Sunday 19th July 2020 - Prayer
Holy Habits 3 - Prayer
Video:
Worship:
Consider the words of our brand new ‘Holy Habits’ theme song! This is why we are focusing on developing habits that help us to grow closer to God - an adventure not just for the summer, but hopefully a life-long one!
It really helps to keep reminding ourselves that God is good and wants the best for all of us, so let’s worship Him with ‘You are Good’ by Bethel Kids:
Word:
Prayer can be an adventure with God! In prayer we can chat with our heavenly daddy; we can wonder about things and ask questions. We might feel that God is with us and that will help us to stop worrying and to feel joy. We might also sense the mystery of God in our prayer adventures!
Prayer is often seen as something that we have to do quietly or whilst being still, but actually this isn’t a rule! If prayer is communion, conversation, chatting with God then it’s more likely to be an active thing! We can pray whilst we are sitting; perhaps looking up to God, we can prayer walk - chatting to God as we go, we can pray as we run or dance; using the movements of our bodies as part of our response to God. Remember that prayer is a God-breathed gift to us, so if we invite God to meet with us in prayer, we should expect an adventure.
Jesus said in the book of Matthew, ‘My house will be a house of prayer’ (Matthew 21: 13). Jesus wasn’t talking about a building, He was actually talking about each of us because He wants to live inside us. He wants us to pray so that more of Him can live and rule in our lives.
It is really helpful to develop rhythms, so that prayer becomes a normal part of our daily life, to keep us connected to God. It might be that we start out by remembering to pray when we wake up, before we eat (saying grace), before we go to bed etc. Or that we choose to make time to pray after tea (or whenever suits you). You might find it best to pray where it is quiet or you might like to be outside or you may choose to pray whilst exercising etc. It is good to try different ways of praying and connecting with God.
Learning to listen to God is also really important. Read John 4: 24 together. Talk about what this verse says God is? God is spirit. If God is spirit, then it is really good to discover that God gives us all spiritual ears! God intends to talk to us, to communicate to us through our spirit.
As a family, discuss some of the ways we can exercise our spiritual ears or seek to experience God.
· Through God’s word - reading scripture. God’s words are powerful. Reading, meditating and praying the Word has the power to change our mindsets, emotions and circumstances. It is truly our soul food. If we don’t fill ourselves up with God’s Word/food we will look for soul food elsewhere.
· Through chatting with other believers - sharing faith experiences. We are created to communicate – a spirit that speaks. God created us that way. When believers get together and share their personal experiences with God – how He speaks to them and answers prayer – something happens in our spirits. We become strengthened in our inner selves. Good to listen to testimonies at church.
· Through nature - being out in God’s creation, can speak to our spirit. God’s creation reminds us of His character and promises. Ask God to reveal more of Himself to you personally through what He has made.
· Through quiet times - being still, pausing to allow God space. If you are having trouble hearing from God – maybe pull away for a time period from the noise of media, people and distractions and just become still. Turn off the internet or TV to just ponder God. Take 10 minutes daily to just sit and ask God to reveal more of Himself to you.
· Through pictures, visions, dreams and words. God can use our sleep to reveal His thoughts to us. The Scriptures record many occasions where this happened. Or sometimes when we pray and speak to God, He will put pictures in our minds to help our understanding. Or words (or phrases) will be seen in our mind once or repeatedly.
Activity Suggestions:
Some different creative ways of praying:
Using the word PRAY as an acronym can be helpful:
P is for PAUSE
R is for REJOICE / REPENT
A is for ASK
Y is for YES / YIELD
Praying for the World:
Have a map or a globe and some newspapers or internet news - chat together about places in the world that God highlights to you. Pray that “Your Kingdom Come, Your will be done” in Jesus’ name over the countries, cities, places, people that you read about in the news.
Create a family ‘Prayer Board’:
Use a notice board to pin/stick on prayer requests for yourselves and others, remember to look at the notice board together regularly and see which prayers have been answered! Praise God for answered prayers (and you may want to keep a record of these).
‘Visual prayer’
Why not try visual prayer? This involves allowing space to rest and listen to Spirit’s guidance. You might want to use a piece of paper and pens to ‘doodle’ what God brings to mind. This may involve writing if enjoy words, drawing if enjoy art or just creating swirls/doodles etc as spend time praying quietly with God. This can provide quite a personal response time.
Being thankful in prayer:
GodVenture have created this ‘31 ways to be thankful during the Covid-19 Outbreak’. See separate PDF.
Reflection:
Instead of doing lots of talking in this prayer time, going to do some listening. So here are some of the ways that we may know that God is ‘speaking’ to us:
God may give you a picture, like a flash in your mind.
God may give you a word (or phrase) that you see or hear in your mind once, or over and over again.
God may give you a mini-movie that plays in your mind.
You may get an impression, ie; a faint idea crossing your mind or a feeling inside about someone or something. It is usually something you wouldn’t have thought of yourself or an unusual feeling.
Explain that God may use other ways to communicate - if you experience something different you don’t need to be afraid, just talk about it together.
Guide your children through prayer time. Suggest three ‘stages’.
1) Talk to God in prayer about anything on your mind. Sharing the things, people, situations on your mind quietly.
2) Now it’s time to do some listening. Try to clear your mind and see if anything jumps into your mind, then ask “Jesus, what do you want to tell me or show me about this?” Wait quietly for an answer.
3) Then just be still. Try to get really still, way down deep (inside your tummy), and wait on God. See what he says or shows you.
This is something that you can practise - remember when we practise we get better at doing it! God would love us to take an adventure with him in prayer and want to do it more often and to get better at tuning in to being with Him and hearing from Him!