Welcome to week one of our newest on-line study, Cultivating a Heart of Prayer!
I am so excited to start our journey today! Be sure to read through to the bottom because there is a fun giveaway today.
Please know that as I have been preparing, I have been praying for you. Your words of encouragement and your excitement to begin this study have blessed me beyond measure. We have over 2400 women from across the globe signed up. How AWESOME is that!!!! Oh, how I wish we could all sit together in one place and see each other’s smiling faces. But this is how God has chosen to bring us together, and I know He will be at work in and among us!!
We are about to embark on a four week journey to learn to cultivate a heart of prayer. My prayer, sweet friends, is that as we come together and commit our whole hearts to this study, God will stretch us and grow us in such a way that not a single one of us will ever pray the same again!
We will have homework each week. Do not be overwhelmed…you have one week to complete the questions. Remember, it is the time you spend with God in His Word that will teach, bless, and transform you.
To register for the study and for announcements of future on-line studies, please leave a comment on my blog with your first name and e-mail address or e-mail me at Deuteronomysix@aol.com.
I encourage you to subscribe to the study via my blog. When you do, you will receive each week’s lesson in your in-box. If this link does not work, you may also subscribe by clicking on the “Subscribe via e-mail” link located at the top of my sidebar. However, you will not be able to see the videos or comments unless you visit my blog directly.
Below please find this week’s lesson and homework.
Homework Questions: Please do as many questions as time allows. Your time reading and studying is when God will do His greatest work!
Prayer:
Heavenly Father, I know how often I fail to give You first priority. I allow the busyness in my life to push You aside. Yet, I also know how I long to be with You, to hear Your voice, and to know Your Presence. Will You reveal the places in my heart that keep me from hearing You speak? Make my heart tender to see my faults and my sins. Touch the places in my heart that are strangled by thorns, free them, and allow me to grow deeper in my relationship with You. Lord help me to be still and know that You are God. Give me a heart of worship. Please help me to truly KNOW how wide and high and deep and long is Your love. Father, I invite You this day to cultivate in me a heart of prayer. Fill me to the fullness of You. I love You, Lord, and thank You in advance for all You will do in my life as I open Your Word, study, and pray. I ask this in Jesus’ Name. Amen.
1. Did you pray as a child? If yes, how did your family incorporate prayer? If no, why did you not pray as a child?
2. Do you pray now? If so, is it different from when you were a child? Describe your current prayer life. If you do not pray as an adult, why is that?
3. Read the following verses. How do these verses align with your thoughts on prayer and how you currently pray.
a. Colossians 4:2
b. James 5:16
c. Psalm 46:10
d. Ephesians 6:11, 17-18
e. John 15:7
4. Let’s begin with an all familiar story from Luke Chapter 10. But as you read it, ask the Lord to speak a fresh Word to you. Jot down what you hear Him speak to you. Ask Him to show you new truths and how these truths apply to your life. Ask Him how they can help you cultivate a heart of prayer. Read Luke 10:38-42.
Jesus says, “Martha, Martha….You are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.” Martha simply wanted Jesus to tell Mary to help in the kitchen. But instead of giving her what she wanted, Jesus gently rebuked Martha. As you read His words, how did they make you feel? What did they speak to your heart about your life’s priorities?
5 What do you think Jesus meant when He said, “Only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better?”
6 Jesus did not want Martha to change who she was; He simply wanted her to make a change in her priorities. Mary chose to sit at the feet of Jesus before she did anything else. We all face distractions or barriers to our time alone with God. Put a check by the one(s) with which you struggle.
a. busyness: always on the go
b. too many responsibilities: job, mom, wife, volunteer…not enough time in the day
c. trials/hardships: feeling like you cannot count on God due to your circumstances
d. pride: not feeling like you need time with God
e. tiredness/weariness: cannot wake up early
f. depression: feel hopeless, God can’t help anyway
g. unworthiness: Feel God has more important things to worry about than you
7. Prayerfully examine your priorities. A helpful way to do this is to look at your daily schedule and ask yourself what takes precedent in your day/what do you spend most of your time doing during the day. What do you do with any “free” time you have? Where does Jesus come into your daily activities?
8. Wake up every morning and before you even set you feet on the floor, take 2-3 minutes to greet the Lord and praise Him. Praise Him for who He is. Below are some Words and character traits to help you begin.
King of kings, Lord of lords, Abba Father, Faithful and True, Lamb of God, Bread of Life, Living Water, Savior, Redeemer, Prince of Peace, Holy One, Comforter, Son of God, Good Shepherd, Alpha and Omega, Creator of Heaven and Earth, Defender, Strong Tower, Rock, Salvation, King of Glory, Strength of my heart and my Portion forever, Lover of My Soul, Rock of Ages, Emmanuel, Messiah, The Word, Name Above All Names, The True Vine, Teacher, Light of the World, the Resurrection and the Life, the Great “I Am,” the Same Yesterday, Today, and Forever!!!
As you praise God each morning, ask Him for the ability to experience Him through your praise in very real and personal ways. Please come back and share on the blog how God used your time of praise. I will select a winner from the comments to receive a $20 gift card to Target!!
Today we have lots of introspective questions. Please sit before God with an honest and open heart. Hear what He has to speak to you. Don’t shut Him out if you don’t like what you see or hear as you examine your priorities. He is ready and waiting to help you reprioritize. He is waiting for you to come to Him.
Blessings to you today!!