Having His Ear (Matthew 6:5-18, Luke 18:1-8)
Group Guides | Sharing the gospel, sharing our lives (1 Thessalonians 2:8)
By way of introduction: What do we find hard about prayer?
Read Matthew 6:5–18
1. What principles does Jesus teach us about prayer here?
2. What practices does Jesus teach us for our prayers here?
Read Luke 18:1–8
3. What is a parable, and how does Jesus use it here?
4. How does Jesus help us when we find prayer hard in principle and in practice?
At church we prioritise part of our gathered worship with the Pastoral Prayer. It’s when one of the elders or leaders of our church shepherd the congregation toward Jesus in our prayers together. You’ll notice from our Service Sheet what we’re praying for, here:
PASTORAL PRAYER
What we’re praying for this season
- That in every place the man should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarrelling (1 Timothy 2:8).
- That women train women in Christ–reliant prayer.
- That youth would trust in Jesus as Saviour and obey him as Lord.
- That children would be discipled to pray to their Father in heaven.
- For God to provide for the poor and needy, through us His church
- That we would love the lost, that Christ would save many
- For the Lord to raise up more Elders to shepherd the flock of God
- That through our series in Genesis we would grow strong in faith
- That we would have a ministry of “one-anothering” among us
- That we would glorify God and enjoy Him, forever, starting now
5. Why would we pray for these things, and where could you find biblical reasons to prioritise these things for prayer as a church family?
6. Praying can be hard, in principle and in practice – yet we are convinced as a church that we need to pray as a means of grace and major ministry of our church. So as a Group, take the time we have together to pray for these things of the pastoral prayer together, for one another as a church.
And what else could we pray for today?