Our Prayer

Our Prayer

Heavenly Father, I know that I have sinned against You and that my sins separate me from You. I am truly sorry. I now want to turn away from my sinful past and turn to You for forgiveness. Please forgive me, and help me avoid sinning again. I believe that Your Son, Jesus Christ, died for my sins, that He was raised from the dead, is alive, and hears my prayer. I invite Jesus to become my Savior and the Lord of my life, to rule and reign in my heart from this day forward. Please send Your Holy Spirit to help me obey You and to convict me when I sin. I pledge to grow in grace and knowledge of You. My greatest purpose in life is to follow Your example and do Your will for the rest of my life. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.

Thursday, August 5, 2021

Class Lesson August 8, 2021

 



Question 1:

When have you seen a community

really focused on prayer?




THE POINT

Serve those around you

through consistent prayer.




THE BIBLE MEETS LIFE

In 1984, 18-year-old Thomas Haynesworth was on an errand to buy food for his mother. While running this errand, a victim of a recent sexual assault saw him and mistakenly identified him as her attacker. Thomas was wrongly convicted and spent the next 27 years of his life behind bars. Then, lawyers at The Innocence Project intervened, using DNA testing to get his conviction overturned. On December 6, 2011, he was fully exonerated of all charges.1

Haynesworth is just one of many wrongly convicted prisoners now freed due to the work of The Innocence Project, started by lawyers Barry Scheck and Peter Neufeld in 1992. They believed if DNA technology could prove that people were guilty of crimes, it could exonerate the innocent as well. Their desire to intercede for those who cannot help themselves has grown into an international movement that has freed hundreds.2

But you don’t have to be an attorney to plead someone’s case. Elijah’s intervention on behalf of the widow at Zarephath proves we can change others’ lives simply by praying.



WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY?

1 Kings 17:17-18

17 Some time later the son of the woman who owned the house became ill. He grew worse and worse, and finally stopped breathing. 18 She said to Elijah, “What do you have against me, man of God? Did you come to remind me of my sin and kill my son?” 

Just when it seemed things were returning to normal, life came crashing down again for the widow of Zarapeth. Her son became sick—extremely sick. And then she experienced that horrific moment when her son stopped breathing, and life left his body. I know the sheer terror of this feeling. In 2013, my husband and I received a phone call from the hospital. “Your son . . . Code Blue . . . found unresponsive . . . come immediately.” We watched, helpless, as doctors and nurses worked on his lifeless body, assessing his vitals and searching for brain activity. Such moments raise myriad unanswerable questions. Why? Why my child? Why now?

In her shock and despair, the widow turned on Elijah. She asked similar questions: “What do you have against me, man of God? Did you come to remind me of my sin and kill my son?”


Question 2:

What do we learn about the widow

from her question to Elijah?


She wondered if her son’s death was the result of her own sin and if Elijah had been sent to bring her punishment. People in ancient times commonly viewed sickness as God’s punishment for sin (John 9:1-2). Yet Elijah had already spared her son from death once by miraculously extending their food resources. The more pertinent question would have been: Why did God bring my son through the last crisis only to let him die of another?

Not even the wisest believers have an easy answer for much of the suffering we endure. Even Elijah questioned God at this turn of events (1 Kings 17:20). The “why” of suffering is not always clear. C. S. Lewis wrote, “God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: It is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.”3 We may not know the reasons why, but suffering shouts for us to look to God.

Similarly, God had something to say to the widow at Zarephath. He wanted to show her something about Himself. She would soon learn to know God as her deliverer. Her deepest suffering was an opportunity to trust God and witness His power. When it seems all is lost, we are perfectly positioned to turn to God and discover He is the answer to the questions that have no other answer.


1 Kings 17:19-21

19 “Give me your son,” Elijah replied. He took him from her arms, carried him to the upper room where he was staying, and laid him on his bed. 20 Then he cried out to the Lord, “Lord my God, have you brought tragedy even on this widow I am staying with, by causing her son to die?” 21 Then he stretched himself out on the boy three times and cried out to the Lord, “Lord my God, let this boy’s life return to him!” 

