PRAYER GUIDE

CONTINUING

THE GOOD WORK

TO THE GLORY

OF GOD

IN PRAYER WE PURSUE WHAT GOD

WANTS AND WHAT HE INTENDS TO DO.

Our Father in heaven,

hallowed be your name.

Your kingdom come, your will

be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

Forgive us our debts

as we forgive our debtors.

Lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from evil.

For yours is the kingdom

and the power

and the glory forever,

Amen.

P R AY I N G T H E B I B L E

The Bible is to be read and prayed! The Bible shows us the will of

God, what he wants and what he intends to do. When we pray

based on God’s will, we are pursuing what he is doing.

That raises a question – if God intends to accomplish his will, why

do we need to pray for it to be done? The most obvious reason is that

Jesus told us to. The Lord’s Prayer, recorded in Matthew 6:9-13, is a

model prayer that Jesus gave to teach us how to pray. In it he told

us to ask for the will of God to be done on earth as it is in heaven. It

makes sense, then, to read the Bible to find out what is God’s will,

and then to pray according to his will.

H O W T O P R AY T H E B I B L E

Praying the Bible is a rich and simple way to pray.

First, read the Bible thoughtfully and responsively.

Read from a translation that is both accurate and

understandable.

Then, turn what you read into prayers of praise,

thanksgiving, confession, and request. This

means you let what you read become the content

of your prayers. You can take this a step further

by journaling your prayers. Sometimes writing

prayers helps us concentrate more deeply and

communicate more clearly. The Lord knows what we are praying

but we can benefit from writing our prayers.

Finally, include others in your prayer. Family, friends, and congre-

gations need prayer.

P R AY I N G T H R O U G H T H E

B O O K O F E P H E S I A N S

The book of Ephesians is a good place to learn

how to pray the Bible because it includes

prayers, reasons to pray, and encouragements to

pray (Ephesians 1:16, 3:12, 3:14-21, 5:20, 6:18-19).

If we let the book of Ephesians guide our

praying we will find ourselves praising and

thanking God for his goodness, praying with

boldness because of his grace, confessing our

sins because he forgives us, and asking for the

things that will help us walk in obedient faith.

Along with praying for ourselves, we will pray

for our families and friends, and for our church.

Our prayers will be motivated by the desire for

God’s glory in all the world.

During the Future Grace giving campaign we

are praying. Yes, we are also giving funds to the

building project. But our giving and building is

for the greater end of God’s glory. We are praying

for spiritual vision, renewal, and power to be a

healthy congregation that makes disciples and

reflects the grace of God in the world.

JOURNAL A PRAYER

FAITH IS

TO PRAYER

WHAT THE

FEATHER IS

TO THE

ARROW.

Thomas Watson

DON’T PRAY

WHEN YOU

FEEL LIKE IT.

HAVE AN

APPOINTMENT

WITH THE LORD

AND KEEP IT.

A MAN IS

POWERFUL

ON HIS KNEES.

Corrie ten Boom

H O W T O U S E T H I S P R AY E R G U I D E

Ephesians has six chapters, so plan to read a chapter a day for the

four weeks of the Future Grace giving campaign. The process of

slowly reading Ephesians four times will stir up many prayers.

Each week we will also focus on one passage of Ephesians for the

purpose of prayer.

Remember, the point is to seek the Lord and

ask for his glory to be shown to you and made

known through the church in the world.

So, pray. Whatever and however you pray

based on what you read in Ephesians will be

pleasing to him. WE TURN EACH

TRUTH WE LEARN

ABOUT GOD

INTO A MATTER

FOR MEDITATION

BEFORE GOD

LEADING TO PRAYER

AND PRAISE

TO GOD.

