Prayer Journal March 2019
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Prayer Journal March 2019 March 2019 Dear Southside Family, Welcome to Practicing God’s Presence in Prayer! This Journal has been prayerfully prepared to assist you and your family on the journey. There are 5 daily lessons for each of the three weeks (I think that still equals 15!). You can do them individually, with your spouse or as a family. You’ll need your Bible, a pen (or favorite electronic device) and a heart to find out more about prayer. If these truths are discovered, understood and applied, our prayer lives can be transformed, our spiritual growth can be accelerated and our lives and relationships changed! God is speaking. He desires to be more than a part of our life – He is life itself. May we learn how we can regularly, intentionally remain in His presence throughout the day through an attitude of prayer. Each day, read the suggested Bible passages and answer the questions. Use the KidConnect Corner with your kids or grandkids. Space has been given for you to record your thoughts and impressions from the Lord each day. Customize the content and make this fit for you and your family. Each day’s lesson will take about 20 minutes. Our goal is to become stronger in our walk with God by developing healthy spiritual habits. Don’t be overwhelmed. Take the Practicing God’s Presence in Prayer experience one day at a time! If you miss a day or two, don’t panic! Make them up when you have the opportunity. It’s my hope and intent that our whole Southside family (children, youth and adults) will be discussing the topics in KidConnect, Home Groups, the Sunday morning messages and in our homes. Let’s do this together! A lifestyle of passionate Christianity is supposed to be the norm, not the exception. Don’t ever settle for less. Keep the fire for God burning in your heart and do what it takes to feed your spiritual hunger for God. The tendency of fire is to go out; watch the fire on the altar of your heart. Anyone who has tended a fireplace fire knows that it needs to be stirred up occasionally. —William Booth Stir us up, Lord! Now, take a moment and flip through your Practicing God’s Presence in Prayer Journal. Pray and ask God to help you, and our church family, as we journey together on this prayer adventure. If you have any questions, need more journals, or just want to pray, please contact the church office: #(920) 458-7075 [email protected] Blessings, Pastor John GETTING STARTED We all have intentions. Many are really good intentions: eat less, exercise more, spend more time on things that really count, etc. Most of us desire to spend quality time with aging parents or growing children. Yet we are stretched to find time and never quite get around to it like we would want to... Spending time with God and practicing God’s presence in prayer can seem intimidating and impossible. For Jesus, it was the source of His strength. Let’s ask God to help us nurture a consistent and growing intimacy with Him in prayer. By doing these five lessons each week, you’ll have PRACTICING started an important transformational journey with God over the next 6 weeks. These lessons include questions for HIS PRESENCE you and your entire family. IN PRAYER READ Mark 1:29-39 Week 1, Day 1 OBSERVATIONS March 11, 2019 1. Jesus was busy, just like you! How did He respond to the busy times in His life? How do you respond? KidConnect Corner: 2. Jesus stayed connected to the Throne Room through prayer. According to vv. 38-39, what was When a battery runs low, we the result of His conversations with His Father? can put it on a charger to give it more “juice.” Spending time 3. What would Jesus say about your daily schedule with His Father got Jesus fired and the time you spend with Him in prayer? up. How do you “recharge” Consistency is the key! Let’s be practical! Are you when you’re tired from a big a morning or a night person? Give God your best, day at school? not the leftovers. When during your day could you find 15 minutes to spend with God? God wants to hear from you! We’re going to practice DIGGING DEEPER praying with a pencil. Wow! Write down some things that Check out more about Jesus’ prayer life: Matthew 14:19- you would like to ask God or 23, Matthew 27:46, Mark 1:35, Luke 5:16, Luke 6:12, Luke tell God. That’s prayer! 22:17, Luke 23:34, 46 and John 6:15 Notes Praise: _________________________________________________ _________________________________________________ _________________________________________________ _________________________________________________ _________________________________________________ _________________________________________________ _________________________________________________ Requests: _________________________________________________ _________________________________________________ _________________________________________________ _________________________________________________ _________________________________________________ _________________________________________________ _________________________________________________ _________________________________________________ _________________________________________________ _________________________________________________ READ Luke 6:12-16 OBSERVATIONS 1. Decisions, decisions! Some decisions are easy (What color socks will I wear today? or What’s for supper tonight?), while others are life-changing (Who will I marry? or Should we get a new car?). PRACTICING Life is filled with decisions. In this passage, Jesus is making a big decision. What was it? What did HIS PRESENCE Jesus do prior to making this decision? (v. 12) IN PRAYER 2. What is a major decision you or your family is currently wrestling with? Week 1, Day 2 3. Have you prayed about this decision? No, no, not March 12, 2019 did you say a prayer, but did you really pray? Did God hear you? Did He answer your prayer? How did you know? KidConnect Corner: Jesus took time to listen to His DIGGING DEEPER Father. In Matthew 6:9, Jesus used this prayer to help teach His Sometimes waiting on the Lord in prayer to make a disciples to pray. It begins: Our decision is hard. It is worth the wait: Psalm 5:3, 33:20, 37:4, Father... To sign the word “Father,” 38:15 and Isaiah 40:31. put the thumb of your right hand against your forehead. Wiggle How seldom we pray things through! How often the your fingers a little. Use this sign to church and the individual get right up to the verge of a help you remember to talk to and great blessing in prayer and then let go, get drowsy, and listen to your Father in heaven! quit. –R.A. Torrey Prayer means talking and listening Prayer is not a work that can be allocated to one or to God. Picture yourself in front of another group in the church. It is everybody’s your heavenly Father. What responsibility; it is everybody’s privilege. – A.W. Tozer in We would you ask Him? What would Travel an Appointed Way He say to you? Write down your thoughts on a computer or on paper, or try and take a walk and talk to God. Notes Praise: ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ Requests: ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ READ Luke 11:1-13 OBSERVATIONS 1. The disciples had discovered the secret source of Jesus’ strength – prayer! Jesus walked His talk. He practiced what He preached. He lived out His lessons. They had seen Him pray in public at His baptismal (Luke 3:21) and in private (Luke 9:18). Now they wanted to do it themselves. Describe your public and private prayer life... Jesus’s power came through prayer. In my experience, I have found that simply “saying your prayers” is not where it’s at! Prayer, real prayer, is tough; it is hard work. Even later the disciples knew it. We must pray the price to tap into God’s power and let Him change us so that we can change our PRACTICING world! HIS PRESENCE 2. The disciples asked Jesus for a piece of the prayer IN PRAYER action! At this point, these guys had been with Jesus for Week 1, Day 3 over two years. They had front row seats when He did His divine thing. They had first-hand experience March 13, 2019 in making miracles happen. We have in this verse the only request in the Gospels for Jesus to teach. They did ask, “Lord, teach us to pray...” The most KidConnect Corner: practical way to learn prayer is to do prayer. How Vivian and her family got a are you doing? new puppy. She said to her Mom after asking her dog to sit, 3. Staying connected with God in prayer isn’t always “He never does what I tell him.” easy. What does Jesus teach us about the role of Imagine how God feels when persistence in prayer (vv.5-10)? He asks you to do something and you don’t! Finish this DIGGING DEEPER sentence: “God, when I pray The “Lord’s Prayer” as written in today’s Scripture reading sometimes you are asking me can be recited in less than 15 seconds. It includes several to...” kinds of prayer, (e.g. praise,