A SIMPLE THEOLOGY OF PRAYER PART 1
Why Pray? (Understanding the Power and Purpose of Prayer)Lesson 1: God Names His House
God-given names have always been spiritually significant in Scripture. It is also important for believers to understand the nature of both individual and corporate (together in community) prayer, and why both play a significant part in the plans and purposes of the Father.
In this lesson you will:
• be challenged to think deeply about the nature of prayer and the nature of the Church.
• learn how important a God-given name is.
• examine the biblical accounts of the cleansing of the Temple by Jesus.
• begin to consider the significance of what it means for God’s people individually and His Church corporately to be a house of prayer for all nations.
Reading:
• Forgotten Power: A Simple Theology for a Praying Church – (Introduction: A Theology, pgs. 5-6)
• Forgotten Power – (Chapter 1, pgs. 7-8 ending before the last paragraph)
• Isaiah 56:1-8 The Living Bible
• Matthew 21:1-21
• Mark 11:1-25
• Luke 19:28-48
• John 2:13-17
Video 1: God Names His House
Questions to Consider:
1. How did you learn to pray? Share with one another about your earliest memories of prayer, whether it was when you were a child, or later in life.
2. What does your prayer life look like now? If you struggle with prayer, why do you think this is so? Or, if you feel that you have a good prayer life, what contributed to this solid foundation for you?
3. In what way would you like to see improvement in your prayer life?
4. Why do you think your life of prayer, and the prayer life of your church is so important to God?
5. What do you think about this statement from Forgotten Power (pg. 6): “Much power has been ignored by the Church because of its failure in the area of corporate prayer.”?
6. Why do you believe God wants believers to pray individually and also corporately (in community with one another)?
7. What do you believe about the importance of a name?
8. Has your name, the way you were named, or a person/place you were named for affected your life in some way? How?
9. After reading accounts of Jesus’ cleansing of the temple in the four gospels from the reading section, what similarities and differences did you notice?
Download PDF of Lesson 1 Questions to Consider
Watch Dave’s Summary Video (2-3 minutes)
Spend Time in Prayer
- Praying through the Hebrew Names of God (Click for PDF)
- Group Leader Instructions – Lessons 1-6 (Click for PDF)
- Instructions for Individual Prayer – Lessons 1-6 (Click for PDF)
Using the PDF provided, pray through the Hebrew names of God to get to know more about the Father’s character.
Next Steps:
• Using the prayer guide: Praying through the Hebrew Names of God from the Spending Time in Prayer section of this lesson, pray over others this week. If you know of someone needing provision, ask Jehovah Jireh to meet their needs. If there is a situation that is difficult or out of control, ask Jehovah Shalom to pour out His peace over the situation. Ask God to show you how to be the answer to the prayers you are praying for others. Perhaps He wants YOU to meet a need, be an instrument of peace, encourage someone, etc.
• Find ways this week to incorporate the Name above ALL names into your worship and prayer life. Consider making this a habit that extends beyond just this week.
• Continue to ask God to help you, your family, and your church become a house of prayer for all nations! This is a prayer He wants to answer, as according to His word, it is His will: “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him” (1 John 5:14-15).
Supplemental Material for Lesson 1:
• 10 Steps to Becoming a Praying Church
https://www.prayerleader.com/resources/articles-2/10-steps-to-become-a-praying-church/
• A House of Prayer for all Nations
https://eagleswings.org/a-house-of-prayer-for-all-nations/
• Why Did God Sometimes Change a Person’s Name in the Bible?
https://www.gotquestions.org/name-change.html
• Name Changes in the Bible (Torah)
https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/3700215/jewish/Name-Changes-in-the-Bible-Torah.htm
• 6 Reasons Why Names Are Important in the Bible
By Wes Woodell
1. A biblical name could record some aspects of a person’s birth.
2. Biblical names sometimes expressed the parents’ reaction to the birth of their child.
3. Biblical names were sometimes used to secure the solidarity of family ties.
4. Biblical names could be used to communicate God’s message.
5. Biblical names were also used to establish an affiliation with God.
6. Biblical names are given to establish authority over another, or to indicate a new beginning or new direction in a person’s life.
Adapted from: https://get.bible/blog/post/names-in-the-bible-have-meaning.-what-about-.bible-domain-names
• Praying and Pronouncing the Names of God – Tony Evans https://tonyevans.org/praying-and-pronouncing-the-names-of-god/
Optional Consultation/Question-Answer Session
With every PrayerU course, there is an option to have a one-hour Zoom session with your instructor(s). This is your opportunity to engage your instructor(s) on a personal level with either a question-answer session, a deeper level conversation about the course content, or both.
There is an additional cost for the consultation session and scheduling is subject to availability.