When You Need Direction

1. Who taught you how to pray? Describe how that happened. When did prayer first become your own conversation with God? Describe what prayer means to you today and what role it plays in your life. Read: Daniel 9:1-19 2. What moves Daniel to pray as he does? What clues do Jeremiah 25:1-14 and 29:10-14 provide? What role does reading the Bible play in how you pray? 3. Take a closer look at v.3. Describe briefly a challenge you are currently facing in your life. How could seeking God provide an answer to the situation? Talk about some ways you could focus more intently on God when you go to Him in prayer. 4. What is the modern-day equivalent to putting on sackcloth and ashes? Have you ever fasted and prayed for something? Why or why not? How did God answer your prayers when you fasted? 5. Daniel talks about pleading with God in prayer…he engaged his emotions when he prayed. Why is it important to incorporate our emotions when we pray? How does strong emotion convey the seriousness of what we’re praying about? 6. Why is it important to humbly confess our sins in prayer? When you pray, what does humility look like to you? How might the discipline of kneeling down during prayer, or lifting your eyes or arms to the heavens, or lying prostrate on the floor, etc. assist you in praying? 7. If many of our problems are caused because we didn’t seek God first, reflect on a time when you ignored God when making an important decision. What was that time like? How did God’s absence make you feel? What did you learn about God? What did you learn about yourself? 8. Read Jeremiah 50:4-5. Why is it important that we pray together as a community of believers? What are some benefits to praying with fellow believers? 9. How have you sensed God speaking to you through this study? What are you going to do about it?