We can always find reasons to stay out of other people’s problems. Sometimes people take advantage of us. Sometimes we just don’t have the resources to fix what’s broken. Their problems may seem too big, or their troubles too deep. Quite often, we have enough problems of our own. Elijah certainly did. He had angered Ahab and Jezebel, and had surely troubled a lot of his neighbors, by bringing drought. In spite of all he was facing, Elijah stepped into the widow’s suffering and joined her in her pain. While he could do nothing in his own power to restore her loss, Elijah knew the God who does the impossible (Luke 1:37), so the prophet took it up with Him. I love Elijah’s honesty and humility in this moment. Although the widow had just accused him of bringing this trouble, he didn’t try to defend himself. He didn’t pretend to know the answer to her questions. Elijah simply took the widow’s problem and made it his own. He carried the lifeless boy to his room and laid him on his own bed. He got involved in the messiness of the widow’s troubled life. And then Elijah did the only thing he knew to do under the circumstances. He prayed.

Elijah’s prayer is a picture of real faith. Real faith doesn’t presume to know why God does what He does or why He allows what He allows. Real faith asks the hard questions. It voices the doubts and anguish we feel. Yet, despite the questions, doubts, and hurt, real faith keeps coming back to God. It trusts that, whatever happens, He is all loving and all powerful; it trusts that God is the answer to our every need.


PRAYER PLAN

Develop a prayer plan. Fill in the blanks and consider these important matters this week.


I would like to pray more consistently about____________.

_______________is a person I can pray more regularly for.

_______________is a time/place where I can take time to focus and pray.


The top 3 things I’d like to pray about this week are:

1.___________________________________

2.___________________________________

3.___________________________________


Write out and tape that list in a place where you will see it daily.




“I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers,
intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people.”

1 TIMOTHY 2:1



In crying out to God, Elijah spoke up for the widow. He raised the questions that plagued her. He pleaded for the help she needed. He demonstrated the only two things needed to be a great prayer warrior: compassion for someone in need and faith that God can help. Elijah is an example of an effective pray-er.

“The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. Elijah was a human being, even as we are. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops” (Jas. 5:16b-18).

“Elijah was a human being, even as we are.” He possessed no miraculous powers in himself. He had no greater authority with God than we do, but he believed God could do anything. And he dared to ask God for the impossible: “Lord my God, let this boy’s life return to him!”


Question 3:

When have you seen someone pray

courageously during a time of need?




1 Kings 17:22-24

22 The Lord heard Elijah’s cry, and the boy’s life returned to him, and he lived. 23 Elijah picked up the child and carried him down from the room into the house. He gave him to his mother and said, “Look, your son is alive!” 24 Then the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the Lord from your mouth is the truth.”

God is not a divine Santa who grants our every wish. God is not beholden to do our
bidding just because we ask, but He invites us to participate in helping others. He encourages us to intercede on their behalf. He responds to the prayers of His people.


Question 4:

What are the challenges and benefits of

praying boldly for others?



God still acts in response to the prayers of His people. Well I remember those days in the hospital with my son when we did not know if he would survive. Friends and family surrounded us with love and prayed with us for our child. When my son walked out of that hospital days later, it was a testimony to God’s work and the power of prayer. Seven years after, he is healthy and strong. His very presence is a continual reminder of God’s mercy and the compassion of friends, brought together in prayer.

I don’t imagine it was any goodness in my family or me that prompted God to act. Nor do I suppose our prayers were more persuasive than others. I don’t know why every prayer doesn’t receive the answer we seek. I don’t believe God spared my son just to end my suffering.

Often God’s “yes” is aimed at a higher purpose. Through His response to our prayer, He reveals something of His nature and fosters our faith. We see that when Elijah presented the widow with her revived child and declared, “Look, your son is alive!” Her first words were, “Now I know. . . .” At last she knew God is real, and Elijah was His spokesperson. It was not just her son who came to life. Faith also came to life in the widow through Elijah’s answered prayer. Living in a culture of Baal worshipers, the widow awakened to the truth. Yahweh alone is the true and faithful God!

Perhaps more people around us would come to faith if we, like Elijah, dared to ask God for the impossible. When we pray, God responds, and when God responds, it points to Him.


Question 5:

How have our group’s prayers helped you in

your walk with Christ?




LIVE IT OUT


How will you step into the lives of others by praying for them?

Choose one of the following applications:

Pray. Pray right now for someone you know who is in need physically or spiritually. Trust God to answer. 

Journal. Begin a prayer journal to list the needs of others. Use it in your daily quiet time and update it with answers God provides.

Pray with Others. Start a prayer group at your church, work, or with your neighbors. Invite others to pray with you for needs in your community and around the world.

The Innocence Project has interceded for innocent prisoners who served a combined total of over five thousand years in prison. Lives have been restored and families have been reunited. When we intercede for others in prayer, we can likewise join with God in restoring lives and leading people to Christ.

