Key Bible Passage(s):

Eph.1:15-23; 3:14-21; Phil.1:9-11; Col.1:3-14; I Thess.3:12-13; II Thess.1:11-12

Tier 1

How do we respond when we hear God speaking to His Church? It can easily feel overwhelming to confront the life we are called to. We can simply assume it is beyond anything we can achieve, and dismiss it as a idealistic fantasy! After the Creed has reminded us what God has done to make that fantasy a reality for us, we turn to prayer, and listen to someone ‘interceding’ for us.

Tier 2

Intercession is not general prayer. It contains the idea of someone praying for us, and on our behalf. At least, it starts there. But after praying for us in the light of what we have heard from the Scriptures, we go on to pray for and on bhealf of the wider Church and the world. We know the Church’s agenda for intercessions, because we have ancient examples of how we should pray.

Tier 3

Like everyting in a service of divine worship, we are learning by doing… or by being done to. The idea of having someone lead us is more than simply an exercise in unity. As we see living examples of people praying Bible-shaped and Bible-informed prayers, we are being taught how to pray ourselves.

Intercession means raising ourselves up to the point of getting the mind of Christ regarding the person for whom we are praying.

Oswald Chambers

Discussion Groups

Were you here for the term looking at the Lord’s Prayer?

What can you remember? What did you learn about prayer that was new?

How has it changed the way you pray? What has been the ongoing impact on your prayer life?

How do you pray for [our Church]? What do you want to see God do in the life of [our Church]?

Do you go to [our Church’s] prayer meetings? Why / why not?

and later in the session:

Read Eph.1:15-23; 3:14-21; Phil.1:9-11; Col.1:3-14; I Thess.3:12-13; II Thess.1:11-12.

How does the Apostle teach us to pray for our Church?

What are the key priorities and emphases in their desire for what God will do for the Church?

Are there things you would have expected Paul to pray for that he doesn’t seem to?

How do Paul’s prayers for the Church connect with his later teaching in these epistles?

spend some time in your group praying these things for [our Church].

Homework:

Over this half-term we will be working to memorise Matthew 7:1-6. You will have to keep refreshing Matt.5:1-26, Matt.6:5-34 and Matt.7:7-28 whilst you do this.

(we’ll memorise the whole of the Sermon on the Mount over the 3 years of DTP)

How is your ‘Rule of Life’ shaping up?

thinking this half term especially in relation to my experience of prayer

see Q&A 224-226 & 233-243

Read through the BCP Prayer of Intercession, which were used as part of the Service of Holy Communion. You can download a pdf of a modernized rendering with some explanatory notes below. Use these as a way of structuring your own prayers over the course of this week.