[There is an accompanying booklet for our series with the 5 studies, weekly prayer challenges, places for notes and more. If you have not yet, you can download it here]

As we begin our first study for this series, read together Jesus’ words to his disciples as he teaches them (and us) how to pray in Matthew 6:9-13. Then share with one another:

• How did you learn to pray? Who or what has impacted your understanding of prayer (i.e.: how to pray, what to pray about or the impact of praying)?

• Was there anything that particularly stood out from Johnny’s message on Sunday that you felt God was speaking to you through?

Our Father in heaven

Jesus begins teaching his disciples about prayer at the most logical place: who it is that we are praying to. 

• When you pray, how do you normally address God or think of Him?

• By using the term ‘Father’, what is Jesus teaching about the nature of God and our relationship with him?

To open in prayer with ‘Our Father’ is to recognise also who we are: the children of God, which speaks of his great saving love. Read together 1 John 3:1-3.

• Share what it means to you that you have become a beloved child of God.

‘Father’ is a term of intimacy, of relationship, of knowing and being known.  As Christians we don’t pray “dear distant deity” but instead cry out “our Father”. 

• If prayer is based on such an intimate relationship, how should this impact our prayer life?  [eg: when we pray, how often we pray, what we pray about, the confidence we have in praying to God etc]

[Bonus Question] Do you think there is any significance that Jesus instructs us to pray ‘our father’?  What is the role and importance of a communal practice and understanding of prayer?

Hallowed be your name

While we can call on God as our father, we need to also remember who our Father is!  Being overly-familiar with relational language can sometimes cause us to forget that we are praying to the cosmic, holy, sovereign, all-powerful, awesome Creator-God himself!  Read Isaiah 6:1-5 and Revelation 4:7-11.

• Do you think you have an appropriate reverential awe/fear of the Lord in light of those passages? 

• In what ways would your prayer life change if you recognised more fully who it is that we are praying to?

In Jesus’ day, a person’s name was indicative of, or synonymous with, their character.  To pray that God’s name would be ‘hallowed’ (ie: proclaimed as holy, set apart, held in highest regard) is like praying that God himself would be revered as holy by us and by all people.

• What does that look like/sound like in practice when we pray? 

• What happens to our perception of ourselves, our problems, our lives, our future, and our God when we focus on glorifying the Father in prayer?

• How do we keep a balance between relational intimacy and awe-filled wonder in our prayer life?