Lord’s Prayer (Week 3) - Praying for What We Truly Need
Developed By the St. Matthew’s Islington Discipleship Team Dawn Mercer, Christine Ivy and Rev. Philip Stonhouse
LENT Studies
Week 3: Praying for What We Truly Need
Give us this day our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
As we forgive those who sin against us.
And deliver us from evil.
“I open my ears to hear Your Word, and my heart to yield to Your will.”
Luke 11:5-13 CEV
5 Then Jesus went on to say: Suppose one of you goes to a friend in the middle of the night and says, “Let me borrow three loaves of bread. 6 A friend of mine has dropped in, and I don’t have a thing for him to eat.” 7 And suppose your friend answers, “Don’t bother me! The door is bolted, and my children and I are in bed. I cannot get up to give you something.” 8 He may not get up and give you the bread, just because you are his friend. But he will get up and give you as much as you need, simply because you are not ashamed to keep on asking.
9 So I tell you to ask and you will receive, search and you will find, knock and the door will be opened for you. 10 Everyone who asks will receive, everyone who searches will find, and the door will be opened for everyone who knocks.
11 Which one of you fathers would give your hungry child a snake if the child asked for a fish? 12 Which one of you would give your child a scorpion if the child asked for an egg? 13 As bad as you are, you still know how to give good gifts to your children. But your heavenly Father is even more ready to give the Holy Spirit to anyone who asks.
Looking at the text:
1. Visualize the scenarios Jesus presented:
i. in vs. 5-8
ii. In vs. 9 & 10
iii. In vs 11- 13
iv. What do they reveal about “our father in heaven”?
v. What does each of these sections tell us about human relationships?
2. What kinds of things does the text suggest that Jesus encourages us to ask for (in our prayers?)
3. In verse 13, Jesus is saying that as a good father, God is even more willing to give good things to us – the Holy Spirit. In what way is the Holy Spirit a good gift to us?
Digging Deeper: Read through the questions and choose 1 or 2 that you would like to discuss.
A. Bread is a basic need. Oftentimes we tell God our wants, and even how we think God should answer them, because we can feel they are so urgent. What are our actual needs and how can we focus on what is most important in our prayers?
B. In Jesus’ model prayer, the requests are collective “us” and “our” and “daily” [rather than for the next week or month]. What does this tell us about our prayers for health, food, security, etc.? How will we know that God has answered? What if His answer is not what we want?
C. What is the role of confession and forgiveness in our daily prayer and how is that meant to shape our lives and relationships?
D. What does “deliver us from evil”, tell us about the reality of evil and temptation in our lives? How does the promise of the Holy Spirit help to deliver us from them? Recall Jesus response to temptation the wilderness?)
Close by Praying together:
Prayer Prompts: – Pause to think about:
Restoring your relationship with God and with other people.
Think about a completion of “God at this time I need your help in my relationship with ___________ “
Share this together aloud if you are comfortable doing so.
During the week:
Pray each day this week:
“God strengthen my spirit to restore my relationship with _________”
and to resist the pull of __________ [some temptation or evil].” If something specific is coming to mind, name it.
Remember there are not magical ways for us to get what we ask from God. Jesus tells us to remember the love of our Father in heaven as we pray. Remember His love, and the immediate access we have to God through Jesus. Pray simply. God is not looking for theological discussion. He looks at us with a loving smile of a proud father.
Prayer for you may be a bit different. You might find it helpful to make a painting, write a poem or a song, bake a loaf of bread, make a casserole or a batch of cookies, repair a broken chair or feed a child or elder “TO GOD”S GLORY”.
Prayer Exercises:
There are additional approaches to prayer for you to explore on You Tube at the following link:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL60qgCKg2i3gE6N9PLoLDDVSsfCTE2X7o
