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©2015 Ken Miller Momentum – a ministry of Christ Chapel Bible Church

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WEEK 10: Prayer: A failure to communicate November 12, 2015

For I cried out to him for help, praising him as I spoke. If I had not confessed the sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened. But God did listen! He paid attention to my prayer. Praise God, who did not ignore my prayer or withdraw his unfailing love from me. – Psalm 66:17-‐20 ESV

Perhaps your prayer life is not what you had hoped it would be. Maybe you feel like your prayers get no higher than the ceiling and simply return to you like an unopened letter, having never reached its intended destination. Sometimes the problem isn’t that our prayer went unheard, but that we simply missed the answer because we weren’t listening. We never expected to actually hear from God. There is a give and take to prayer that many of us miss out on. We have turned prayer into a monologue where we do all the talking, never expecting or even hoping to actually hear God respond. We simply want to get what we asked for. But God may have something else in mind. He may be speaking. But are we listening? Take Notes (Teaching):

As you listen to today’s lesson, write down anything significant that you hear. Be ready to share them with the men at your table during the discussion time.


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• Take Part (Discussion): Sometimes God has a way of speaking through others as they provide insights or different applications from the lessons. As you discuss around your table, write down anything you hear that makes an impact on you. Or if you hear another man share a struggle or concern, write it down so that you can pray for him during the week.

• Take Time (Prayer):

Be sure and leave a few minutes for the sharing of prayer requests. Remember, keep your requests short and sweet. Don’t let the details bog you down. We don’t have to understand all that is going on to pray effectively.


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Homework for week 11: Prayer: A model to follow

Read Matthew 6:9-‐13 You are probably very familiar with this passage. But let me encourage you to approach it with a fresh perspective and a willingness to hear what God may have to say to you that you’ve never heard before. This prayer has become all too familiar, to the point that it has lost its impact on us. Most of us can quote it. Some of even use it as a substitute prayer when we can’t think of anything on our own to say. But that was not Jesus’ intent. It was a model. It was provided as a simple illustration to help us understand what constitutes a prayer that God hears and answers. Examine it closely. Think about it deeply. Now go back and read the first part of the same chapter – verses 1-‐8. • What is the context of these verses? What is the issue Jesus seems to be addressing? • How do the hypocrites give? • How do they pray? • What do the prayers of the Gentiles reflect? • So what do you think prompted Jesus’ disciples to ask Him to teach them to pray? • Take a few minutes to examine the answer Jesus gave them. How many parts or sections do you

see in the prayer? Write them down here: -‐ -‐ -‐ -‐ -‐ -‐ -‐ -‐

HOMEWORK


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-‐ -‐ Now off to the side of each one, write down what you think is the significance of each one. Why

is Jesus using each one of these statements and how can we apply them to our prayer lives? Read the following quote:

Jesus would have us remember that prayer is not about us. It is, first and foremost, about God and our relationship with Him as child to Father. We are more than free to come to God with our needs, wants, and even our desires. But we must attempt to bring those needs, wants and desires within His will. – Ken Miler, vesselsofclay.org

• What does it mean to bring our needs, wants and desires within God’s will? • How well do you feel like you do that in your own prayer life? • What is the danger behind coming to God flippantly, too casually or too self-‐centeredly? Read the following quote:

Quality and quantity tend to become the measuring tools by which we define our needs. How much food? What brand of clothes? Does it include eating out three to four days a week? Just what does our “daily bread” cover? Is a house included? If so, in what neighborhood? What about cars? Income? Retirement account? Savings? It is not that any of those things are wrong. The issue is contentment and a confidence in God’s will. – Ken Miller, vesselsofclay.org

• Jesus suggests that we ask God to provide our daily bread. What do you think that means? • In what ways are you guilty of turning wants and desires into needs? • How might your prayer life reflect a lack of contentment with and confidence in God? • What would it look like to have God’s Kingdom come and His will be done in your life and the

circumstances surrounding it right now?

©2015 Ken Miller Momentum, A ministry of Christ Chapel Bible Church

WEEK 10: Prayer: A Failure to Communicate • Prayer is two-‐way communication

1. When God speaks, we should respond Ananias – Acts 9:10-‐17

o God spoke to Ananias o He gave him clear, concise directions and Ananias responded o He gave his immediate impressions and shared his reservations o He was open and honest with God o God continued to dialogue with Ananias o As a result, Ananias obeyed

How does God speak to us today? -‐ Primarily through His Word

o In the Old Testament He spoke through the prophets (Hebrews 1:1-‐2) o But He also spoke through dreams, visions, miraculous signs, inner promptings, and even

an audible voice o In the New Testament, He spoke through His Son

! God revealed His person and character through His Son ! He revealed His will for mankind through His Son ! His main message focused on the salvation made available through Jesus ! But when Hebrews was written, Jesus was ascended

-‐ Through His Spirit in the Scriptures (Hebrews 4:12; 1Corinthians 2:13-‐14; 2 Timothy 3:16-‐17)

o When God speaks to us through His Word, we should respond ! Conviction should promote confession ! Direction may prompt discussion ! Encouragement deserves acknowledgement ! Reproof should result in repentance ! Teaching should encourage questioning

An example – Ephesians 5:25 Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her… What is God saying to us? Love your wife

©2015 Ken Miller Momentum, A ministry of Christ Chapel Bible Church

Result: Conviction Response: Confession I don’t love my wife that way and I am sorry! Result: Direction Response: Discussion I don’t know how to love like You loved. What does that look like? Result: Encouragement Response: Acknowledgement Father, thank You for showing me that I can love my wife better, with your help. Result: Reproof Response: Repentance Father, I want to change, but I don’t know how. I have been selfish and self-‐ centered, but don’t want to stay that way. Result: Teaching Response: Questions So how exactly am I supposed to pull this off? Do you mean I have to be willing to die for her? But what if she isn’t treating me with respect?

2. Waiting for a response from God (Psalm 13:1-‐2; Habakkuk 1:2) -‐ God doesn’t always respond immediately -‐ His response isn’t always what we were expecting -‐ Sometimes we must wait -‐ Other times, we fail to recognize His answer

o “No!” / “Not yet.” / “Not in that way.” / “Yes!” but …

• Getting to know God, not get from God -‐ A big part of prayer is getting to know God -‐ Our knowledge of God influences our prayer lives -‐ Our prayers lives should increase our knowledge of God

The prayer life of Job

-‐ Job was a righteous man who loved God -‐ But he would suffer the loss of all that he held dear -‐ And yet, how did he respond? (Job 1:21) -‐ His knowledge of God influenced his reaction -‐ But then he lost his health and his wife encouraged him to curse God and die -‐ But once again, his knowledge of God influenced his reaction (Job 2:10) -‐ But as time progressed, Job began to lose heart (Job 3:11) -‐ Job began to “dialogue” with God (Job 7:19-‐21; 9:15; 10:1-‐2; 12:13-‐15; 19:25-‐27; 23:8-‐10) -‐ When God answered Job, it got his attention (Job 40:4-‐5; 42:3-‐6) -‐ Job’s conversations with God increased his knowledge of God -‐ He grew in awareness of God’s holiness, power, sovereignty, love, patience, etc. -‐ Job knew God better at the end than he did at the beginning -‐ His conversations with God were less about getting what he wanted than about getting to know

God

The power of our prayers, then, lies not primarily in our effort and striving, or in any technique, but rather in our knowledge of God. – Tim Keller, Prayer

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