House to House begins next week. I’ll be communicating host homes and times very soon. Here’s yesterday’s sermon, which will be completed next Sunday – making Psalm 5 the first Scripture discussed in our shiny new House to House groups. Exciting!
Super Brief Notes
Psalm 5 is for those who know that prayer is awesome and they should do it more often, but can’t seem to cultivate a prayerful spirit. Many of us fail to do so because we don’t know how to pray, what to say, and we just don’t feel like it today – maybe tomorrow. In this Psalm we find help for all three problems.
How to Pray
What does prayer sound like? Note four sounds you might hear coming from David’s prayer closet in Psalm 5:1-3
1. Speaking. Verbal expressions of our thoughts, feelings, fears, desires, etc.
2. Thinking. Thoughts, feelings, fears, desires, etc. that we ponder Godwardly but haven’t put into words.
3. Crying. Wordless emotion expressed to God.
4. Composed Words. Our deepest thoughts, feelings, fears, desires, etc. carefully dressed in words with supreme intentionality.
What to Say
Godly men and women throughout history have been able to pray for hours. What in the world could they talk about for that long? What is missing from our modern prayer life that leaves us speechless in prayer? One word: Meditation.
1. We’ve nothing to say because we don’t think. We’re told in the Bible to meditate day and night and to pray always. Instead, we multitask ourselves to death.
2. We’ve nothing to say because we think about the wrong stuff. We’re told in the Bible to think about Scripture and the things above (GOD). David’s meditation on God (verses 4-6) fuels his praying where our meditation on the worrisome aspects of life fuel our anxieties.
Feel Like it Today
Check back next week for this. (SUSPENSE)
Discussion Q’s
1. Describe your experience with prayer, the challenges and rewards.
2. What is the biggest difficulty you experience in your prayer life?
3. Read Psalm 5 in which god mentors us in prayer through David’s example. What is the most touching aspect of Davids prayer for you? Why? If you could have any one person mentor you in prayer, who would it be? Why?
4. Read Psalm 5:4-7 and observe David’s meditation about God. What thoughts about God most inform your prayer life? What do you think keeps most people from thinking deeply about God, scripture, and the things above?
5. What would your life look like if you were devoted to praying as Psalm 5 illustrates?
6. What would Dulins Grove Church look like if we were devoted to praying as Psalm 5 illustrates?
7. How can you serve each other as a group in light of this passage?
8. How can your group pray for you this week? Pray together.
