This series is taken from Burning Heart who are an organisation who are passionate about equipping churches with high quality, professionally produced and theologically rich teaching films and series.  The Director is David Ingall who was the Rector of Holy Sepulchre London, an HTB Network church plant in the City of London.  For more information visit their website https://www.burningheart.org

In this final session we will explore some of the practicalities of prayer, asking How? When? and What for?, and sharing some top tips.
Start the session by opening in prayer, and maybe worship. You may want to use the following prayer, or something like it:

Father God, please meet with us and speak to us as we watch and discuss this final film. We pray we would all pick up new and helpful ways of praying, and learn more about how we pray. Most of all, we pray that we what we look at today would help each of us to grow in our personal prayer. Amen.

Watch the Video

From the Bible – Matthew 6: 5-13

⁵ “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. ⁶ But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. ⁷ And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. ⁸ Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

⁹ “This, then, is how you should pray:

“‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
¹⁰ your kingdom come,
your will be done,
    on earth as it is in heaven.
¹¹ Give us today our daily bread.
¹² And forgive us our debts,
    as we also have forgiven our debtors.
¹³ And lead us not into temptation,
    but deliver us from the evil one’

Discussion Points

• What do you find hardest about praying? Was there anything in the film that you think might help?
• What difference does it make that we are told to pray to God as “Father”?
• What are your top tips in prayer? What do you find most helpful?
• What type of prayer (worship, intercession, confession, thanksgiving) do you find easiest? What do you find hardest?

Prayer Time

• David talked about how God helps us in our prayers – ask one of the group to pray out loud that God would help all of you in your prayers. Then leave some silence for people to pray in their hearts for their own prayer lives.
• David also talked about how much we can learn from praying with other people – take some time to do that now! You may want to just have a time of open prayer, or to share some prayer points first.
• Pray through the Lord’s Prayer together – start by praying the actual words all together, and then pray through the prayer line by line.