Looking Above Karen Baughman

In this last episode of the season, Brooklyn and Karen are chatting about our end goal in the life of prayer - to live a life of unceasing prayer. While this form of prayer feels like an unattainable goal and may take years to achieve, it is a worthwhile goal because every day we spend pursuing God is an opportunity to be conformed into His likeness.
 
We are at the end of our Life Group semester here at New Life, so we will be taking a break from the podcast, however, we will be dropping a few new bonus episodes on the Lord’s Prayer in a few weeks! Subscribe, so you are sure to get the alert when those drop.
 
Listen in, and then take some time and have a conversation with a friend or small group using these questions:
 

What routines or things in your day could serve as reminders to pause and pray? When are you already apt to think about God during your day? Could those times be prayer prompts?
Do you have any experience with breath prayers? Can you tell the group what your experience has been?
Spend some time as a group brainstorming a few breath prayers you could use in different situations (when disciplining a child, in an argument with a spouse or coworker, sitting in traffic, when overwhelmed…)
Read some of the passages about unceasing prayer. (1 Thessalonians 5:17, Romans 12:12, Ephesians 6:18, Colossians 4:2, Philippians 4:6-7) What about unceasing prayer feels overwhelming?  What about it feels exciting?
Discuss practicing the presence of God. When are you most prone to talk to God? What is it about those situations? How might you become more aware of God in you and in others?
Who do you know that lives in this type of continual communication with God? What do you notice about their life? 
Unceasing prayer is very much a hidden prayer, not seen by others. How might humility be grown in us as we enter into this discipline?
What step will you take this week toward unceasing prayer? (ideas: add prayer to specific parts of your day, use an app or alarms, pray for every person you meet, pray as you go through doorways)

On this episode of the podcast, Brooklyn and Karen chat about what some believers call “the dark night of the soul.” It is in these seasons, that faith feels barren and God seems distant. The Prayer of the Forsaken is the prayer we pray in that season when we are longing for God but feeling deserted by Him. This episode provides hope for those who are questioning why it feels like your prayers are making it no farther than the ceiling.
As always, we encourage you to process the podcast with a friend or small group.

What in this podcast was encouraging to you?
Do you agree with the phrase “prepare for the bad days on your good days?” 
How do you feel about bringing your questions to God? Is this easy or hard for you? Why do you think that is? 
Have you ever experienced not feeling an “emotional response” to worship, the Bible, devotions,  etc…? How did you respond? 
Do you feel like you’ve been in a desert before? What was it like when you came out of it? 
What purpose might God have in allowing us to go through desert seasons?
How do these desert seasons build trust in God?
What is something you want to do to prepare for harder days now? (Connect with others you can share with, memorize the word better, attend church regularly, etc…)

This week Karen and Brooklyn are chatting about a specific form of intercessory prayer - prayer for healing. We may know that God is a healer.  We may have read Bible stories of miraculous healings. But, how many of us have seen it first-hand? The ladies will offer you help and hope as you learn to pray for the healing of individuals. We believe that God is the same yesterday, today, and forever, which means He still heals. Let’s learn how to join Him in that ministry.
After listening to the podcast, we encourage you to discuss it with a small group.  Use these questions to facilitate discussion: 

Have you seen God heal someone? Tell the story.
Where do we see God/Jesus heal someone in the Bible? (Tell as many examples as you can.)
What did you learn in this podcast?  What encouraged you? 
Do you find it easy to believe God for healing, or are you more skeptical? Why do you think that is?
Read James 5:13-18. Spend the bulk of your time praying for healing over each other.

Take turns sitting in the center of the room.
Is there anything you need to confess, anything you need to bring into the light?
What needs healing in your life?
*The rest of the group should surround that individual, lay hands on them, and pray over them. Remember to pray in faith, believing that healing will happen.  Give God thanks for the healing He will perform.
Commit to continued prayers for each other until the healing happens.

