Prayer E4 - Directing God's Hand
Part of Formed by Prayer—the way of faith in a world of sight
May 24, 2025

Matthew 6:9-13

PRAYER IF YOU IT.

Prayer is the sacred practice of delighting in God’s presence, discerning God’s heart, depending on God’s power, and God’s hand.


Before Jesus teaches the of prayer… He addresses the work of prayer.

Matthew 6:5-8

: “THE FUTURE IS ALREADY SET, SO PRAYER WON’T CHANGE ANYTHING.”

God is looking for people who will —who will stand in the gap and participate in changing the .

Exodus 32:9-14

“God’s ‘response’ to our prayers is not a charade. He does not pretend that he is answering our prayer when he is only doing what he was going to anyway. Our requests really do make a difference to what God does or does not do. The idea that everything would happen exactly as it does regardless of whether we pray or not is a spectre that haunts the minds of many who sincerely profess belief in God. It makes prayer psychologically impossible, replacing it with dead ritual at best. And of course God does not respond to this. You wouldn’t either.” —Dallas Willard


: “THE PRESENT IS FULLY SEEN, SO PRAYER IS JUST WISHFUL THINKING.”

Naturalism paralyzes our prayers in one of 2 ways.
1. We

the problem.
2. We the problem.


2 Kings 6:15-17

Nehemiah 4:9

Pete Greig’s Reasons Why Some Prayers Go Unanswered:

GOD’S


• Common Sense
• Contradiction
• The Laws of Nature

GOD’S


• God’s Best
• Motive

GOD’S


• Satanic Opposition
• Faith


THIS WEEK’S PRACTICE

Base: Intercessory Prayers

“If we truly love people, we will desire for them far more than it is within our power to give them, and this will lead us to prayer. Intercession is a way of loving others.” —Richard Foster

Reach: Prayer Cards