Ask, Seek, Pray Booklet by rivervalleychurch

Spring 2022 A River Valley Church Small Group Series

A River Valley Church Small Group Series

Week 01 Ask

Week 02 Seek

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Week 03 Pray For

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Week 04 Pray Forward

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Additional Resources

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Small Group Leader FAQs

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SCAN HERE to join an Ask, Seek, Pray Small Group

Spring 2022

Week 01/04

Topic: ASK

SERMON NOTES KEY SCRIPTURES QUESTIONS

Week 01/04 OPEN UP

Topic: ASK How did you first learn about and start attending River Valley Church? What brought you to this Small Group?

Welcome to the first week of your Ask, Seek, Pray Small Group! We are looking forward to getting to know one another better over the next four weeks! In January, Pastor Rob introduced our yearly vision to our church family: Ask, Seek, Pray. If you weren’t able to join us for Vision Weekend, we would encourage you to go back and listen to the message!

VISION WEEKEND MESSAGE

Over the next four weeks, we will be diving deeper into this theme that God has led us to focus on throughout the year. First, let’s read the verse that is guiding our year and will form the foundation of our small group discussion.

“Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.”

Matthew 7:7-8 [NLT]

This year, God is drawing us to pursue Him and His purposes more intentionally as we ask, seek and pray. For the first week of our series, we will focus on asking. We want to learn and converse about how we can come to God, ask Him to meet needs in our lives, fulfill desires He has placed within us and to open our hearts to know Him more and more.

LEAN IN 6

Think about the last time you asked God for or about something. What did you say? How did you feel as you approached Him with your request?

LEAN IN

How did God respond?

Considering how to ask God for or about something brings up a fundamental question: how should we pray? Asking this question puts us in good company– Jesus’ twelve disciples asked Him the same thing! Jesus responded by encouraging His friends that their heavenly Father was already aware of their needs and anticipating their requests! He gave them the following guidance for how to come to talk to God, our Father, in prayer.

“…for your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask him! Pray like this: Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy. May your Kingdom come soon. May your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. Give us today the food we need, and forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us. And don’t let us yield to temptation, but rescue us from the evil one.”

LEAN IN

Matthew 6:8-13 [NLT]

Before Jesus even begins to pray, what does He say? How does He build on that theme in the opening lines of His prayer, before He makes any request on behalf of Himself and His disiples?

LEAN IN

Why are these opening words significant? How do they impact and guide our prayers?

LEAN IN

What does Jesus ask the Father to do for Him and His disciples? How can we use His asking as a model for us to bring requests, concerns and questions to God?

Even though we have a model of how to ask our good Father for and about things, we may still struggle to approach God with confident assurance, truly believing that He cares about responding to our requests. Let’s read one more scripture that encourages us to have confidence when we ask God for our needs and our desires.

“Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”

LEAN IN

Hebrews 4:16 [NIV]

When you find yourself in a time of need how quickly do you approach God with your concerns and challenges? What encourages you or discourages you from coming to Him?

When we ask, we can ask God from a position of confidence and favor. We can trust God and come to Him because we know that He is not only sovereign and powerful but is our Father. He is full of grace and He views us with favor, so He is completely accessible and available to talk with us! As we conclude our first discussion on this note of encouragement, we are looking forward to allowing what we have learned to impact how we approach and ask God throughout this week.

BUILD ON

Every day, pray the Lord’s prayer.

Follow Jesus’ example to add your requests and bring your own needs to your good and gracious heavenly Father. In what areas of your life do you want to ask for God’s kingdom to come and His will to be done, on earth as it already is in heaven? Where are you asking for help, a breakthrough or a good gift? Every day this week, ask God to reveal the answer to your request in His timing and within His will.

PRAYER REQUESTS

Week 02/04

Topic: SEEK

SERMON NOTES KEY SCRIPTURES QUESTIONS

Week 02/04 OPEN UP

Topic: SEEK What is a hobby you enjoy doing or something you’re passionate about?

Welcome back for the second week of your Ask, Seek, Pray Small Group! As we continue to look more closely at the vision for our church family this year, we will transition from asking to seeking. God is worthy of being pursued with wholehearted devotion and intensity. We should not seek Him merely to get anything from Him but simply to know Him more. Jesus used a parable story to metaphorically indicate the kind of intensity with which we should seek God Himself and pursue the fulfillment of His purposes. “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure that a man discovered hidden in a field. In his excitement, he hid it again and sold everything he owned to get enough money to buy the field.

