In the battle against sin, don’t be a fool. Paul Tripp highlights four aspects of foolishness

that we should be on the lookout for in ourselves. The first aspect is the foolishness of self-

centeredness. We were made for something bigger than ourselves, but sin reduces your life to be

all about you. The second aspect is the foolishness of self-deception. We can be guilty of making

ourselves look better off than we really are. The third aspect is the foolishness of self-sufficiency.

We still believe the lie that we can live independently and self-sufficiently without God more

than that we’d like to admit. The fourth aspect is the foolishness of self-righteousness. We can’t

truly appreciate the gospel of grace if we think ourselves better than others.

What’s one thing you can do this week to declare Christ’s deliverance over the power of sin in your life?

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Experiencing Deliverance

The cross delivers you from the power of sin. That doesn’t mean that there won’t be times when you succumb to temptation. It means that Jesus has delivered you from sin’s ultimate power—

death. So, what do you do in times of temptation when you need deliverance? First, submit yourself to God. Call upon the Father and declare Him Lord of your life. Second, confess any sin that might be causing temptation. Maybe it’s a lack of trust. Maybe it’s lust. Whatever it is, give it to God. Third, renounce any spirit or stronghold. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, proclaim His victory and your freedom because of it. Fourth, follow the Holy Spirit’s directing. The Spirit is your Helper, sent by God to live in you and always turn you toward the Father and away from sin.

Consider the four aspects of foolishness. Which one do you identify with most? Why?

What are some practical ways your group can fight together in the battle against sin?

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Y O U R H E A R T ?






Prayer Prompt+ Pray in groups of 2-3 for the following:

Prayer of Victory for yourself.

Where do you want to see the stronghold of sin broken in your life?

Prayer of Victory for others. Where do you want to see sin’s stronghold broken in someone else’s life?

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Our v is ion is to see Mississ ippi changed one Li fe Change Story at a t ime.

THIS COULD BE THE

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most significant THING THAT HAPPENS

IN YOUR LIFE IN 2018.

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Small Group Study Guide - Pinelake Church