Open In Prayer
Begin by praying together – taking some intentional time to invite the Holy Spirit into your gathering. Lead your Community into the evening with a non-anxious and joyful spirit.
Below is an optional liturgy you could pray:
Creator of the Universe, you are infinitely glorious. Heavenly Father, you are relationally intimate. We ask You, Holy Spirit, to make Your tangible presence known to us as we gather. May this table be an act of defiance in a culture that tries to promote division. May we be united, just as Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and the Father are united. Amen.
Around The Table & Reflect On Last Gathering’s Practice
This is space during your gathering to share a meal, build relationships, and enjoy one another.
As you’re around the table, invite your Community to reflect on the practice. If your Community is larger, you may find it helpful to reflect in smaller groups for the sake of time.
Where did you feel resistance in prayer? Internally or externally?
Where did you most experience delight, or God’s nearness during the practice?
Learning: Practicing The Way’s Prayer Course
Session two focuses on learning how to talk with God. Praying pre-made prayers is a beautiful way to pray. We can also share our pain, our joy, our hopes and fears to God in our own words.
We break down this next stage of prayer into three subcategories.
Gratitude — talking with God about what is good in your life and world.
Lament — talking with God about what is evil in your life and world.
Petition and Intercession — asking God to fulfill his promises to overcome evil with good.
Each one of these three dimensions of talking with God is like a vast territory we can explore for a lifetime and yet never see it all.
Let’s begin session two: Talking with God.
[Leader Note: During this session, instead of having a group discussion, you are invited to pause and pray together.]
Practice: Gratitude and Intercession
We are going to continue to practice a daily prayer rhythm. There is no formation without repetition.
Over the next few weeks, we’re going to intentionally practice gratitude and intercession, or the act of asking God on behalf of yourself and others.
While there’s no “right” way to practice gratitude, we encourage you to use your imagination and creativity to “give thanks in all circumstances,” as written in 1 Thessalonians 5:18.
Here are a few ideas for how to practice gratitude:
Begin your daily prayer time by giving thanks for three gifts of the day.
Give thanks during everyday moments like while you commute to work, take a shower, or walk your dog.
Keep a gratitude journal.
Go around the table at dinner with your family, spouse, roommates, or community and say what you are thankful for.
Here are a few recommended exercises for practicing intercession:
Prayer Cards
Make a deck of index cards with names or situations at the top of each card. We challenge you to consider including your enemies or those you are struggling to forgive, as praying for them can set your heart free to love them.
Write a few short and specific bullet point prayers. You may consider adding a scripture to your card.
Flip through your cards and linger over each one for a few seconds to a few minutes, offering up specific prayers to our Father. Remember, generic prayers make it harder to see God’s hand in our life.
“Pray the Room”
This is a form of imaginative prayer that combines intercession with waiting on and listening for God. The goal is to pray what the Spirit of Jesus is already wanting you to pray from deep within.
Get to a quiet, distraction-free place if at all possible. Take 5-10 deep, slow breaths.
Close your eyes and imagine yourself in a room with the Father or Jesus. Take a moment to visualize the room. If no specific room takes shape in your mind, use your memory of a room you love and experience God in.
Ask the Spirit to bring into the room anyone or anything that he wants you to pray for. Wait and see what comes into your field of vision.
How do they look? Are they happy? Sad? Bruised? Tired? Scared? Lost? What else do you notice about their appearance or demeanor?
Then, pray for that person. Make your intercession as specific as possible. You can pray whatever is on your heart for them, or ask the Spirit for further insight into what to pray for them. If you don’t know what to pray, just hold them before God with love.
Consider reaching out to that person to check in or offer a word of encouragement or sense of God’s heart for them.
[If you are looking for ways to go deeper, the Practicing The Way: Prayer Companion Guide offers optional “reach practices”. Overachievers in the room: there is not an expectation to complete the reach practices, these are simply available for those who have the interest and capacity.]
End in Prayer
Since you spent time during the Practicing The Way session praying for one another, you may choose to end this gathering with a short prayer of blessing.
Below is an optional liturgy you could pray:
Lord Jesus, There is no greater prayer than yours — make us one as you are one, in devotion, in living, in love. Amen.