I’m still working on my next post – it’s been a crazy week. In the mean time, be sure to check out this post over at Spence Shelton’s blog for a great look at how Ephesians 3 models a powerful, spirit-filled prayer.
Prayer as a Small Group
Reflections on SummitLife leader training, part two – Prayer. By the way, this isn’t my original material. The SummitLife Pastor gives these sessions. I’m just chewing on it for the sake of my own understanding, and hopefully others’ as well. Without further delay, here’s what we learned about Prayer.
Prayer is basically talking with God. But let’s see if we can fill that idea out a little more. As I mentioned last week, the Bible should be paramount in our small groups. So, the natural first step would be to look at what God says about prayer in the Bible.
“do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” – Philippians 4:6-7
We ought to pray in all situations, and God will give us peace.
“I thank God whom I serve, as did my ancestors, with a clear conscience, as I remember you constantly in my prayers night and day.” – 2 Timothy 1:3
Paul, who wrote the biggest chunk of the New Testament, prayed constantly. So should we.
“if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land. Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayer that is made in this place.” – 2 Chronicles 7:14-15
God’s people are to be a people of prayer. God hears prayer. God answers prayer.
“Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving.” – Colossians 4:2
Key word to notice here: steadfastly. Pray your tail off.
“Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” – Hebrews 4:16.
Boo-yow! God, in his own Word, instructs us to pray with confidence! We are loved by the Father, and he hears our pleas. Pray then with confidence, and not in fear or doubt.
So, why pray in small groups?
1. Prayer Keeps our Small Group meetings God centered.
- Prayer is participating in the purposes of God. It corrects our tendency to focus horizontally (that is, on each other) and puts our focus on God (aka, vertically). Graeme Goldsworthy puts it well – “God graciously allows us to be involved in the carrying out of his will. He gives us the privilege of identifying with his will by asking him to do what he has already determined to do.” It’s not trying talk God into doing something he normally wouldn’t – it’s a way of getting after what he already wants to do. God knows the plans he has for us, and boy are they good (Jeremiah 29:11-13).
- Prayer allows us to participate in what the Holy Spirit is doing. In Jude 20, we get this idea that are supposed to pray in the Holy Spirit. John Piper explains it this way – “When you pray in the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God is ‘moving’ you to pray. That is, his power motivates, enables, and energizes your prayer. And when you pray in the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God is ‘guiding’ how you pray and what you pray for. So to pray in the Holy Spirit is to be moved and guided by the Holy Spirit. We pray by his power and according to his direction.” I pray that I would pray like that.
- Prayer expresses our trust in God and not our own ability. Piper says “It is wonderfully suited to express our inadequacy and God’s all-sufficiency.” We pray to God because we need God.
2. Prayer Deepens our Biblical fellowship
- by expressing care. Paul models this in Romans 15:13 – “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.” I’ve found that in the time I spend praying with the men in my small group that when we pray for what God wants to do in a person’s life, the love of Christ is shown in a tangible way.
- by deepening our relationships. When we pray in this way, it serves as a reminder that as Christians, we have a common bond. Our interests in at least this way are permanently and gloriously aligned. Focusing on that solidifies the group on a spiritual level.
Application
So, how do you pray in your small group? Remember first of all that prayer is learned. Don Whitney in his book “Spiritual Disciplines of the Christian Life” says “There is a sense in which prayer needs to be taught to a child of God no more than a baby needs to be taught how to cry. But crying for basic needs is minimal communication, and we must soon grow beyond that infancy.” In other words, prayer does come naturally to a degree, but mature, passionate, Spirit-led prayer is learned. Three ways to do that are
1. Pray the “A.C.T.S.” model
- Adoration: Praise God for who He is
- Confession: Admit that you are a sinner
- Thanksgivig: Thank God for grace and mercy and all He gives us
- Supplication: Then, bring your requests (in confidence!)
2. Meditate on the Scripture
- Spend some time camped out on one passage
- Pray God’s word back to him
3. Pray with others in your group
- There is a lot that can be learned from praying with others
4. Prayer-time Hacks
- Use note cards to record prayer requests. This encourages folks to be succinct in making the request, and gives you more time to pray
- Pray between requests – not after they’ve all been given, but after each one. That way you can focus on each request and not on remembering who you’re praying for and how.
- Break up into smaller groups. My young-marrieds’ group breaks up into guys and girls. It’s a huge difference.
- Pray first, then study the word. This does two things – you don’t run out of time and rush through praying, and it’s a natural setup for praying to God that he would prepare you for studying his Word before you begin that part of your time together.
- Pray throughout the week for the folks in your group – and let them know you are!
- Acknowledge answered prayers, so the folks in your group can rejoice with you!
As always, comments are open.
