The Lord’s Prayer Week Nine 7th Feb – 13th March

SO FAR: We have approached a powerful loving Father God in prayer with the purpose of honouring His name; we have been seeking to establish Jesus’ heavenly kingdom and will here on Earth. We have looked to God for our and the church’s daily provision and the daily restoration of our relationship with Hi and others.

• They say “sat navs” have been more positive for marriages than for anything else! Discuss how it feels when you are given very clear directions on how to get somewhere / do something. Do you find this a helpful approach?

James 1:13-15     ¹³ When tempted, no-one should say, God is tempting me. For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone;  ¹⁴ but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed.  ¹⁵ Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.

• People often wonder why God would tempt anyone but James makes it very clear that it is not God who does the tempting (v13). So what are we praying for God’s help and direction with? (v.14)
• People often only pray about avoidance of temptation as part of the Lord’s Prayer, yet everyone experiences temptation. Why might it be an important prayer? (v.15)

• Some people see battle between God and the Devil as a struggle between equal powers. What does this passage tell us about God’s victory in a Christian’s life? (v. 10 & Col 1:13-14)
• These verses use the past and the present tense to describe our deliverance. Why is there an ongoing battle in our lives, if God has already won?
• The prayer for deliverance here is not for simply an individual request but a corporate one for the whole church family. How might this truth influence our prayers about deliverance?
• Which areas of personal struggle do you feel might have an evil origin?

• Who do you know that is struggling with something difficult that you could offer to pray for?

• Pray that God would help guide us out of temptation and deliver us from the evil which is affecting our Christian lives as a family.

• When tempted Jesus went to the Bible to avoid the Devil’s schemes, and so must we. The more we understand the truth of Jesus’ victory on the cross the more we will live in that victory in our daily lives.