Praying | When You Pray . . .

๐—ช๐—”๐—ฅ๐—  ๐—จ๐—ฃ

โ€ข What are some of the things you do to see your most important relationships grow?

โ€ข How do you invest in your health or personal growth? Share at least one thing you do weekly in light of this.ย 

โ€ข Who do you run to when youโ€™re in need? How confident are you that this person would help you?ย 


๐—ช๐—ข๐—ฅ๐——

โ€œ๐˜‰๐˜ฆ๐˜ธ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜ฑ๐˜ณ๐˜ข๐˜ค๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ค๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ณ ๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜จ๐˜ฉ๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ด๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ด ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฑ๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ฃ๐˜บ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฎ, ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ ๐˜ธ๐˜ช๐˜ญ๐˜ญ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ท๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฐ ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ธ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ง๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ณ ๐˜๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ ๐˜ช๐˜ด ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ.โ€ ๐— ๐—”๐—ง๐—ง๐—›๐—˜๐—ช ๐Ÿฒ:๐Ÿญ


(Read also ๐— ๐—”๐—ง๐—ง๐—›๐—˜๐—ช ๐Ÿฒ:๐Ÿฑโ€“๐Ÿญ๐Ÿฑ.)


As we practice spiritual disciplines, we not only strengthen our spiritual muscles and become more like Jesus, but more importantly, we grow in our relationship with God. Prayer is one of these and is an essential part of our daily rhythms of grace. When we pray, it is a two-way communication with our Father. It gives us the opportunity to speak to Him, it shows us how He listens intently and patiently, and it allows us to hear from Him, too. Today, let us look at what Jesus said about prayer in His Sermon on the Mount.ย 


๐Ÿญ. ๐—ช๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ป ๐˜„๐—ฒ ๐—ฝ๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐˜†, ๐˜„๐—ฒ ๐˜€๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐—ธ ๐—š๐—ผ๐—ฑ ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—ป๐—ผ๐˜ ๐˜€๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐—ธ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ ๐˜€๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐—ป ๐—ฏ๐˜† ๐—ผ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜€.

โ€œ๐˜ˆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ ๐˜ฑ๐˜ณ๐˜ข๐˜บ, ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ ๐˜ฎ๐˜ถ๐˜ด๐˜ต ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฐ๐˜ต ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ญ๐˜ช๐˜ฌ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฉ๐˜บ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฐ๐˜ค๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ด. ๐˜๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜บ ๐˜ญ๐˜ฐ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฑ๐˜ณ๐˜ข๐˜บ ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ด๐˜บ๐˜ฏ๐˜ข๐˜จ๐˜ฐ๐˜จ๐˜ถ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ข๐˜ต ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฆ๐˜ต ๐˜ค๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ด, ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ต ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜บ ๐˜ฎ๐˜ข๐˜บ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ฃ๐˜บ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ด. ๐˜›๐˜ณ๐˜ถ๐˜ญ๐˜บ, ๐˜ ๐˜ด๐˜ข๐˜บ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ, ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜บ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ท๐˜ฆ ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ค๐˜ฆ๐˜ช๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ช๐˜ณ ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ธ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฅ.โ€ ๐— ๐—”๐—ง๐—ง๐—›๐—˜๐—ช ๐Ÿฒ:๐Ÿฑ


Prayer is part of Jewish culture. But often, people miss the point and purpose of prayer. Some pray aloud in public spaces in order to be seen as obedient and righteous. Jesus gave a reminder that when we pray, we are to seek God our Father. Itโ€™s important for us to know who weโ€™re praying to rather than prioritizing our agenda or how we look to others. In prayer, we humble ourselves before God, seeking His face and letting ourselves be aligned with His will. We can be confident that when we pray, our heavenly Father hears us (1 John 5:14). How did Jesus begin His prayer (Matthew 6:9)?


