Huddle–Week of 10-6-19

Zach Below   -   October 6, 2019

GROUP NEWS

  • We are 1 week in to the 3 week Daniel fast. Even if you are not fasting, we invite you to pray with the community for the next few weeks.
  • Our daily prayer comes from Colossians 1:9, “We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives.”
  • Check the app under the heading “Daniel Fast” for a 21-day prayer guide.
  • Centered Series—Coming October 20—Be thinking about who you can invite.

 

INTRO

  1. Is anyone doing the Daniel Fast? If so, share a learning or talk about your experience from the first week.

 

  1. What was prayer like in your home growing up? Did you never pray, pray before meals, pray before bed-time? Did you ever see members of your family praying and wonder what it was all about?

 

 

SCRIPTURE INTRO

  • We read from Colossians last week, but as a quick reminder—Colossians is a letter that the apostle Paul wrote to the church at Colossae (in modern day Turkey).
  • Paul did not plant the church at Colossae but still committed to praying for the community and helping it grow into a healthy church.
  • Paul opens the book of Colossians by reminding the community the he is constantly in prayer for them. What is interesting is, Paul included this type of prayer greeting in EVERY letter he wrote…except for the book of Galatians (12 of the 13).
  • This is a great reminder for the One Life community. Although we are 1 church in 3 locations, we can follow the example of Paul by remembering to pray for each campus.

 

Read Colossians 1:9-12

“9 For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, 10 so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, 11 being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, 12 and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light.”

 

  1. Take a minute and look over this verse. What stands out to you?

 

Note– In the message Sunday, Ben made the point that what becomes evident in Paul’s written prayers to the churches is that, for Paul…

  • Prayer is the LIFE SUPPORT of the church
  • Prayer is never an add-on
  • Prayer is equal to breathing—You don’t have to guilt someone into breathing
  • Prayer has a sort of heaviness, weightiness to it.

 

 

PRAYER—THE GROWTH AND THE BAGGAGE

LEADER NOTE: There are A LOT of questions here. Use what is leading to good discussion; move on quickly from the rest. If you have group members who are not followers of Jesus, be aware of question 5 and modify it to include them.

 

  1. How would you define prayer? What does it look like in your life? What do you want it to look like?

 

  1. There is a ton of ways to talk and think about prayer. In the message Sunday, Ben provided two definitions of prayer. Which one hits closer to home with you? Why?

 

  • “Prayer is meant to be the conversation where your life and your God meet.” -David Powlison

 

  • “Prayer is all about relationship. It’s intimate and hints at eternity…Prayer is simply the medium through which we experience and meet God.” – Paul E. Miller.

 

  1. We often carry the baggage of unanswered prayer. So much so, that many of us can remember prayers we made as kids that went unanswered. Do you remember a prayer (from a young age) that went unanswered? How did it affect you?

 

  1. We all have struggles and doubts when it comes to prayer…that reality is not only true of people who do not follow Jesus, but devout followers of Jesus as well. What are some of the doubts or struggles you have with prayer?

 

  1. How has the way you approach prayer change from either the time you were a kid until now, or, the time you started following Jesus until now?

 

 

PRAYER-THE WHY

In the message Sunday, Ben said, “Prayer is where we are reminded of our identity and mission.”

 

  1. In what ways do you think we are formed in our identity through prayer? Asked another way…would you agree with that statement? Why?

 

  1. Respond to the following statement… “You don’t create intimacy, you make room for it.” What do you think that means in regard to prayer?

 

 

CORPORATE PRAYER BACKGROUND

We tend to think of prayer mostly in terms of “personal” prayer. However, in the message Sunday, Ben claimed there is great impact when we pray corporately (as a community).  In Acts 1, we see that the first thing that the disciples do after Jesus returns to the Father is spend time in prayer as a community. Acts 1:14 says, “They all were continually united in prayer, along with the women, including Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.”

 

  1. We tend to think of prayer mostly in terms of “personal” prayer over “corporate” prayer. Why do you think that is?
  2. How does a “corporate” fast (like the Daniel Fast) relate to corporate prayer?

 

 

GROUP ACTIVITY

  • Brainstorm a list of the differences between personal and corporate prayer. What is unique about corporate (as a community prayer)? What does it do that personal prayer does not?

 

  • As a group, summarize Paul’s prayer for the church at Colossae in a way that might make sense to someone far from God…someone who is not familiar with “churchy” language.

 

“9 For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, 10 so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, 11 being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, 12 and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light.”

 

 

Practice

  1. Taking the lead from Paul, find some space this week to pray, not for your own needs, but for the communities at our One Life campuses. Pray that God would fill those at Henderson with “the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives.” Pray that God would fill those at East with, “the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives.” Pray that God would fill those at West with “the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives.” Begin praying this prayer for the future communities that God will plant through One Life.

 

  1. Take time to process the affects unanswered prayer may have in your life.
  • Ask God to reveal how he has worked in your life through prayers that have gone unanswered.
  • Pray that he would help you see the chain of events that has lead you to where you are.
  • Pray that God would be patient with your doubts and struggles around the area of pray.
  • Finally, pray that God would help you live in the tension of doubt and trust as prayers go unanswered, without becoming bitter toward God, heart-hearted, or calloused. Pray that even as prayers go unanswered, God would keep you heart open to the reality of a God that intervenes.

 

Prayer

  • Return to the list/topic of struggles we all have in the area of prayer and pray over that list. This prayer could look like a “corporate” version of the second practice of the week.