Understanding the Word of God
These are my reflections on session one two of our SummitLife Leader Training about Bible Interpretation for the Small Group Leader.
If what Paul says about Scripture is true — that is, that “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work” (2 Tim 3:16-17), then Scripture MUST be paramount in our small groups. However, there is a right way and a wrong way to handle the Bible.
One one hand, we are able to handle the Bible with Faith that we can understand the Word of God through his Spirit (1 Cor 2:9-12). This is an amazing thought – that God empowers those who believe to read his Word and to gain meaning and insight from it. Insight about what? Anything that can equip us for “good works.” Perhaps most importantly, we can gain insight into who God is, and what he has done, and our appropriate response. So pray to God that the Spirit will empower you to understand his word, and press on in faith that he will.
However, we should handle the Bible with a measure of humility. After all, we’re sinful creatures. The very same passage that gives us faith and confidence to approach the Word should also caution us to be humble, since it is not through our own ability that we are made wise, but through God’s! Your ability to read and understand scripture isn’t meant to give you a platform for boasting. Rather, it is meant to point you back to the grace and mercy and patience of the Father.
So, what’s the application here?
Find the author’s original meaning. Since the author is the one who ascribes the intended meaning of a passage (and not the reader), this is crucial. Examine the words and grammar of the passage. What is the author actually saying? Also, examine the literary and historical context of the passage. There is very little more dangerous than taking a passage out of context and trying to apply it to your life. Sometimes, the literary context is a few verses or a chapter. You may need to look at the story across several chapters. Also, gaining a better understanding of the “when and where” in a particular passage can contribute to understanding. There are some really cool study Bibles that do a good job of this with chapter introductions and footnotes. Not a bad idea to have one.
Note the genre. There are several kinds of books in the Bible – poetry, narratives, parables, letters, prophecy, proverbs, lamentations, and laws – all different in their uses and interpretations. You wouldn’t read a narrative book the same way as a book of law. It’s helpful to recognize this before studying a passage.
The most important step in studying Scripture is looking for Christ. As the four-part story of the Bible unfolds (creation, fall, redemption, and new creation), Christ is shown in every single part. So, connect the passage you’re reading to that overall story line. How does it reveal the need for a savior? How does it show God’s disposition to provide a Savior? Does the passage foretell of the coming Messiah, or reflect on him? God sends his Son into the world to redeem sinners – what part of that story does the passage you’re studying tell?
There are also a few things you want to avoid when studying the scriptures. Avoid allegorizing the passage and subtracting meaning. Don’t moralize scripture and take it out of the context of the overall story – for example, Jesus feeding the 5,000 isn’t about sharing your lunch. Avoid pulling things out of context. It’s just dangerous. And finally, remember: the Bible has an Old Testament and a New Testament. Both are scripture, so study them both. It’s often helpful to see what a New Testament passage says about an Old Testament passage, or to read a New Testament passage in light of the Old Testament story to which it refers.
One tip that I’ll add is to check out sound, trustworthy commentaries. The commentaries of folks like Matthew Henry and John Calvin have stood the test of time for a reason – they’re onto something. Don’t make the mistake of taking them as Scripture, because they aren’t. But they’re still useful in helping us find meaning when we find ourselves stumped.
Thoughts? Comments? Questions? Snide remarks? Comments are open…
welcome to my new blog
My name is Josh Dyson, and in a few short weeks, I’ll be a small group leader. I’ll be using this blog to jot down some thoughts and ideas that I have throughout the journey in hopes of accomplishing a couple of things. Those goals are as follows:
- A place to write-out the thoughts, ideas, questions and comments I have as I progress through the training stages of becoming a small group leader.
- A central location for finding it all that doesn’t involve a piece of paper or a drawer.
- A way of keeping tabs on my progress and discipline as I’m basically journaling through this process, and on into leading the group itself.
- A record of all of these things, for future reference.
For starters, let me tell you a little about myself. I’m a follower of Christ (aka, a Christian) and I’m a member of The Summit Church in Durham, North Carolina. I’ve been attending for a little over two years now, and I’ve actually lead a small group there before I got married. By the way, I got married to the most amazing, beautiful, and patient woman in the world on October 13th of 2007. That was just shy of two years after trusting the claims of Christ and placing my faith in Him as my Lord and Savior (all glory to God for that). I’d love to tell you more about how He worked in my life through friends and experiences and through The Summit Church, but I’ll get into that some other time.
As for now, my wife and I are basically answering the plea of our growing church. Recently, hundreds of people have come to The Summit and told us in one way or another that they were interested in being a part of a small group – what we call SummitLife groups. Those groups need leaders, and I feel like that’s a role that I need to fill (both for myself and for others).
I hope that you find encouragement (or can offer some!) through this blog. I’d love to hear from you, so the comments feature will always be on. Probably.
So again, welcome!
