Prayer Series Study Guide: Week 2 Praying to the God Who is Always There

Community Group Study Guide — Praying to the God Who is Always There 
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, Galatians 4:4-7

Study Information:
Prayer is an ordinary and everyday activity in the Christian life. We have an incredible access to the God of the universe and we are invited and encouraged to bring him our needs, shift our attention to what he is doing and to talk with him throughout our day. We are not alone or distant to God. It may surprise you but praying at all times is actually a command in the Bible! This commands comes in the form of “pray always,” “be constant in prayer,” and “pray without ceasing.” Does this mean we spend out days with our eyes closed and heads bowed for all our waking hours?! No, instead this command invites us to live life with God who is always there. 

God is Father
Galatians 4:4-7
First we have to consider the kind of access we have to God. In our world people throw around the idea that “we are all God’s children” but technically that is not true. God has made every human being in the image and likeness of God and we each have inherit dignity, value and purpose because of that. However, only followers of Jesus are called children of God in the bible. When you put your faith in Christ you get transferred from one kingdom to another and find out that you’re no longer a slave but actually a child to the king of the universe because of what Christ has done. One of the best places to see this is in Galatians 4:4-7 and Romans 8:15-17. These passages are similar to one another, but let’s consider what God teaches us in Galatians 4. 

God planned our redemption! It happened at the right place and right time. God the Son took on a human nature like ours, born to a particular woman at a particular place, under the Law for our redemption. Jesus  fulfilled the Law to accomplish redemption for us because we were unable to do it and were slaves to the elementary principles of the world (Gal 4:3). Notice also the goal of this redemption, “so that we might receive adoption as sons (Gal 4:5).” Paul elaborated and taught us that we we were all previously enslaved to the things of this world and have had an identity change from slave to son. The language of son highlights the status that both men and women have in the household of God as “firstborn heir.” In that culture the firstborn son would receive the bulk of the inheritance and have a special place in the family, and such is the reality of every follower of Jesus Christ. 

Do you realize what this means for our prayer life? We have the same access that a child has to a loving father and our father is the king of the universe! Imagine a wealthy, powerful person. Maybe they’re a tech billionaire, a celebrity or a political leader. Could you just go to that person and just talk to them or ask for help? Probably not, likely you’d getting arrested and charged for stalking. But what if that person was your dad? What if they loved you dearly and wanted a relationship with you and regularly showed you how much they loved you? Then you’d have incredible access to them and such is the identity of each and every Christian. We can knock on the king’s door at any time or any hour and he’d be delighted to see us and speak with us.  

Ordinary, Everyday Prayer
1 Thess 5:16-18
The way we talk about prayer in the church can often make it seem like prayer is something that is only for the super holy people among us. We can use words like “prayer warrior,” or share stories of people who prayed and fasted for many days and saw God miraculously provide. It is true that there are some among us who pray more often and more naturally than others, and God does respond to prayer in miraculous ways. But let’s not use that as a reason to think that prayer is extraordinary. There are more than 20 references the book of Acts to the people of God praying together, and at least fourteen commands in the bible for us to be praying all the time! Prayer is one of the primary ways we experience our friendship and connection to God. If you struggle with being constant in prayer know that you’re not alone, but at the same time be careful not to put prayer into the category of things that only really “spiritual people” do. It could be that your mind wanders or you’re scared to pray out loud in a group or that you do not know what to say. If Jesus were here with you in person right now, he would likely remind you that “your prayers are not heard because of your many words (Matthew 6:7).” Instead Jesus invites us to pray to our father, asking for his kingdom to come and for our daily needs to be taken care of. 

To pray constantly is to turn our attention to God at all times throughout our day and to share with him our needs, praises, suffering and to rely on him because of the incredible access we have through Jesus. 

Staying Constant in Prayer
What can we do to be more constant in prayer?
First, we can pray with others. One of the best ways to increase frequency of prayer and learn to pray is to pray alongside other followers of Jesus. A couple tips, spend more time praying than you do sharing the prayer request. Also, you do not have to use a fancy voice or talk like a theologian; you can ask God to work in your circumstances, provide for your needs and to help in your time of temptation and do all that with normal and everyday language (Matthew 6:7-13). It is also helpful to pray with people from a variety of ages and stages of life. 

Second, structure and spontaneity are not enemies. Some of us can feel like it is legalism or disingenuous if we use structure like scheduling prayer times throughout the day or using pre-written prayer. Praying from the heart in a time of need is great, but many of us can struggle to pray because we simply have not planned to pray. Praying pre-written prayers can be especially helpful and they can shape your heart and your prayer life in great ways. There are many pre written prayers available to you right now. Take the Psalms for example, we get vocabulary of praise and lament for a variety of life circumstances. We also have the Lord’s Prayer, Paul’s prayers in the New Testament and there are historical documents like the Book of Common Prayer or the Valley of Vision that give us prayers from church history that we can use, especially if we struggle to know what to pray. 

Finally, think about prayer like you think about text messaging with a good friend or spouse. Someone you think of often and talk with at all times throughout your day. Usually you talk with them about logistics, needs, hardships or share appreciation with them. Praying constantly can be like that, it does not have to be prolonged times where your eyes are closed with your head bowed, it can be that bringing your thoughts and attention back to God with the various things going on in your life to ask him to work and to shape your heart in praise to him. We have that kind of access to God through Jesus Christ. 

At your community group:
Take 15-20 minutes to share about how God has been at work in your life, prayer concerns and pray for one another.

How did God speak to you through the scripture and the sermon this week? 

Discussion Questions:
Read Galatians 4:4-7
What makes someone a child of God according to this passage? Who were we before putting faith in Jesus Christ?

How does being a child of God give us a new kind of access to God and what are some ways that relates to prayer?


Read 1 Thess 5:17-18
Paul gives us three commands in this passage - to rejoice always, to give thanks in all circumstances and to pray without ceasing. How are these three related to one another and why do you think they’re commands?

Out of the actions steps to stay constant in prayer, which one do you want to apply to your life this week? What step can you take today to grow more constant in prayer?