Spiritual DisciplinesSample

Week 2- Prayer

Day 1- The Discipline of Prayer

Discover: In Matthew 6:5-8, Jesus begins teaching his followers how to and how not to pray. He says that the disciples should not pray like the hypocritical Pharisees or the babbling Gentiles. This instruction was to emphasize the need for personal connection in prayer along with showing that God already knows what we need even before we ask. Because of this, we can follow Paul’s encouragement in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 to rejoice, pray, and give thanks to God always.

Learn: The first passage highlights two people for which we should not pray like. The first is the hypocritical Pharisees. Pharisees were part of a sect of Judaism that put a big emphasis on the law. During Jesus’ time, many Pharisees prayed very loudly in public places so people could hear them. They lacked sincerity and did this so they could get attention. The next group was the Gentiles, who would pray to false gods. They would pray using repetitive and empty words, praying like they were trying to impress someone. These prayers also lacked sincerity. Instead, Jesus told his followers to pray in a private place to stress the importance of sincerity, humility, and intimacy with God as they pray to Him.

Apply: Many times in our prayer lives, we fall into the same ways of praying. When we are showing off or trying to pay attention to the form of our prayers, are we focused on having a conversation with God? Prayer is the catalyst of our spiritual life since we can talk to the God of the universe. God doesn’t want our prayers to be some grand monologue that impresses the people, he wants our prayers to be genuine moments where we connect with Him. Prayer is not fancy or formal. It is real and relational. In our lives, we must focus not on how we sound or what we say in our prayers, but we should focus on the heart behind our prayers and wanting to have a conversation with God. When we understand this, we can pray consistently and constantly as we give thanks to the One who made us.

· How can you create a private space in your daily routine for sincere and uninterrupted prayer?

· Reflect on a time when you felt your prayers were more about performance than genuine communication with God. How did that affect your spiritual life?

· How does knowing that God already understands your needs change the way you approach prayer?

· In what situations do you find it most challenging to be joyful and thankful? How can prayer help you in these moments?