1. Prayer
Bible 2-4

2. WORSHIP Our Father, who art in heaven,
L Holy God, holy and mighty, holy and immortal,
C have mercy and hear us.
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name,
thy kingdom come,
thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread;
and forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us;
and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory,
forever and ever. Amen

3. Worship - 2 C . I believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord.
He was conceived by the power of the
Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary.
He suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried.
He descended into hell.
On the third day he rose again.
He ascended into heaven,
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen

4. Worship - 3 L Show us your mercy, O Lord,
C and grant us your salvation.
L Clothe your ministers with righteousness.
C Let your people sing with joy.
L Give peace, O Lord, in all the world;
C for only in you can we live in safety.
L Lord, keep this nation under your care,
C and guide us in the way of justice and truth.
L Let your way be known upon earth;
C your saving health among all nations.
L Let not the needy, O Lord, be forgotten,
C nor the hope of the poor be taken away.
L Create in us clean hearts, O God,
C and sustain us with your Holy Spirit.
L The Lord be with you.
C And also with you.

5. Worship - 4
L We give thanks to you, heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ your dear Son, that you have this day so graciously protected us.
We beg you to forgive us all our sins and the wrong which we have done.
By your great mercy defend us from all the perils and dangers of this night. Into your hands we commend our bodies and souls, and all that is ours.
Let your holy angels have charge of us, that the wicked one have no power over us.
C Amen
L Let us bless the Lord.
C Thanks be to God.
L The + Lord bless us, defend us from all evil, and bring us to everlasting life.

6. Experience Three ways to pray: Silent Visual Expressive
Go to a quiet place for 10 minutes. Try each prayer form. Come back and share your experience.

7. Discussion & reflection:
Discuss experience of Prayer
Closer to God?
Closer to neighbor?
More at peace?
More thankful?
Nothing happened?
Other?

8. Discussion & reflection:
Luke 11                                                                                                                          
2 And he said to them, “When you pray, say:
“Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. 3 Give us each day our daily bread, 4 and forgive us our sins,     for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation.”
The disciples asked Jesus to teach them how to pray. Have you ever wanted to know how to pray?

9. Discussion & reflection:
Is this the perfect prayer because Jesus taught this prayer to His disciples?
When you pray, what do you do?
Do you wish you could pray better?

10. Discussion & reflection:
Cyril of Alexandria ( ) “When it is our settled conviction and belief that he who by nature is God over all is Holy of the Holies, we confess his glory and supreme majesty. We then receive his fear into our mind and lead upright and blameless lives. By this we become holy ourselves, and we may be able to be near unto the holy God.”
Every relationship depends on our ability to communicate effectively. Good relationships depend on healthy, life giving, positive communication.

11. Discussion & reflection:
Why would we think it is any different in our relationship with God?
Do we communicate with our best friend better than we communicate with God?
How do you talk to a living God?
A better question is how do you listen to a living God?
Is one reason that we don’t listen and talk to God more often is that we really don’t want to?

12. Discussion & reflection:
Romans 8:  Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. 27 And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.
How does it feel that we know God loves us and listens to us, and does what is best for us even when we forget to ask?
Do you ever get frustrated praying for something that doesn’t happen?
Do you stop praying then?
If God already knows what we need, why do we need to tell Him?

13. Discussion & reflection:
Origen (c ) Just as a sick man does not ask the doctor for things which will restore him to health but rather for things for which his disease longs for, so likewise we, as long as we are languishing in the weakness of this life, will from time to time ask God for things which are not good for us. This is why the Spirit has to help us.”

14. Discussion & reflection:
We don’t know that God loves us until the Holy Spirit leads us into and through the Bible and Prayer, and presents us to Father, Son and Holy Spirit, one God, blessed Trinity.
The point of this Bible study and Prayer is to listen.
We need to listen much more than God needs to hear whatever we are saying.

15. Discussion & reflection:
When we pray for God to do something for us, we need to be careful that we don’t start demanding things of God.
One sign that are prayers are really demands is when we become frustrated with prayer because nothing seems to be happening.

16. Discussion & reflection:
When we concentrate on listening, we trust the Holy Spirit to bring our real needs into the Triune conversation.

17. Discussion & reflection:
The Holy Spirit puts our needs into the proper form to be included in the will of God.
Knowing the Spirit is doing this for us, we can then concentrate on listening to the still, small voice of God.