Matthew 13:44-46 [NLT]

Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a merchant on the lookout for choice pearls. When he discovered a pearl of great value, he sold everything he owned and bought it!”

LEAN IN

Have you ever gotten excited about something you discovered about God? Share about what captured your attention.

LEAN IN

Did your passion for this discovery motivate you to do or say anything or somehow live differently than before?

Jesus uses these analogies to help us recognize just how much worth should be attributed to and how much intensity should be invested in pursuing Him and His kingdom. Although He may not be asking us to sell everything, these examples stir us to give every part of ourselves and our lives to Jesus because He is worth it all. When we find Him and continue to find out more about Him, we will be so overjoyed and moved to give all our passion, energy and resources to seek Him! Jesus indicates that there is a significance to the magnitude of how much we give up to seek Him and to the order in which we choose to prioritize seeking Him.

“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”

LEAN IN

Matthew 6:33 [NIV]

Can we trust God to satisfy our needs and fulfill our heart’s desires? What makes that easy or challenging?

Notice that in return for both ways of acknowledging His unrivaled worth– magnitude and priority–there is a promised reward: living an abundant, fulfilled life in close relationship with Him!

LEAN IN

What do you think is meant by and involved in seeking the Kingdom of God? What does that look like in your personal relationship with the Lord?

When we seek His Kingdom first, it means we seek for insights to understand the things in God’s heart and mind. It means we seek His intended design for our lives, and choose to walk out the good and godly way He desires us to live. 13

It also means we are running as fast as possible in obedience when He asks us to do things that will bring His plans and purposes to pass! We seek to know His heart, live in a way that pleases Him and align ourselves with His agenda. We seek after Him not to get what we want from Him, but to know Him more and fully give ourselves to Him.

“Jesus answered, ‘Very truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs I performed but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.’”

John 6:26-27 [NLT]

Jesus points out to the crowd that they were looking for Him because He gave them food to eat. He says that we shouldn’t look to Him simply to meet our needs but to bring deeper nourishment and eternal satisfaction to the empty places in our souls. When we seek Jesus for the sake of knowing Him, He graciously takes care of our physical needs and our spiritual needs. Let’s take time this week to seek Jesus Himself, desiring to know Him in a deeper way than we ever have before.

BUILD ON

Set aside at least 10 minutes of undistracted quality time every day to prioritize seeking the Lord with no agenda other than to develop a closer relationship with Him.

PRAYER REQUESTS

PRAISE REPORTS

Week 03/04

Topic: PRAY FOR

SERMON NOTES KEY SCRIPTURES QUESTIONS

Week 03/04 OPEN UP

Topic: PRAY FOR What is the best present you asked for and received from someone?

As we continue into the third week of our Small Group study, we will focus on distinguishing the difference between two kinds of prayer: “Praying For” and “Praying Forward.” First, we will dive into what is involved in praying for certain things. This week’s message centered on bringing personal requests to God. What does Jesus teach us about praying for our own needs? To learn by example, let’s look at an interaction He had with a blind man who had repeatedly been crying out as He walked by, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”

“‘What do you want me to do for you?’ Jesus asked him. The blind man said, ‘Rabbi, I want to see.’”

LEAN IN

Mark 10:51 [NIV]

What do you most often pray for or pray about?

Why did Jesus ask the man what he wanted? Jesus could recognize the man’s need for the ability to see. The significance of His question was not about figuring out what the man needed, but about inviting the man to speak and be heard as he asked for what he wanted. When God asks us what we want Him to do for us, it’s not because He doesn’t already know what is on our hearts. He wants us to articulate what we need, and He wants us to know that He is listening. When we articulate our requests, it activates our trust in Him and our faith to believe for what we have asked to come to pass. It may be tough to trust God to do something that seems impossible. Jesus addresses this struggle for faith with a dad who wants to see his son miraculously set free from a demon. 18

“Jesus asked the boy’s father, ‘How long has he been like this?’

