Monday Matters, 12/29/08

Yesterday Mark taught us about Gospel-Centered Praying from Ephesians 3:14-21.  Consider this:

What if the your auto mechanic had only one tool and it was a hammer?  What if your tax accountant didn't have a calculator?  What if your doctor knew how to use a scalpel but not a blood-pressure cuff?  What if a Christian only knew one prayer: "Lord, just bless 'em."  

I added that last one myself because I've prayed weak prayers so many times.  Mark really served us by helping us learn from Paul's prayer in Ephesians 3.   He explained to us:

  1. Why pray? (vv. 14-15)
  2. How to pray? (vv. 16-19)  Paul's prayer includes several "wild card" prayer requests that are applicable to any Christian any time.  Mark showed us two of them:

    REQUEST 1: POWER.  In verse 16 Paul prays that they may be "strengthened with power in their inner being."

    REQUEST 2: INSIGHT.  In verses 18-19, Paul teaches us to pray for others that they might "know the love of Christ."
  3. What happens when we pray? (vv. 20-21)

Mark finished by explaining that a message like this, coming as it does at the end of the year, is like a spiritual check-up.  It is a great opportunity to focus on your plan of spiritual disciplines for the year to come and make sure that three priorities are primary and present:

  1. The gospel!  How are you going to remind yourself of this good news every day?
  2. Scripture!  Do you have a plan, a place, and a time for the intake of God's Word?
  3. Prayer!  Are you praying for others? 

Mark also gave us five practical suggestions for praying:

  1. Use the church directory - pray for one page a day.
  2. Pray for members of your caregroup.  (For members of five15, pray for others in five15).
  3. Come at 7am and join the Saturday Morning Prayer Group.
  4. Print out and keep emails related to prayer so that you can remember to pray.  Or start a prayer journal in a small notebook to keep track of prayer requests and answered prayer.
  5. Keep an eye open during ministry times after church: if one of your friends is requesting prayer, come pray with them.

FOR PARENTS AND TEENS: here are some discussion questions for you to use to evaluate your current practice of prayer:

  • Is prayer a guilt-center for you?  Do you feel  guilty about the frequency, quantity, or quality of your prayers?
  • How often do you pray?   When do you pray?  What (and who) do you pray for?
  • How do you know what to pray?  Where do you get the words that you actually utter to God in prayer?  How Biblical is the language of your prayer?
  • What is the your biggest obstacle related to prayer?  

GIVE SOME ATTENTION TO YOUR PLAN FOR SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINES IN THE COMING YEAR:

  • How would you describe your practice of the spiritual disciplines in 2008? 
  • How do you want to grow to become more consistent?
  • Do you have a plan for reading your Bible in 2009?  What are you going to read?  Do you have a regular time and place set aside?  (laying down on your bed is not recommended!)
  • Is there anything you need to tell me?
Posted on Monday, December 29, 2008 by Steve Whitacre filed under

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