Looking Above - Episode 66 - Meditative Prayer
Brooklyn and Karen are talking today about a form of prayer that is a lot like marinating chicken. Listen in as they discuss how Scripture and prayer meld together in meditative prayer. After watching the podcast, find a friend and discuss these questions:
 

Do you process Scripture with your head or your heart first? What does that look like?
When you read the Bible, are you able to read it as if it was written to you?  How might putting yourself in the stories change how you engage with them?
Have you ever meditated on a passage until God unlocked a box and taken the concept from head to heart knowledge? Encourage others with the story of how God enlightened your heart.
What are you struggling with in life - what aspect of God's nature might help you with that situation? In what attribute of God do you think you need to spend a little time marinating? 
Work together to find a Scripture that each of you could meditate on this week. (Then do it! Spend time in meditative prayer each day.)
How do you feel knowing that you cannot "make" God open your heart to new understanding, you can merely put yourself in a position for God to speak to you?
God loves you so much that He wants to have a personal encounter with you that will look different than how He encounters others. Respond to this truth.  Does that relieve you? Make you jealous? Excite you?
Do you try to rush the process or get frustrated when God doesn't work on your timeline? How can you work to slow down and marinate more intentionally? What steps might you need to take? How can you remind yourself that it is about process not productivity?
Pray for each other before you leave.

This week Brooklyn and Karen tackle the topic of intercession. Through intercessory prayer, we enter into the battle with another. We help each other bear burdens by praying. They dive into what it means to pray “in Jesus’ name” and how that relates to authority and abiding. Get ready, because this is an exciting task that has been set before us as we have all been called to intercede.

Jesus is our Great High Priest (see Hebrews 4:14-16). What does that mean in regards to our prayers?
Our prayers affect things. Does it excite you or scare you to know that you can partner with God? Have you considered the fact that our prayers are powerful or that you have authority?
What does it mean to pray in Jesus’ name?
We are hoping to affect the life of someone else, but every time we pray, we are being changed. How has prayer changed you?
Listening and abiding are vital elements to intercessory prayer. How are you doing at abiding?
1 Peter 2:5 tells us we are all priests. Intercession is for all of us. Who is it easiest to intercede for? 
Intercession often means we pray for the long haul. How can you discipline yourself to persist? How can you encourage each other to persist?
Can you tell a story of a time when someone’s prayers on your behalf affected your life?
Share a prayer request and commit to praying for each other this week.
Get brave and pray for each other before you leave your time together.

 
In this episode, Brooklyn and Karen discuss a form of prayer that you may have never considered, the prayer of rest. In this form of prayer, we enter into the stillness of God’s presence and learn to be with Him. It is a prayer of entering into Sabbath rest by letting go of distractions and becoming increasingly aware of God’s presence. This form of prayer strips us of our need to be productive and teaches us a new trust in God. After listening to this podcast, find a friend or small group and use these questions to continue the discussion:
 
 

Prior to this spring, what “forms” of prayer were you familiar with? What type of prayers were you most apt to pray?
Are there certain types of prayer that feel more or less comfortable to you? (like love languages)
Have you ever prayed “genie” prayers, expecting God to grant your wishes? What is the faulty view of God that underlies these prayers?
Have you ever prayed “vending machine” prayers, trying to figure out the “exact change” needed to get the object of your desire? What is the faulty view of God underlying these prayers? 
How does the prayer of rest begin to free us from bondage to wrong views of God and thus change our prayers?
Read Psalm 40:1, 4 How does the prayer of rest build trust?
Why are we prone to activity instead of waiting on God?
Have you been able to achieve a place of stillness and focus and listening in prayer? What has been helpful to you? What have the benefits of that time been in your life?
Make a commitment to attempt the prayer of rest each day this week. If you have never done this before, start small (a few minutes). Tell your group what you are committing to.  Keep trying, even if you struggle to stay still or quiet.