Have you ever had an amazing encounter with God that awakened something powerful within only to see it slowly dwindle away? When an encounter with God is coupled with a sustainable rhythm long-term transformation will result.
The greatest gift you can give your family, your friends and your world is an inspired, vibrant you. Spending time in conversation with God transforms your life on the deepest levels. Take the time to turn the page and be in the word every day. Turn on the worship music when you wake up every morning just to awaken the mindset of the things of the spirit. Make the time to pray through the daily agenda we are providing during this season.
God doesn’t measure faithfulness in days so stop getting discouraged over a bad day. God measures faithfulness in years. Over the years we can cultivate a healthy spiritual attitude to stay in the right frame of mind!
Rom 8:5-7 Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. 6 The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. 7 The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. NIV
Whatever you have your mind set on becomes your mindset. Prayer, reading the word, gathering to worship are all expressions of submission to God’s purposes through consistent patterns.
Your life has rhythm. Your life has patterns. Your patterns reveal your priorities. When you embrace a pattern you express a priority. Tracy and I have a date night every week as a pattern to express the priority of our friendship. Relationships with no rhythm are like empty bank accounts. They may exist but have very little value.
When there is no pattern it means there is no priority. Rhythm reinforces purpose. This is why worship is so significant. In Genesis we see how man made a mistake and immediately God begins responding to redeem him. In Exodus God delivers his people out of the bondage of Egypt and introduces them to his Law exposing them to the truth that could make them flourish. In Leviticus patterns of worship are revealed to perpetuate the priorities of God’s Kingdom in the lives of God’s people. In Numbers we find how the application of truth conquers our negative attitudes. In Deuteronomy we find the direction to raise up the next generation to understand and embrace these patterns to perpetuate this truth throughout their lives as their legacy as well.
As we walk through our daily focus of prayer let’s commit to see Monday like God wants us to see Monday. Monday comes from “Moon Day”, a time in human history when there were no phones or clocks. The New Moon signified the beginning of the month. Monday isn’t a horrible day at the beginning of the workweek. Monday is a day of new beginnings! Fresh starts begin on Monday! We all need a tribe of people who are inclined toward the new beginnings of God in our lives.
Jesus stepped into human history and began healing hearts, homes, cities and nations. He does this one person at a time awakening this journey of making things new! There are 52 Mondays every year for you to remember that you are being made new in order to help make new.
DISCUSSION GUIDE FOR COMMUNITY GROUP LEADERS
Click here for a downloadable pdf of the discussion guide.
Prayer is all about having conversation with God. There is not a wrong way to talk with God.
Jesus told his disciples when they pray they were to start by saying our Father (Luke 11:2). It is interesting to me that Jesus decided to help us understand prayer by revealing that it resembles a conversation between a child and a father.
If you think about a child who has a healthy relationship with their father you can get the picture of what Jesus was trying to express.
DISCUSSION:
1. When you think of a child communicating with his or her father what comes to mind in regard to the ages and stages of communication?
There are spiritual ages and stages as well. We see these stages defined in Scripture.
Heb 5:12-14 though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! 13 Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. 14 But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.
DISCUSSION:
2. Share something God has been revealing to you lately. This could be something you sense God has been speaking to you or perhaps something you’ve noticed as you’ve read your Bible lately.
3. What are some current rhythms and patterns you have in place to express the priority in your life of pursuing a conversational relationship with God?
4. Are there any rhythms or patterns you plan to set into motion this week to more effectively pursue this conversational relationship of prayer? Next week we can discuss how the week has gone. Please make sure everybody in your group has the handout of the 7 days of prayer focus.
In an effort to help people develop a pattern of prayer it is important to make some time to pray.
Perhaps you could conclude your group by inviting everybody to pray as they feel so led. When you do this it is good to have asked a few people in advance so you have support for this endeavor of prayer together.