Teacher's Notes:








Click Play to Watch


through Prayer:      Passage: 1 Kings 17:17-24    (Intercessory Prayer)

Elijah’s intervention this morning on behalf of the widow at Zarephath teaches us that – we can change others’ lives simply by praying.

At one point or another everyone faces disappointments, obstacles, and circumstances that seem impossible to overcome. Whether it’s a struggling marriage, health crisis, financial loss, wounds from our past, or something else altogether, life’s struggles leave us desperate for a breakthrough. God sees you, He hears you, and He is ready to respond. But breakthroughs don’t happen spontaneously, they happen when you seek them. And the way you seek them is through prayer.

 

The Setting: After the prophet’s bold proclamation before King Ahab, God dramatically changed the trajectory of Elijah’s ministry. Instead of public ministry in Samaria, God sent him into the wilderness, then into the very land of Jezebel where he ministered to a widow and her son. Instead of the widow’s preparing a last meal, God miraculously provided food—and life. So, Elijah stays with the widow and her son, giving them the opportunity to feed on the truth of God.


1 Kings 17:17-18

17 Some time later the son of the woman who owned the house became ill. He grew worse and worse, and finally stopped breathing. 18 She said to Elijah, “What do you have against me, man of God? Did you come to remind me of my sin and kill my son?”

 

The bible says even when God has done a miracle in our lives, our troubles may not be over. The famine was a terrible experience, but the worst was yet to come. God’s provision is never given in order to let us rest upon it. We need to depend on Him as each new trial faces us.

 

1.   Hardship is an opportunity to trust God.

·        Life, at times, seems unfair, with hardship after hardship falling upon us. Our response to those times becomes a reflection of our view of God. Rather than blame God for what is wrong, we must learn to trust God to do what is right. Taking measures to grow in our faith will prepare us for times of struggle.

 

What is your initial reaction to hardships or unwanted news?

What have you learned about trusting God when difficult news comes?

 

God had something to say to the widow at Zarephath. He wanted to show her something about Himself. She would soon learn to know God as her deliverer. Her deepest suffering was an opportunity to trust God and witness His power. When it seems all is lost, we are perfectly positioned to turn to God and discover He is the answer to the questions that have no other answer.

 

1 Kings 17:19-21

19 “Give me your son,” Elijah replied. He took him from her arms, carried him to the upper room where he was staying, and laid him on his bed. 20 Then he cried out to the Lord, “Lord my God, have you brought tragedy even on this widow I am staying with, by causing her son to die?” 21 Then he stretched himself out on the boy three times and cried out to the Lord, “Lord my God, let this boy’s life return to him!”

 

We can always find reasons to stay out of other people’s problems. Sometimes people take advantage of us. Sometimes we just don’t have the resources to fix what’s broken. Their problems may seem too big, or their troubles too deep. Quite often, we have enough problems of our own. Elijah certainly did. He had angered Ahab and Jezebel, and had surely troubled a lot of his neighbors, by bringing drought. In spite of all he was facing, Elijah stepped into the widow’s suffering and joined her in her pain. While he could do nothing in his own power to restore her loss, Elijah knew the God who does the impossible, so the prophet took it up with Him in prayer.

 

2.   Service to others includes interceding on their behalf.

·        Interceding for others is faith moving forward into the unknown even when we struggle with doubts or questions. We serve through prayer when we pray specifically to the Lord. We serve through prayer when we seek opportunities to intercede on behalf of others whose needs are great but whose faith is weak.

 

 

Elijah is an example of an effective pray-er. “The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. Elijah was a human being, even as we are. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. He possessed no miraculous powers in himself. He had no greater authority with God than we do, but he believed God could do anything. And he dared to ask God for the impossible: “Lord my God, let this boy’s life return to him!”

PRAYER PLAN

 

Develop a prayer plan. Fill in the blanks and consider these important matters this week.

 

 

I would like to pray more consistently about____________.

 

_______________is a person I can pray more regularly for.

 

_______________is a time/place where I can take time to focus and pray.

 

 

The top 3 things I’d like to pray about this week are:

 

1.___________________________________

 

2.___________________________________

 

3.___________________________________

 

 

Write out and tape that list in a place where you will see it daily.

 

 

“I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers,

intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people.”

1 TIMOTHY 2:1

 

1 Kings 17:22-24

22 The Lord heard Elijah’s cry, and the boy’s life returned to him, and he lived. 23 Elijah picked up the child and carried him down from the room into the house. He gave him to his mother and said, “Look, your son is alive!” 24 Then the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the Lord from your mouth is the truth.”

