Prayer - Our Father

Sermon Review: The most powerful Bible studies are always those that focus on truly understanding the nature and character of God. Nothing reveals more to us about who God really is than this passage in which Jesus teaches us how to pray. This model, we call the Lord’s Prayer contains everything we need to know about prayer. It seems we all recognize that nothing could be more important than knowing how to commune with our Creator, yet as each of us examines our own prayer life, we all feel that we might be missing something and certainly there’s room for improvement. Well, amazingly, in just 5 short verses Jesus taught us how to pray.

Ice Breaker
• Think about every TV or movie dad you’ve ever seen depicted on screen. Out of all of them, who was your favorite? Why?


Exploring the Text
Read Matthew 6:9
• What is the significance of Jesus using the word “Our” to begin this prayer?
• If we all have the same father, what does that make us?
• How would you describe your relationship with your sibling(s)?
• What person (or group of people) in this world is it difficult for you to love?
• What does the word “Father” mean to you?
• How would you describe your relationship with your earthly dad? Healthy? Strained? Non-existent? Perfect?
• Many people have had less than perfect relationships with their earthly dads. How can they overcome the baggage they may bring into this word and understand its true meaning when used to describe God?

Challenge
- Spend time this week reading through the famous story of The Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32). Pay special attention to the dad’s words and actions in verses 20-24. Then prayerfully thank Our Father in heaven for his limitless love and forgiveness.