Study of Prayer ~ Week One Lesson Three

 “Celebrating God”

As I write this lesson, we are approaching the Holiday season. Thanksgiving is in a few days and it is the kick-off to a time of celebration.  Every year people celebrate Thanksgiving, then Christmas and then wrap it up with ringing in the New Year. The word “tradition” is often used when folks talk about this season of celebration. There is rejoicing, feasting and gift giving on the schedule for many. But, for others it is ritualistic, a bother and even depressing. For whatever reason, these folks dread this time of year. Their minds are on whatever is causing them sorrow and they may be angry or depressed.

The approach to prayer is too often viewed the same way; ritualistic, boring and useless. It is something to just get through. The thought of praying sends some people into a spiral of depression because of a disappointment experienced in a previously unanswered prayer.

Prayer should be a celebration! It should be a time of rejoicing. It should be a regular and productive time in the presence of the Almighty. Unlike these celebrations, prayer should just focus on the hustle and bustle of problems and chaos in our lives. Rather, it should also include a time of communion ~ rest and rejuvenation~ thanksgiving and supplication ~ feasting and filling first. It is to be a time of true celebration in the wondrous truth that we even can enter the Throne Room of the King, where, unless invited by Him, we dare not go. By invitation from the King Himself, Jesus bids us to enter. He wants to be with us and this is meant to be a true time of celebration.

We often forget, or maybe we don’t even know, that we have a tremendous reason for celebration. God Himself and all He encompasses, the infinite nature of who He is, is our reason to celebrate the Almighty. 

Celebrating God in prayer includes:

1. Remembering God’s Accomplishments
2. Reciting God’s Accomplishments
3. Rejoicing in God’s Accomplishments

1. Remembering God’s Accomplishments

We can see a perfect example of remembering all God has done in the celebration of Communion (The Lord’s Supper). This symbolic act of partaking in the body and blood of the Lord Jesus Christ reminds us of what He has done for us. It is a cause for great celebration.

Read 1 Corinthians 11:23-26. Answer the following:

What did Jesus take and break? 

Why did He break it? 

What does the bread represent? 

What does the brokenness mean to you? 

What does the cup represent? 

Why does He want us to remember this? 

What is proclaimed when you eat of the bread and drink from the cup? 

How long are we to do this? 

How do you view communion? 

We celebrate what Christ did on the cross for the redemption of our sinful lives through the act of taking communion. Every time we eat of the bread and drink from the cup of communion we must remember what Christ has done. It isn’t just a ritual. It reminds us of the severity of our sin and the extreme love of our Savior Jesus who took our punishment. 

It should be the same in prayer. We must take time to remember what Christ has done as we communicate with Him. Celebrating God in prayer includes remembering (calling to mind) all the Lord has done for us.

2. Reciting His Accomplishments

Speaking of God’s accomplishments aloud, during our time of communicating with Him in prayer, is part of our celebrating God. King David is a good example of this. He sang to the Lord and wrote out His thoughts to the Lord in the act of celebration.

Read Psalm 29:1 & 2. What does David say? 

What does the word “ascribe” mean? 

In our prayer time we recite His abilities and accomplishments to help remind us of God’s glory, strength and holiness. He deserves acknowledgement during our prayers. We recognize who He is and what He has done and what He will do. When we go to God in prayer we give Him the credit for all good things and that He knows best.

3. Rejoicing in God’s Accomplishments

To rejoice in God’s accomplishments is to be filled with joy because we share in the riches of His accomplishments through His Son. By remembering and reciting all God has done for us we are filled with His Holy Spirit and the rejoicing is automatic. His joy floods our being and we rejoice.  When we are filled with the Holy Spirit there is no room for anything else.

Read 2 Chronicles 5:13 &14. Why do you suppose the cloud, which represented God’s glory, filled the temple? 

The presence of the cloud of God in the Old Testament was a sign that God was pleased to dwell with those who worshiped  and served Him. The same is true of you and me. When we rejoice in Him, He fills us, His temple, with His Holy Spirit because He is pleased to dwell within us. In our rejoicing, we partake in all that God is! Give glory to His name.

“God is good; His love endures forever.”

Prayer Time

Take this time to celebrate God in prayer. Go to your Prayer Journal and:

1. Remember God’s Accomplishments. Just relax and allow the Holy Spirit to bring to mind all He has done and all His attributes.
2. Recite God’s Accomplishments. Vocalize all He has done and will do in your life. Just tell Him what you think of Him.
3. Rejoice in God’s Accomplishments. Allow the Holy Spirit to fill you with His joy. You are His temple and He is pleased to dwell within you.

Discussion Questions

1. How do you view prayer? Is it ritualistic, boring and useless to you? Or is it a fulfilling way to converse with God? Explain.

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2. Do you remember God’s accomplishments in prayer? If so, how does it make you feel?

3. Do you view prayer as a joyous time of talking with the Almighty God?

Are you able to lay all your problems and worries down before Him and rejoice in Him? Explain.