 

God is not a divine Santa Claus who grants our every wish. God is not beholden to do our bidding just because we ask, but He invites us to participate with Him in helping others. He encourages us to intercede on their behalf. And He moves to respond to the prayers of His people.

 

3.   God’s answers to our prayers can influence others to turn to Him.

·        God is attentive to the prayers of His people. God is the giver of life. God can work though our lives to accomplish His will and to bring others into a right relationship with Him.

 

Often God’s “yes” is aimed at a higher purpose. Through His response to our prayer, He reveals something of His nature and fosters our faith. We see that when Elijah presented the widow with her revived child and declared, “Look, your son is alive!” Her first words were, “Now I know. . . .” At last she knew God is real, and Elijah was His spokesperson. It was not just her son who came to life. Faith also came to life in the widow through Elijah’s answered prayer. Living in a culture of Baal worshipers, the widow awakened to the truth. Yahweh alone is the true and faithful God!

Perhaps more people around us would come to faith if we, like Elijah, dared to ask God for the impossible. When we pray, God responds, and when God responds, it points to Him.

Wrap It Up

To illustrate His point James cited the experience of the prophet Elijah. He “was a man subject to like passions as we are.” He had a nature like ours. He had his flaws and weaknesses but still his earnest praying was effective, for he prayed in faith, trusting the Lord. For that you and I can be grateful. God does not just hear and respond to the prayers of “super saints”; His ear is attentive to all who come before Him in righteousness. Therefore, let us pray.

 

The idea that power is inherent in prayer is a very popular one. According to the Bible, the power of prayer is, quite simply, the power of God, who hears and answers prayer.

 

The power of prayer does not flow from us; it is not special words we say or the special way we say them or even how often we say them. The power of prayer is not based on a certain direction we face or a certain position of our bodies. The power of prayer does not come from the use of artifacts or icons or candles or beads. The power of prayer comes from the omnipotent One who hears our prayers and answers them. Prayer places us in contact with Almighty God, and we should expect almighty results, whether or not He chooses to grant our petitions or deny our requests. Whatever the answer to our prayers, the God to whom we pray is the source of the power of prayer, and He can and will answer us, according to His perfect will and timing.

 

  

Have you discovered the power of prayer?

Prayer is a mighty weapon at the disposal of every man or woman who loves God, and knows His son Jesus Christ. I once heard prayer described as guided missile that can be launched from anywhere on the face of the planet at any target, and there is no defense against it. Satan can’t stop your prayers. The enemy would rather have you do anything else than pray. Prayer is a conversation with God in which you seek His face and His hand. Seeking God’s face is about a relationship with God, while seeking His hand is about seeing results in prayer. There is nothing like a consistent prayer life that will move your faith from the realm of a religion into a true relationship with Christ. Prayer also energizes the heart of a believer through the power of the Spirit.

 

Consistent prayer also releases the power of God’s blessing on your life and circumstances. Jesus said, “When you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret will reward you,” (Matthew 6:6). The person who develops a secret life of prayer with Christ is promised reward from the Father. A consistent rhythm of meeting with the Father in prayer brings blessing and favor upon the individual. If you don’t believe that yet, let me share another verse. In Hebrews, it says, “And without faith, it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him” (Hebrews 11:6). This is just one more verse that talks about God’s reward for the person who is seeking after him. Can you imagine what it would be like to have the reward of the Father in your life? That can be yours. You can have that as you learn to meet with Jesus through prayer in the secret place. As you learn to talk to the Lord, you will discover the blessing of the Lord.

 

Prayer will also result in God’s power to bring about change. James said, “The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective” (James 5:16). Have you ever taken a magnifying glass and used it harness the sun’s power? I remember as a kid burning holes in a leaf with a magnifying glass. You could somehow harness the sun rays and focus them on one little place on the planet, and cause a leaf to burn. Prayer is like that magnifying glass. It allows the believer to harness all the power of Christ and focus His mighty power upon one place, person, or circumstance on the planet. This is the awesome power of prayer that we so often neglect. A consistent life of prayer will set a spiritual fire around you.

 

Without prayer, you will not fully receive all that God has provided for you. God has set up his Kingdom in a way that we must consistently come to Him in a relationship, seek Him personally, and ask Him to be at work in us and our circumstances. The Lord wants us to continually invite Him into our lives, surrender to Him, and to seek His power. James said, “You do not have because you do not ask God” (James 4:2). I am fully convinced that the Lord has blessings for you and your life that He has chosen to withhold from you until you come to Him in prayer. He is not going to give all that He has for you unless you really connect with Him in a relationship. And that’s the Word.



















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