Suggestions for leading a study:

• Familiarize yourself with the passage in context, including the book itself.  Who wrote it to whom, and why?
• Read through the study guide a couple times to get the “big idea” as well as the flow of the argument
• Have the group read through the passage in it’s entirety before beginning the study.  One of the goals is to try to get your members to learn how to study Scripture methodically, and this is an important step.
• Be prayed up
• Have fun!
  

Praying God's Will

Discussion Questions

-Paul has been talking about suffering and hardships that have caused us to feel weak in light of them.  Now, in verse 26, he says that in the face of these sufferings we don’t know what to pray for.  What do you think he means by that?  Have you ever found yourself in a difficult situation not knowing how to pray?            

-Since  we don’t know  what we ought to pray for,  why  do you think we should bother to  pray at all?  

-In verse 27 we learn that God has intimate knowledge of two things.  What are they?

-Do you think that the prayers that come from what is in our hearts would be different if we had all the knowledge of events, past present and future, that God has?  

-How does that affect how you feel about God changing our prayers to conform more to his will (verse 27)?   

-Read verses 28-30.  God promises to be doing something in the midst of the difficult things we have been praying about.  What is it (verse 28)?   

-In verse 29 Paul clarifies what God’s purpose for us is.  He says that God foreknew us and predestined us for….what?             

-Is that the same thing as God’s will for us?  Does that clarify the role of the Spirit in verse 27 regarding our prayers?  How might that effect how you pray? 

This lesson looks at how we can conform our prayer lives to the will of God to make them accomplish his purposes.

-Paul has been talking about suffering and hardships that have caused us to feel weak in light of them.  Now, in verse 26, he says that in the face of these sufferings we don’t know what to pray for.  What do you think he means by that?  Have you ever found yourself in a difficult situation not knowing how to pray? 

            It will be helpful for you to read this passage in the larger context, beginning from verse 18.  The weakness Paul is talking about is compared to creation itself deteriorating under the bondage of decay that sin has brought about.  That could result in all kinds of difficult situations that people might share, including illness or relational problems, or financial difficulties or whatever.  They are all ultimately a part of a world in decay brought about by the presence of sin and evil.

-Since  we don’t know  what we ought to pray for,  why  do you think we should bother to  pray at all?

            This is a brain teaser to generate some discussion.  Obviously, Scripture expects and commands us to pray, so what it cannot mean is that we don’t engage in prayer.  A good response would be simply to practice our relationship to God.  In this context, however, it is so that the Spirit would have the opportunity to conform our prayers to God’s will.  If we don’t even try, then the Spirit has nothing to work with at all.

-In verse 27 we learn that God has intimate knowledge of two things.  What are they?

            The two things are what is in our hearts (he “searches our hearts”), and what is in the mind of the Spirit.

-Do you think that the prayers that come from what is in our hearts would be different if we had all the knowledge of events, past present and future, that God has?

            Often-times our prayers are driven by needs and desires that have a significant emotional component attached.  By contrast, the “mind” of the Spirit is based on knowledge.  Since God exists outside of time and space as we know it, that knowledge includes everything that has ever or will ever happen, including all the interactions of all people and all circumstances everywhere.  Clearly he has a significant advantage over us in knowing how best to make things work out the way God wants them to.

-How does that affect how you feel about God changing our prayers to conform more to his will (verse 27)? 

            Perhaps if anyone has been feeling ill at ease about not knowing what to pray for, or even a little put out that God would change their prayers, this discussion may help.

-Read verses 28-30.  God promises to be doing something in the midst of the difficult things we have been praying about.  What is it (verse 28)?

            God promises to work in all those situation to bring about something good.

 
-In verse 29 Paul clarifies what God’s purpose for us is.  He says that God foreknew us and predestined us for….what? 

            To be conformed to the likeness of his Son,  In other words, to become more like Jesus.

-Is that the same thing as God’s will for us?  Does that clarify the role of the Spirit in verse 27 regarding our prayers?  How might that effect how you pray? 

            God’s purpose for us (v.28) and his will for us (v.27) must be seen as one in the same.  It’s a little tricky to follow, but the flow of thought is this:

-God is working in all things to achieve something good.

-The good that he working to achieve is his purpose that he has called us to.

-The purpose he has called us to is to become more like Christ.

            Therefore, we can assume that the way in which the Spirit is interceding for us is to help us pray that the kinds of things would happen that would make us more like Jesus.  Perhaps one way that might change our prayers would be to alter them from “God, help this or that to happen”, to “God, help me become more like Christ because of this situation.”