Bible Prayer Meeting

As Lutheran Christians we have a strong emphasis on God’s Word. It’s one of the Reformation “solas” — by Scripture alone. We study the Bible regularly both as individuals and in groups. While we can continue to improve in our study, we have a strong foundation off which to build. Prayer is another matter.

Yet look at the Biblical emphasis on prayer. Jesus taught His disciples to pray.

One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When He finished, one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.” He said to them, “When you pray, say: ‘Father, hallowed be Your name, Your kingdom come…’ ” (Luke 11:1-2).

You know that. It’s the Lord’s Prayer.

Jesus was often found in prayer. He prayed after speaking with people in different settings (Luke 5:16, 6:12, and 9:18 among others). He taught His disciples to be persistent in prayer (see Luke 6:12 for Jesus’ example and 18:1-8 for a parable that taught that point). These are just a few of the many examples of Jesus and prayer.

The Epistles are filled with prayer, too. Paul tells us, “Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer” (Romans 12:12). He told believers, “Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful” (Colossians 4:2) and “…pray continually…” (1 Thessalonians 5:17). And he told the Thessalonians,

“With this in mind, we constantly pray for you, that our God may count you worthy of his calling, and that by His power He may fulfill every good purpose of yours and every act prompted by your faith” (2 Thessalonians 1:11).

Like Jesus, Paul called us to pray. And, like Jesus, he modeled prayer.

Even the Explanation to the Small Catechism encourages prayer. It tells us, “God commands and invites believers in Jesus Christ to pray” (question 193 answer).

With such a strong emphasis on prayer why don’t we go to God in prayer as we approach big projects or decisions both individually and as a congregation? Why don’t we “open our hearts and empty our hands,” as we learned while working up our Strategic Ministry Plan?

To help us grow in our lives of study and prayer we’re going to try something new. Entitled Bible Prayer Meeting, this will be a time of contemplation, discussion, and prayer that we’ll hold in Pilgrim’s sanctuary on Wednesday, November 11th, at both 11:00 AM and 7:30 PM.

We’ll have two or three “movements,” each of which will have three parts:

• Contemplate: read the passage silently to yourself and prayerfully ponder what it means to you and how it relates to the kingdom of God — how it relates to bringing people into the kingdom.
• Discuss: join with your partner to discuss together what God is telling you through this passage.
• Pray: join with your partner in praying with one another about the passage. You can use the PTA prayer form of praise, thank, and ask. We’ll have more details about that suggested form at the first session.

We’ll then spend time together as the groups of two join with the other groups in sharing their God-given insights.

We’ll then move on to another “movement” (or two, if there’s time). Finally we’ll close with a blessing and send the participants out into the world to put into practice what they learned in this event. Based upon feedback gained from participants we’ll schedule a second session sometime after Thanksgiving.

We encourage you to join with us as we experiment with this Bible Prayer Meeting as we seek to discern God’s will for us both as individuals and as Pilgrim Lutheran. May God direct us to the future He plans for us.