๐Ÿฎ. ๐—ช๐—ฒ ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐˜€๐—ฒ๐˜ ๐—ฎ๐˜€๐—ถ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ ๐—ฝ๐—น๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐˜๐—ถ๐—บ๐—ฒ ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐—ฝ๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐˜†๐—ฒ๐—ฟ.ย 

โ€œ๐˜‰๐˜ถ๐˜ต ๐™ฌ๐™๐™š๐™ฃ ๐™ฎ๐™ค๐™ช ๐™ฅ๐™ง๐™–๐™ฎ, ๐™œ๐™ค ๐™ž๐™ฃ๐™ฉ๐™ค ๐™ฎ๐™ค๐™ช๐™ง ๐™ง๐™ค๐™ค๐™ข ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ด๐˜ฉ๐˜ถ๐˜ต ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฑ๐˜ณ๐˜ข๐˜บ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ณ ๐˜๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ ๐˜ช๐˜ด ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ค๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ต. ๐˜ˆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ณ ๐˜๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ค๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ต ๐˜ธ๐˜ช๐˜ญ๐˜ญ ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ธ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฅ ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ.โ€ ๐— ๐—”๐—ง๐—ง๐—›๐—˜๐—ช ๐Ÿฒ:๐Ÿฒ


Jesus encouraged the crowds to go to their own rooms and pray in secret. This was not about being secretive in prayer or not letting anyone see them pray. But He was encouraging them to seek God and perhaps even to have a dedicated time and place for prayer. Jesus, throughout the Gospels, can be seen praying early in the morning or late at night to commune with the Father. Because prayer is important to us, we ought to make time for it and set a schedule so that we wonโ€™t neglect or forget to do it. Share about your personal time in prayer and instances when you pray with your church community.


๐Ÿฏ. ๐—ช๐—ฒ ๐—ฝ๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐˜† ๐—ธ๐—ป๐—ผ๐˜„๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐—š๐—ผ๐—ฑ ๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐˜€ ๐˜‚๐˜€ ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—ธ๐—ป๐—ผ๐˜„๐˜€ ๐˜„๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐˜„๐—ฒ ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—ฒ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—ป ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐˜„๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ๐˜€๐—ธ.ย 

โ€œ๐˜ˆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ ๐˜ฑ๐˜ณ๐˜ข๐˜บ, ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฐ ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฐ๐˜ต ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ฑ ๐˜ถ๐˜ฑ ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฑ๐˜ต๐˜บ ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฉ๐˜ณ๐˜ข๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ด ๐˜ข๐˜ด ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜Ž๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฐ, ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜บ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ฌ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ต ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜บ ๐˜ธ๐˜ช๐˜ญ๐˜ญ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ช๐˜ณ ๐˜ฎ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜บ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ฅ๐˜ด. ๐˜‹๐˜ฐ ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฐ๐˜ต ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ญ๐˜ช๐˜ฌ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฎ, ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ณ ๐˜๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜ฌ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฐ๐˜ธ๐˜ด ๐˜ธ๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ต ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ ๐˜ข๐˜ด๐˜ฌ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ฎ.โ€ย ๐— ๐—”๐—ง๐—ง๐—›๐—˜๐—ช ๐Ÿฒ:๐Ÿณโ€“๐Ÿด


Jesus said that we ought not to heap up empty phrases or pray to our Father with many words hoping that we will be heard. He made clear that our Father knows what we need and what is in our hearts before we even pray. This doesnโ€™t mean that we ought to not pray or not use words. We pray with confidence that God hears us and knows what we need when we approach Him and that He will answer us according to His will (1 John 5:14). How does knowing that God hears us change the way you pray?ย 


๐—”๐—ฃ๐—ฃ๐—Ÿ๐—œ๐—–๐—”๐—ง๐—œ๐—ข๐—ก

โ€ข Who do you pray to? How do you usually pray? What is one thing you can start doing to follow the principles Jesus taught about prayer?ย 

โ€ข Do you have a set time and place to pray alone and with your church community? Make a commitment today and ask the Holy Spirit and a trusted friend to help you keep your commitment.ย 

โ€ข Is there anyone in your life who needs to know God is our Father who hears us and knows our needs? How may you encourage this person with what we learned this week?


๐—ฃ๐—ฅ๐—”๐—ฌ๐—˜๐—ฅ

โ€ข Thank God for the gift of salvation through the cross of Jesus Christ, which has adopted us into His family and given us the privilege to come to Him confidently and freely.

โ€ข Pray for the joy and the discipline as you commit to a specific time and place for prayer. Pray that as you pray in secret and with your church community, you will grow in your knowledge of and relationship with God.

โ€ข Ask God to help you lead others to Him. Pray that you may not just focus on your needs, but He would give you a heart for others as you seek and follow Him.