One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him: ‘Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.’ (Luke 11:1)
Two thousand years ago, the disciples welcomed Jesus back from his regular time and place of prayer with one of the greatest questions of all time: ‘Lord,’ one of them said, ‘teach us to pray.’ His response to that simple, humble request was astonishingly generous. He didn’t make them feel small. He didn’t say, ‘You really ought to know by now.’
Instead he gave them the greatest prayer in world history. These were men who would go on to have extraordinary prayer lives. They would intercede until buildings shook. They would spring Peter from a high-security jail by the power of prayer. Their very shadows and handkerchiefs would sometimes heal the sick.
… Prayer had to be learned the hard way, and their schooling was to begin on a particular day with this simple, touchingly vulnerable request: ‘Lord, teach us to pray.’ And so, of course, he did. (From: Pete Greig: “How to Pray: A Simple Guide for Normal People” 2019)
We’re going to work our way through this very same prayer over eight weeks through the ‘Prayer Course’ presented by Pete Greig. You can check it out yourself if you wish: prayercourse.org
10:00am each Sunday at our DVBC gathering, there will be a helpful 20+ minute teaching-video, plus an opportunity to discuss it a little — and of course there will be a time for us to pray!
Each week the teaching video plus summary and discussion questions sheet will be available for Connect Groups (and individuals) to use to review or dig deeper when they meet. There are all sort of other resources available for those who want to explore further.
Each week in Diamo-news letter there will be a web-link for you to download the Discussion Sheet and, if you wish, to re-watch the video (or listen to an audio of it).
These links will also be found at: prayercourse.org and our own web page: dvbc.net. There will be some printed copies of notes available on the DVBC information desk.
Connect Group leaders: We will have a full pack of notes including a leaders’ guide, study notes and all the notes in the ‘toolbox.’ There is also a USB containing AV resources available from the church office.
THE PRAYER COURSE
6 June 1 — WHY PRAY? “Lord, Teach us to pray.”
13 June 2 — ADORATION “Our Father in Heaven, Hallowed be your name”
20 June 3 — PETITION “Give us this day our daily bread”
27 June 4 — INTERCESSION “Your kingdom come” (Term ends)
4 July 5 — UNANSWERED PRAYERS “Your will be done”
11 July 6 — CONTEMPLATION “On earth as it is in heaven” (Term 3)
18 July 7 — LISTENING “Give us this day our daily bread”
25 July 8 — SPIRITUAL WARFARE “Deliver us from evil”
UNANSWERED PRAYER? (To be confirmed)
1 Aug 1 —“God on Mute: Engaging the Silence”
8 Aug 2 — “How am I going to get through this?”
15 Aug 3 —“Why aren’t my prayers working?
22 Aug 4 —“Where is God when heaven is silent?”
29 Aug 5 — “When will my prayers be answered?”
OUR FATHER IN HEAVEN, HALLOWED BE YOUR NAME, YOUR KINGDOM COME, YOUR WILL BE DONE, ON EARTH AS IN HEAVEN. GIVE US TODAY OUR DAILY BREAD. FORGIVE US OUR SINS, AS WE FORGIVE THOSE WHO SIN AGAINST US. LEAD US NOT INTO TEMPTATION BUT DELIVER US PROM EVIL. FOR THE KINGDOM, THE POWER, AND THE GLORY ARE YOURS NOW AND FOREVER. AMEN.
Diamond Valley Baptist Church | 309 Diamond Creek Rd, Plenty | 0409 667 008 | office@dvbc.net
