Emmanuel Evangelical Church Chippenham

From 11^th January 2007:

In this session we will consider why it is that God wants us to pray.

Background

Right from the very beginning of creation mankind has been in some kind of relationship with his creator, even if that relationship is one of enmity. With the message of salvation held out in the Gospel, the relationship of mankind to God can be positive. His forgiveness and mercy means that it is possible for us to relate to him and therefore we can have personal communication with God. We call that personal communication ‘prayer’.

Yet right at the beginning we are forced to ask:

Why does God want us to pray?

Please look at the passages below and discuss the answers to the following questions, summarising your answers at the end.

Matthew 6:5-13

1. What are the disciples told they are NOT to do in prayer?

2. Give at least one reason that the Lord Jesus explicitly says God does not want us to pray.

3. Why is there no need for the ‘model’ prayer the Lord Jesus gave to his disciples to be copied?

4. What does the term for addressing God emphasis about what follows?

5. Given the answer to question 2, what do we learn about the reason for praying from the ‘model’ in these verses?

Matthew 7:9-12

1. What are we to understand about how God will treat us?

What have you concluded about why God wants us to pray?