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Many of us are quietly defeated in our private prayer lives. We’ve tried praying, but it just doesn’t seem to work. So we feel a combination of frustration and guilt. In this study, you will learn step-by-step how to begin a private life of prayer in fellowship with our heavenly Father. This study is not for victorious Christians, but Christians who often find themselves defeated in the trenches. It deals with such practical questions as…
PrayerLife is an 11-week video study for small groups or Sunday School that teaches people to develop a life of private prayer. The PrayerLife products include a Leader's Manual, Participant's Manual, Video [VHS] 4-tape set, Video [DVD] 4-disk set, and an Audio [CD] 4-disk set. For most group studies you will need one Leader's Manual, one Participant's manuals for each person attending the study and one of the video sets (either DVD or VHS). The CD set would not be recommended for group study but would be perfect for individual study or to listen to in your car. To learn more about the content of this study, click here. Download PrayerLife Edition of Network
PrayerLife Participant's Manual follows
the PrayerLife Video closely, leaving room for the participant
to take notes and write down their own reflections as they go through
the study. [96 pages]
Available in DVD, VHS or audio CD. 4 Disk or Tape Set. (approximately 4 3/4 hours)
Also available is
an audio version of the study on CD. This version
is perfect for personal study or to listen to in your car. The CD version
is not recommended for group study.
PrayerLife Video Study Overview The PrayerLife study begins with two assumptions. The first is that most Christians, maybe 95%, either have almost no prayer life or a very bad one. The second assumption is that most Christians don’t realize that their problems with prayer are not unique. They think something is really wrong with them, and they are afraid to say it. To get participants to understand these two assumptions, the study begins by having everyone pray quietly for five minutes. It is awkward to sit there and pray silently for five minutes. After the prayer time the first question is, “What was hard about that five minutes?” Slowly the group begins to get honest. “My mind wandered” is one of the first things people say. Next they are asked what it wandered to. “is the oven on?…how do I solve this problem at work?...what should I make for dinner?...is my mom really mad at me?" are a few of the responses.” By this time everyone is laughing, and they begin to feel a sense of relief that everybody is in the same boat with them…and sinking! Next we take almost half an hour to talk about that five minute prayer time. As time goes on, the participants get more and more honest about their difficulties in prayer. Here are some actual responses from our PrayerLife seminars:
Having established our need to learn to pray, we turn in the second lesson to Jesus’ emphasis on becoming like a little child. Not only does Jesus call us to be like little children, but he also models childlike faith in his ongoing surrender to his heavenly Father. This second lesson is very freeing for participants. They learn to go to their heavenly Father like a little child. We’ve created an entire legal structure in prayer that has kept us from being real with God. We’re afraid to pray for what we want because we’re so aware that our wants are often selfish. We know we should focus on God and others in prayer, but as we slow down and pray we get overwhelmed with our to-do list. We are overwhelmed by our selfishness. All of this feeds a sense of guilt and powerlessness. Prayer just doesn’t work. But little children are not hung up by their selfishness. They just come and ask for what is on their mind. They don’t try to create a spiritual persona or try to be something they aren’t—they just tell you what is on their minds. There is nothing more freeing in prayer. All of this ties in with the gospel. Jesus doesn’t say, “All you who have learned to concentrate in prayer and put me first, you come to me.” No, he says, “All you who are weary and heavy laden come to me.” In other words, the only criteria for coming to Jesus is a wandering mind. Don’t try to stop your wandering mind when you come to Jesus. Bring your wandering mind. Pray about what it is wandering to. Stop trying to be spiritual—just be yourself. When you become like a little child, you are living out the gospel in your prayer life. Instead of trying to create a spiritual “you”, just be yourself, warts and all. It doesn’t mean that everything you want is correct, but you have to begin with where you are. If you try to begin anywhere else, you are creating a legal, false way of approaching God. When a real sinner goes to a real God, you have prayer. |
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