And the Place was Shaken (week 18)
Dynamic Prayer Meeting Study Guide (Week 18)
God-Centered Prayer Recognizes and Responds to God’s Activity and Answers.
Practice #4 - They Recognized and Responded To His Answers And Activity
Questions
What do you really want out of the Christian life?
What do you expect a walk with God ought to be like?
What should you be experiencing in your prayer life?
A Dynamic Prayer Life Recognizes God’s Activity and Answers
All the spiritual giants of the Bible could recognize God at work. Jesus, Peter in Acts, Solomon at the temple dedication, Paul in the Macedonia call, Abraham in Genesis 22 and a host of others clearly, correctly interpreted God’s activity and knew when He was answering them.
God intends you to increasingly be able to do the same. If you never knew when God was communicating with you, how intimate could your prayer life ever become? If you never knew when God was guiding you, how much could He use you? How exciting will prayer ever be if you aren’t able to interact with God?
What Caused Them to Recognize God?
They looked for Him. David only desired one thing and sought it (Ps 27:4). The very first recorded words of Jesus to the disciples were, “What do you seek?” He wanted to know what they were looking for in life.
They expected Him to be working around their life, and to answer them. Those in Acts knew God was in the process of using them to turn the world upside down. That expectation set the direction of their heart to look for God’s activity and assume He would answer them. We can have the same expectation because how God worked with them is how He works with us.
They made the connection. For example, when David fled from Absalom, he asked God to defeat the counsel of his advisor, which God did (2 Sam 15:31-34, 2 Sam 16:20-17:14). Would you have recognized the appearance of Hushai as God’s answer? Too many times we pray then never make the connection to God’s answer.
They responded immediately. Rarely does God give His complete answer by just doing everything for you. When Hushai appeared, that was step one of God’s answer, but step two did not occur until after David responded by sending him to Absalom. Abraham’s servant had to respond to God’s answer by declaring his intent to Rebekah (Gen 24:21-27). You must respond as well. Most of the time, God complete answer does not come until after we have responded.
Focus on God: In leading us, God is always taking us somewhere. Our job is to learn His ways
so that we recognize it.
What have you seen Him doing in inviting us into an intimate relationship with Him?
What clear assignment has He revealing to us about working with Him in our community?
Responding to God: Thank God for how real He is and the intimacy that He gives and wants to give.
Kingdom Prayer List: Consider some of the things God may want you to pray for.
One another – That our personal walk with God would be strengthened.
Needs in the church.
Doors of opportunity to open with those who are lost.
Revival among God’s people
©2005 LifeWay Christian Resources. This study guide was written by John Franklin and is designed to be used in conjunction with his book And the Place Was Shaken: How to Lead a Powerful Prayer Meeting (Broadman and Holman, 2005). Permission is granted for church leaders to download, store, copy, and distribute this document for its intended use. Distribution for sale is strictly prohibited. Purchase And the Place Was Shaken online at www.lifeway.com/shopping
