Purpose of Prayer - Week 1
Why Pray?
Sermon Verses Review – Read the verses below together. As you read, underline the portion of the verse that supports the sermon point underlined above it.
We pray because we have a relationship with God.
Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
Hebrews 4:16
We are called to pray.
Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.
Romans 12:12
do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
Philippians 4:6
pray without ceasing,
1 Thessalonians 5:17
Prayer expresses our faith in God.
Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us,
Ephesians 3:20
And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.
1 John 5:14-15
Our prayers changes others’ lives.
First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people,
1 Timothy 2:1
praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints
Ephesians 6:18
At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison—
Colossians 4:3
bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.
Luke 6:28
We are children of God in the family of God – Why should we pray? ____________________________
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Indulge me a bit as I remember God’s goodness to our church and to our children.
I remember a VBS at Grace Bible Church on Meadow Street YEARS and YEARS ago. Our budget was $100. With that we shared the gospel through story, games, and songs to over 100 neighborhood children in maybe 3,000 square footage. It was glorious, very...cozy. We wondered -- maybe we should build a new building? So we began to pray. Today we worship in that building.
I remember a staff meeting YEARS ago when we lamented that some of our people could not worship with their parents who only spoke Spanish. So we began to pray. Today at staff meeting we praised God for His presence at our first Easter Service in Spanish this past Sunday!!!
I remember a staff meeting YEARS ago when we lamented that we had to turn away some children from Sunday school because we didn’t have enough space for them. So we began to pray. Today after celebrating our first Spanish Easter service at staff meeting, we went to the new church site; they had just poured the foundation for our children’s classrooms AND a children’s sanctuary. A sanctuary for children....
Today we’re going to pray for the children of our church and for our ministry to them. Read Matthew 18:1-5. Discuss this passage from the lens of PRAYER. In ancient times no one, not even Rabbis, used children as an example of conversion, only Jesus. No one called God “Abba” (Daddy), only Jesus. No one prayed, “Our Father,” only Jesus.
Indulge me a bit more.
My daughter Hannah’s first memory was when she was two years old. She remembers looking up at her dad on a ladder and watching him work on building her a new church. She talks today about how precious it is to her that that was her first memory. The year was 1993. Her brother Jacob was born that May, and a few months later, we entered Grace Bible Church’s new building as a family of four. A few years later I was reading a book about the gospel to Hannah on an airplane ride. She got very excited and told me, “I learned about this in Sunday school! I gave my heart to Jesus, already, Mommy!” Today Hannah serves in children’s ministry at her church in Austin.
We used to move kids on their third birthday from the nursery to a Sunday school class. The week Jaek turned three, we walked through the door and he was suddenly gone. I looked everywhere for him until it finally occurred to me to look for Jaek in his new Sunday school class. There he was, sitting uncharacteristically still with his hands clasped before him waiting for his class to start. A few Sunday school classes later as we played ball, he asked me how God could exist if he couldn’t see him. A few Sunday school classes later, he told me he decided to give up his imaginary friend, Dijdi the Giant. “He’s not real. You can’t see God, but HE is real.” Two years of Sunday school classes later, Jacob told me he was ready to ask Jesus into his heart. And so we prayed. Today Jaek serves right here at Grace in our high school ministry.
These are stories of a few of my children. I have many more stories of children coming to Christ at Grace. Some I got to share the gospel with myself. Some were Grace’s children. Some were children I only saw once. One boy who lived in a foster home was giving all of our VBS leaders a difficult time, so I brought him into the office for a talk. He agreed that no matter how hard he tried, he just couldn’t be good. But he wanted to be. I shared the only solution to that, the gospel, with him. To close our VBS that night, one of our volunteers stood near a large cross and invited the children to come follow Jesus. The little boy looked across the sanctuary at me. I gave him a smile and a nod, and he leaped up and RAN across the room to sit at the foot of the cross. I do not know how this young man, once a foster child, is doing today, but I know he knows Jesus.
Do you have a story of your child or any child knowing Jesus through the ministry of Grace? Share that with your group.
“Truly I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” -- a Kingdom of Children FILLED with real stories more magical than Disney’s. Do you want to be part of building that Kingdom for children right here in Laredo? We can all be part of that by praying.
Building the Kingdom at Grace Through Prayer
One of the greatest services you can ever engage in for our church is prayer.
Like a warrior's fistful of arrows are the children of a vigorous youth. Oh, how blessed are you parents [church] with your quivers full of children! Your enemies don't stand a chance against you; you'll sweep them right off your doorstep. Psalm 127:3-5
1. Thank God for His faithfulness to the children served through Grace Bible Church since 1984.
2. Pray for those children, some who serve right here at Grace today, some who serve elsewhere, some whom only the Father knows where they are.
3. Pray for children today, especially in light of our current circumstances
4. Pray for our children’s ministry, which will be opening up again on campus April 18th (English) and June 20th(Spanish).
5. Pray for the building of our children’s classrooms and sanctuary.
6. Pray that God will provide leadership for our quiver full of children, especially as Grace in English moves to a new building and Grace in Spanish expands in our dearly beloved old building.
7. Pray God would bring children who do not know Jesus to Grace.
8. Pray for God’s protection for our children (physical & spiritual).
9. Pray God will raise up leaders from our children to continue to build the Kingdom.
Sharing the Gospel with Young Children -- a great time to share the gospel with a young child is when he feels convicted by sin and also realizes that he cannot control his desire to sin.
Need – a black, red, white, gold, green sheet of construction paper
1. Show the black paper. Explain that all of us have sinned (Romans 3:23). You can discuss how that child struggles with sin specifically.
2. Cover the black paper with red paper. Explain that Jesus died on the cross for sins (Romans 6:23. The red is the color of His blood. Share how Jesus wanted us to be with Him and the Father forever, so He died for us.
3. Cover the red paper with white paper. Explain that Jesus is God. He never sinned. So He is the only one who could die for us. If we trust that Jesus died for us, then God sees us as hidden in Jesus (John 3:16).
4. Next to the white paper, place the yellow. Share how this represents heaven. In heaven there will be no sun because God Himself will be all the light we need. One day they will die, but if they trust Jesus, then they will be in heaven with God forever (John 14:2-4). Ask the child if this is what he or she wants. If the child says, “Yes,” then pray with the child to receive Jesus. They can pray after you. If the child says, “No” then pray with the child that God will call him or her to have faith in Him.
5. Next to the yellow paper, place the green. Discuss how trees, grass, things that grow are green. Jesus is not taking them to heaven yet. He is excited to watch them grow more and more like Him. Share how when they believe in Jesus, the Holy Spirit lives in them. He will help them to know God and obey Him.