Inward

Prayer opens our heart to God so that we can make a personal connection with Him.  We don’t change the message, the message changes us.  – Unknown

While upward prayer focuses more on honoring God and reflecting on who He is, inward prayer is more about...
self reflection. It is about becoming transparent before God and sharing with Him our innermost selves, what’s really going on. While He knows us and what is going on in our life, He still wants us to come to Him willingly and share with Him what is really happening in our lives personally. Richard Foster, in his book Prayer, says to “bring ourselves before God just as we are, warts and all!”

When we pray, we are reminded of who we are in relationship to God and what we need most inside that only He can supply: hope, help, faith, strength, joy, love and the like. We talk about prayer as a time of building our relationship with the Lord because when we share everything with Him, we make way for Him to work in us.

After all, what kind of relationship would we have with our friends and family if we only asked them for things? Learning about someone requires spending time in their presence where we listen as much as we talk.  As one Bible teacher shared, “Prayer is open, honest, and forthright conversation with God, who has more to say to His people than His people have to say to Him.”

READ and THINK… What does the Bible say?

1. During the reign of Solomon, he prayed for wisdom and guidance and fulfilled the rebuilding of the temple that was his father, David’s, dying request. Once it was complete, God spoke to Solomon telling him how His people could maintain a relationship and deep connection with Him.

Question: What does God say we should do? What is the role of prayer?

2 Chronicles 7:14-16 (New Living Translation)

¹⁴ Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land. ¹⁵ My eyes will be open and my ears attentive to every prayer made in this place. ¹⁶ For I have chosen this Temple and set it apart to be holy—a place where my name will be honored forever. I will always watch over it, for it is dear to my heart.

Answer:

Fast forward to the New Testament, where we find Paul imprisoned, writing about the plans of God and his prayers for spiritual growth for believers.

Question: Where does growth and strength come from?

Ephesians 3:16 (New Living Translation)

I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit.

Answer:

LIVE… What will you do now?

Take an inventory of your prayers. Are they mostly asking God for things? How many of your prayers are self-reflection?

What keeps you from becoming transparent before God? Is it fear? If so, how can you combat that fear? How does opening your heart to God increase your connection to Him?

PRAY… God what do you want me to know and do?

Take some time to sit quietly and tell God what you really want Him to know about you and what is going on in your life right now. Talk to Him candidly and then listen. Allow Him to reveal to you what He loves about you and even what changes you can make to grow spiritually and become closer to Him. Close with a Psalm.

 

Digging Deeper with this week’s teaching pastor:

Click here to go deeper using the Life Group DVD by the teaching pastor or view the message, including bonus discussion questions.

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