Week 1: Prayer Without Ceasing
February 1 - 7 (Monday-Sunday)
Open with Prayer: Invite the Holy Spirit to be present, illuminate the Scriptures, and to have Jesus’ will done today in the group.
Talk Together: (5-10 minutes) In groups of 2-3 ask the following questions:
Describe your prayer life. Do you feel you are strong or weak in the area of prayer? If your prayer life could look like anything, what would it look like?
Dream about what your relationship with Jesus would like if you spent time with Him every day. Share with each other.
How do you want to grow in prayer this semester?
Read this Overview to the Group:
When you think about Jesus, what sort of person do you think of? You probably think of His miracles. You likely remember parts of His teachings. Hopefully, you think about the His death on the cross, His resurrection, His ascension, and His Second Coming. All of these are good and true, but one aspect of Jesus’ life that is subtle and that we often miss is His prayer life. Jesus was a person of prayer. He was not just a person who ‘got away’ to pray, but a person who was constantly in prayer and communion with His Father. He seems to have had an uninterrupted connection with the Father. A connection that allowed Him to do what the Father was doing and say what the Father was saying. Jesus was constantly abiding with God, and He invites us to do the same. He is inviting you into a life of prayer.
Praying without ceasing is not constantly talking to God out loud. Nor does it not mean that you have to live in a monastery, or always be trapped in your bedroom praying. God is inviting us to something much richer. I believe that ‘praying without ceasing’ is Paul’s way of explaining what Jesus calls abiding (in the vine). Praying without ceasing means living in a constant state of response to God’s presence. It is not a burdensome expectation, but an incredible invitation from God to spend every moment of every day with Him and attentive to Him. It is surrendering your whole self to Jesus and letting the Holy Spirit work inside of you. Each moment is an opportunity to recognize God’s presence in your life. We are invited to quiet the noise, external and internal, to hear Him talking to us. To abide with God.
For further study, read: 1 Thessalonians 5:15-18, John 15:1-10, Luke 5:16, & Matthew 14:23.
Talk Together: (10 minutes): In groups of 2-3 ask the following questions:
When you think of praying without ceasing, what comes to mind? What is your response to this topic? Is it daunting or exciting?
What do you think your greatest challenge is when it comes to abiding each day with God?
How can your prayer life shift from asking God for things to living life with God?
Dive In (25 minutes):
Take a few minutes to be quiet before God (if you’re able and willing, open your hands in a receiving posture). Ask the Holy Spirit to make Himself known and to speak to each person in the room. Pray, “Holy Spirit, we want to live life with You. We want to go from a prayer life that asks for things to a prayer life that is always in communion and abiding with You. Would you show each of us what you are inviting us into?”
Give a few minutes for people to listen to the Holy Spirit and write down their reflections. Words, pictures, verses, or phrases may come to mind. Some people may experience a feeling or an emotion. Be open to the different ways that God may speak to each person.
After spending time with the Holy Spirit and listening, have each person, as they are comfortable, share what they are thinking, experiencing, feeling, wanting, and/or reflecting on.
This Week’s Practice:
This week, each one of us are going to practice praying without ceasing. We are going to begin/continue to teach ourselves how to pray, communicate, and abide with God throughout the day. Each person is going to create a symbol (ex. dot on hand), an article to wear (ex. wristband), or a phrase written on their hand (ex. abide) that will remind them of God’s presence with them. Every time you look at your symbol, let it prompt you to offer up a prayer to God.
Close Your Time in Prayer.