J.I. Packer

1. Meditate on the passage and the themes that you

find in it. This means to read it thoughtfully and

responsively. Ask the Lord to speak to you about the

messagecontainedinthepassage.Whatdoesitshow

youaboutGodandyourselfinrelationtoGod?What

doesittellyouaboutGod’swillandhisdesiresforthe

churchand theworld?Howdoes it instruct, comfort,

correct,andencourageyou?Ponderthesethings.

2. Turn your thoughts about the passage into prayers.

Praise God. Confess sin. Make requests. Talk to God

abouthisownword.

3. Formulate a prayer for yourself. Then include other

peopleinit.

4. FormulateaprayerforGraceCommunityChurch.

5. Trywritingtheseprayersinajournalandbuildingon

themeachday.JOURNAL A PRAYER

W E E K O N E

A U G U S T 2 7 - S E P T E M B E R 2EPHESIANS 3:14-21

Meditate on this passage each day. Ephesians chapters 1-2 show us

the grace of God and the blessings of being saved. We are chosen,

adopted, redeemed, forgiven, made spiritually alive, and joined to

other Christians in the church. The prayer of this passage is that we

will know the unlimited dimensions of God’s love for us in Christ.

And the prayer is for God’s glory to be known in the world in Christ

and through the church.

Each day, pray for yourself, someone else,

and Grace Community Church.

W E E K T W O

S E P T E M B E R 3 - 9EPHESIANS 4:1-16

Meditate on this passage each day. This

passage tells us how God wants his church

to grow and mature, and to work togeth-

er in unity to build up the body of Christ.

As you read this passage, list the specific

commands that are given or implied for

the church.

Each day, pray for yourself, someone else,

and Grace Community Church. This

week, include another church in our city

in your prayers.

W E E K T H R E E

S E P T E M B E R 1 0 - 1 6EPHESIANS 5:1-21

Meditate on this passage each day. This pas-

sage is a practical guide for how Christians

are to walk in the love of God and in fellow-

ship with Christ. As you read this passage you

may find many sins to confess, and also many

positive and productive actions to take in

your daily life. The way to live as a Christian

presented in this passage reflects the power

of God’s grace to transform us and to make us

more like Jesus.

Each day, pray for yourself, someone else, and

Grace Community Church. This week, pray

especially for our congregation to be wise in

making the most of the opportunity we have

for ministry in our city (see verses 15-16).

SIMPLE PRAYER IS

ORDINARY PEOPLE

BRINGING ORDINARY

CONCERNS TO

A LOVING AND

COMPASSIONATE

FATHER.

Richard FosterJESUS ISN’T JUST

THE SAVIOR OF

MY SOUL.

HE’S ALSO

THE SAVIOR OF

MY PRAYERS.

MY PRAYERS COME

BEFORE THE

THRONE OF GOD

AS THE PRAYERS

OF JESUS.

Paul Miller

JOURNAL A PRAYER

F I N A L W O R D S

You have spent four weeks praying through Ephesians. Now what?

Are there other passages or another book of the Bible that you

would like to pray through?

How will you begin to read the Bible differently?

Have you ever thought about starting a small group centered on

praying the Bible?

Ask the Lord to give you vision and practical plans for continuing

on in the practice of praying the Bible.

IBC

W E E K F O U R

S E P T E M B E R 1 7 - 2 3EPHESIANS 6:10-20

Meditate on this passage each day. The Chris-

tian and the church are in a spiritual battle.

We need the resources of God listed in this

passage to be able to withstand the enemy

and carry out the commission Christ gave us

to preach the gospel in the world.

Each day, pray for yourself, someone else, and

Grace Community Church. This week, think

of the temptations our congregation faces and

pray that we will stay focused on the spiritual

realities outlined in this passage.

EFFECTIVE PRAYING

IS MORE THAN

A HUMAN BEING

CAN WORK UP.

EFFECTIVE PRAYING

IS A DIVINE GIFT

THAT COMES

WHILE PRAYING.

Jack Miller

JOURNAL A PRAYER

5711 Granny White Pike

Brentwood, TN 37027

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615-377-8997