Prayer Pt.1

Adam made love to his wife again, and she gave birth to a son and named him Seth, saying, “God has granted me another child in place of Abel, since Cain killed him.” 26 Seth also had a son, and he named him Enosh.
At that time people began to call on the name of the Lord.

Genesis 4:25-26

Church Camp is coming up and our focus will be on prayer. We almost all know that prayer is an integral part of the Christian life. But for many of us, prayer is like the broccoli of the Christian life - we know it’s healthy but rarely are we excited about it.

We’ll come to that. But I think there’s another problem we face with prayer today. As with so many aspects of the Christian life, culture impacts on theology. What I mean is, our cultural patterns of thought and behaviour affect the thinking and practice of our faith.

I recently stumbled on an article on prayer from the Alpha Course (an introduction to Christianity course). What is prayer according to the Alpha Course? It’s talking to God so that you would receive spiritual/mental/emotional and even physical health benefits as you grow closer to God like a married couple grows closer when they communicate.

And look I get it. It’s not not true. But there is something fundamentally wrong with this description of prayer. It misses the bigger picture of what God is doing and how prayer fits into it.

Why are a bunch of people calling on the name of the Lord in Genesis 4? Let me give you a hint. It’s not to grow their relationship with God - at least, not primarily. Come back on Saturday for part 2 of this.

For Today:

• Do you pray? Why? What for and how often?
• Can you think of ways our culture has affected prayer?
• Why do you think they are ‘calling on the name of the Lord’ in Genesis 4?

Pray:

• Praise the Father that He hears the prayers of His people.
• Give thanks for Jesus who is the answer to our deepest prayers.
• Ask God for His Holy Spirit to help you and others be a people of prayer.