The Lord's Prayer - Week Five 7th to 13th February

Overall Theme: A framework of prayer to enable us to embrace all God offers us through His friendship and His kingship   Weeks Theme: Your will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven – seeing God’s perfect heavenly will established here on Earth in prayer.   Welcome SO FAR: Having approached a powerful loving Father God in prayer with the purpose of honouring His name, by seeing Jesus’ heavenly kingdom established on Earth. Share a time when you got your way with something. How did it feel?   Worship Read Psalm 148 - focusing on the God of heaven who is great on Earth.   Word “Your Will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven”     Read 1 John 2:18-24 18 Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. 19 This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence 20 whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. 21 Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God  22 and receive from him anything we ask, because we obey his commands and do what pleases him. 23 And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. 24 Those who obey his commands live in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us. This is the 3rd prayer petition making it clear that prayer is primarily about God’s name, kingdom and now will. Why are there differences between God’s will and our own? (1 John 3:8 &  1 John 2:20 above ) What is at the heart of God’s will for us? Our church? Our community? (v23-24 above) How do we receive more details about God’s will, in order to act on it? (2 Timothy 3:16-17) When we do God’s will “our heart do not condemn us, we have confidence before God.” (v. 21) How confident do you feel before God in prayer? As we walk in God’s will what will happen to our prayer life? (v.22) Why do you think this petition ends with “on Earth as it is in Heaven”?   Witness If Scripture guides us to God’s will, we need to take a step to let it guide us; with bible notes, a book, listening to online sermons or using a Bible in a year guide. Share ideas for reading the Bible more without feeling condemned. How might you encourage one another in this? Prayer Pray for God to help you do His will as it is done in heaven. Pray for more confidence before God in prayer.   Reflection Many of us feel condemned (v.19-20) because we do not do God’s will and yet we fail to realise that we need God’s Spirit to be able to do God’s will. For that, we need only ask, ‘YOUR will be done’, which is why it is in the Lord’s Prayer.