Summary: Have you ever set out to learn something? Perhaps it was a skill like driving a car, knitting a cap, or hitting a good forehand volley in tennis? Or maybe it was how to speak a foreign language? Or how to succeed in your job?<br> What sparked your desire to learn? A need? An opportunity? A delight in the possibility? A vision of what was possible once you’d acquired that particular capability?<br> In Luke 11, Jesus’ disciples see him praying and say to him, “Lord, teach us to pray.” What sparked their desire? And what did Jesus teach them?<br> This week, we’ll explore these questions and hopefully learn a greater depth of prayer from Jesus’ words about how we might intimately approach the infinite God who works in our imminent needs.<br> DOWNLOADS<br> SEE IT // BE IT<br> (WEEKLY COMMUNITY GROUP DISCUSSION GUIDE)<br> Title: Pray Like Jesus 4: Jesus Teaches Prayer // Scripture: Luke 11:1-13, 18:1-8<br> ARRIVAL / SOCIAL TIME 15-20 minutes Spend the first 15 minutes or so of your time together catching up and socializing with one another. Also find time to catch up together on how the assignments from last week turned out.<br> SERMON REVIEW 5-10 minutes<br> This year we have been pressing into prayer through our series “Pray Like Jesus.” Already we have seen the priority and pattern of prayer in Jesus’ life. We have also seen how prayer affects our identity. This week we learned through the Lord’s Prayer how Jesus taught his disciples to pray. This is important because we live in a world where all kinds of people are teaching people how to pray. In this week’s passage, the disciples ask Jesus how they can learn to pray like him. Jesus’ answer is astonishing, as he gives them a simplified version of the Lord’s Prayer. In this prayer, the themes of Hallowed Father, the Kingdom come, daily Bread, relational Forgiveness and avoiding Temptation emerge. These 5 themes can guide our own time of prayer with God. Even more, as we learn in verses that follow his teaching on prayer, we can participate in prayer because of our assurance of the goodness of God who wants to give his children good gifts.<br> THE MAIN THOUGHT keep this in mind as you facilitate discussion.<br> Prayer is not about reminding God to be good to us, but instead it is refining us to receive His goodness.<br> SEE IT – Questions 10-15 minutes<br><br> Picture (What is the story saying?): Jon talked about how we all come from different traditions regarding how we pray. How have you been taught to pray in the past? What caught your attention most about the way Jesus taught his disciples to pray? What were the 5 themes of Jesus’ prayer in Luke 11? (Hallowed Father, Kingdom, Bread, Forgiveness, Temptation) Which of these 5 themes stood out to you most? Why?<br> Mirror (Where am I in the story?): Jon challenged us about our desire to pray—to learn to pray like Jesus. How would you characterize your desire to learn to pray? Why? How is your desire to pray affected when it feels like God isn’t answering? How has your passion for prayer turned into perseverance? Or how has it faded when God has answered your request immediately?<br> Window (How does the story change how I see those around me?): We learned that often the passion of our prayer life is affected by our view of God. What views of God do you have that might be affecting your prayer life? How would believing that God is good change the way that you pray—even when bad things are happening?<br> BE IT – Practice<br><br> Change UP // Pause to Pray<br> Take a moment this week to pray slowly through the Lord’s Prayer together. Read each phrase of the Lord’s Prayer and pause, inviting the group to grab hold of and pray through the phrase. Invite the group to explore each phrase thinking about who God is (intimate and infinite), what God is doing (where the Kingdom has and needs to come), where they are asking God to provide (their needs),
