Campus Community | Deeper Week 6

Overview:

Continuing our dive into the Spiritual Formation series called “Deeper” tonight we step into the vital discipline of prayer. Of all of the discipline that we have studied, prayer is the most familiar to most Christians. But regardless of how much we may know about prayer, we can always learn and grow more in this discipline. This is the one discipline that the disciples asked Jesus to actually teach them. Jesus is the primary source to teach us about prayer. Regardless of where we are in this journey called faith, we must be willing, perpetual learners. Jesus not only teaches His followers how to pray but, throughout the Gospels, Jesus modeled what it looks like to pray. Tonight Pastor David mentioned 3 attributes of prayer, Pure, Personal, and Pointed. 

Scriptures:

“Lord teach us to pray”

Luke 11:1

“Very early in the morning while it was still dark, Jesus went to a solitude place & prayed”

Mark 1:35

“Yet the news about him spread all the more, so that crowds of people came to hear him and to be healed of their sicknesses. But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.”

Luke 5:15-16

“And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.”

Matthew 6:5-8

Psalm 139

Quotes:

• “Through intimacy with God, we can be transformed to look more like the Son of God.”
  
• “We are a decent leader because we are a perpetual student.”
  
• “Jesus never asks us to be a part of anything that he himself did not model.”
  
• “Jesus was habitual about needing intimate communion with the Father.”
  
• “Our private habits prepare us for our public reactions.”
  
• “Prayer is not our last resort. It is our first retreat.”
  
• “True prayer is neither a mere mental exercise nor a vocal performance. It is far deeper than that – prayer is a spiritual transaction with the Creator of Heaven and Earth.” —Charles Spurgeon
  
• Prayer is dependent conversation with God” —Martin Luther
  
• “It’s not about doing the right thing, it is about doing the right thing with the right intent. Our intent must be pure.”
  
• “There is value in creating a sacred space with God that you return to time & time again.”
  

Questions:

1. Before going over the prayer definitions from Spurgeon and Luther, how have you previously defined prayer? Has your definition changed after tonight?

2. Is there a Psalm you can think of that emulates one or more of the attributes mentioned tonight? Pure / Personal / Pointed

3. In regard to Pure / Personal / Pointed prayer, which of the three do you think you do the best, which do you think you could grow in? Is there a brother/sister that could walk alongside you in this growth?

4. How do you change your mentality from being impressive to others to allowing God to make an impression?

5. What do you see Jesus teaching you in your personal and pointed time with Him right now in this season of life?

6. Do you make a habit to withdraw, practice solitude, and prioritize prayer? Luke 5:15-16