1. Hope in PRAYER Hope in PRAYERhope for today Please click to watch the intro video for this section located at: http://vimeo.com/66328059

2. SECTION 1 Communicating with our Creator hope for today KEY TEXT: Philippians 4:6-7 “ Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” Hope in PRAYER FURTHER STUDY: Matthew 6: 8-15; 1 Chronicles 28:9; 1 Chronicles 4:9-10; Habakkuk 3: 17-19

3. SECTION 1 Communicating with our Creator hope for today CONSIDER: Although prayer involves talking to God, it differs from normal conversation between two people. Our prayers are not just casual and polite discourse. For one thing, the conversation doesn’t occur between equals. Prayer is a creature’s utterance to his Creator. It is the conversation between a sinner and Holy God. Prayer lets us communicate with the Creator of the universe. God wants our communion with Him to resemble the intimacy that exists between child and parent. Hope in PRAYER

4. SECTION 1 Communicating with our Creator hope for today CONSIDER (continued): Although there are many who believe that prayer informs God about our needs so that He might supply them, it involves more than that. The deeper issue is that God seeks our complete dependence and trust in Him. As the Israelites relied upon God to provide for their needs in the wilderness, God desires that we trust Him by taking everything to Him in prayer. Hope in PRAYER DISCUSS: What is prayer? What its purpose?

5. SECTION 2 Carry Everything to God hope for today KEY TEXT: 2 Kings 6:8-20 Read the passage and view some urgent prayers and some distinct answers. FURTHER STUDY: Mark 10:27; Philippians 4:19; Jeremiah 33:3; 2 Timothy 1:7 Hope in PRAYER

6. SECTION 2 Carry Everything to God hope for today CONSIDER: God’s Word makes it clear that we are to bring every care, challenge, hope and dream to Him first––before anything else, and the emphasis is on the word “first.” In a sense, prayer should be as spontaneous as a reflex. It should be the completely natural thing for us to do in time of need. And God’s promise is that when we pray He will grant us peace beyond comprehension. Why would you wait to use as your last resort such a powerful practice at your disposal every hour of every day? Hope in PRAYER

7. SECTION 2 Carry Everything to God hope for today CONSIDER (continued): For the child of God, prayer should be the first response to absolutely every situation in life. Hope in PRAYER DISCUSS: Are there any limitations to the power of prayer?

8. SECTION 3 Conditions to Answered Prayer hope for today KEY TEXT: John 15:7 “If you abide in me and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.” FURTHER STUDY: Matthew 7:21; Luke 18:1-5; 1 John 1:7-9; Matthew 5:23-24; Proverbs 21:13; James 1:6-8; John 14:13-14 Hope in PRAYER

9. SECTION 3 Conditions to Answered Prayer hope for today CONSIDER: Take a moment and develop your own personal definition of prayer. Read Philippians 4:6-7 every day until the words became fixed in your mind. Allow these words to help you understand that God wants to hear from you every day and about everything. Let prayer become your first response and not your last resort. DISCUSS: What are the conditions to answered prayer? Hope in PRAYER

10. INVITATION hope for today What a friend we have in Jesus! Won’t you let Him bear all your sins and all your grief? It is our privilege to carry all of our worries and our pain to God in prayer. Will you lay your burdens at the foot of the cross? Hope in PRAYER