Mark 9:21-24 [NIV]

‘From childhood,’ he answered. ‘It has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.’ ‘If you can’?’ said Jesus. ‘Everything is possible for one who believes.’ Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, ‘I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!’”

LEAN IN

Is there something you have given up praying for because you have prayed for a long time and have not seen the answers to your prayers?

If we’re honest, we have probably all been in a circumstance where although we may have stated our faith, there was still a struggle to fully believe. It’s not that we don’t think God can do it, but perhaps it’s something that we have prayed for many times and never seen a breakthrough. We may not understand what God is doing (or seems not to be doing), which is exactly when we need to come to a place of relentless trust that goes beyond our understanding. Jesus, Himself set the ultimate example of this unconditional trust in the Father’s perfect plan.

“‘Abba, Father,’ he cried out, ‘everything is possible for you. Please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.’”

LEAN IN

Mark 14:36 [NLT]

Is there an area of life you have been holding too tightly, something you’re unwilling to give authority and control into God’s hands? 19

When we choose to yield and align our will with God’s will, we are in the right heart posture to present our requests to our Heavenly Father. When we entrust the outcome of our requests into God’s hands, we are free from the expectation of what we want. We can trust God to respond to our prayers perfectly and at the perfect time that He determines. We should keep praying for everything we need with faith, yet always ask that God’s will would be done, so that He can accomplish His perfect plan in and through us.

BUILD ON

Every day, use Jesus’ words to pray for what is on your heart and yield your will and choose to align with God’s perfect will.

PRAYER REQUESTS

PRAISE REPORTS

Week 04/04

Topic: PRAY FORWARD

SERMON NOTES KEY SCRIPTURES QUESTIONS

Week 04/04 OPEN UP

Topic: PRAY FORWARD How is God working in your life right now?

We are coming to the close of our Ask, Seek, Pray Small Group! We hope that you have formed meaningful relationships and have drawn closer to God during these last three weeks. Our final topic is “Praying Forward.” Although this may seem like a new concept, it is the simple idea that God leads us to pray for things that don’t directly impact us or are prayers looking towards the future. We may not be able to fully see the path ahead, or know how to pray for it to follow God’s will. We are thankful that the Holy Spirit is our guide, teaching us how to pray forward!

“And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will.”

LEAN IN

Romans 8:26-27 [NLT]

Has the Holy Spirit ever prompted you to pray on behalf of someone else, even if you didn’t know exactly what they needed? What was that feeling like?

The powerful invitation to pray forward comes through insights from the Holy Spirit. Some of us may be more familiar with the Holy Spirit than others: He is the third Person of the divine Trinity, who lives within us when we acknowledge that Jesus is the Savior and Lord of our lives. When we ask the Holy Spirit to fill and overflow out of our hearts, we can pray with or “in” alignment with the Spirit. 24

This simply means that He shows the things we can pray for that He knows because He is omniscient, but that we would not have a natural ability to recognize or inclination to pray for. Jesus said He guides us and reveals the truth of what is and what He is bringing to pass.

“But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.”

LEAN IN

John 16:13 [NIV]

Have you ever felt the nudge to pray for someone you didn’t know or about something you weren’t aware of?

LEAN IN

If you did pray, what was the outcome?

LEAN IN

If you didn’t pray, how can you position yourself to be ready to act upon the next prompt?

“Since we live by the Spirit, let us walk in step with the Spirit.”

LEAN IN

Galatians 5:25 [BSB]

What is one next step you sense the Holy Spirit leading you to take? 25

You might be thinking: I now know how to pray forward, but I don’t know what to pray about. Here are a few practical ideas that you could incorporate into your prayer time today: Pray that the Spirit would inspire our church family to dream about and carry out initiatives, events and creative expressions that bring glory to God and draw lost people to Him. Pray for one of the pastors at our church: ask for grace and peace to be with their family and with them as they minister, and for protection from physical and spiritual harm. If you are a student or have a child/friend in school, pray for your/their school, teachers, classmates, sports teammates, and extracurricular club members. Ask the Holy Spirit to draw these people to Jesus, and give creative ways to powerfully represent His love. Ask a friend, a co-worker, a neighbor, or a family member something they are praying for and add it to your prayer list. Choose a country and pray that God will reveal Himself in unique and personalized ways to the people of that nation. One of the Spirit-inspired visions closest to our heart as a church body is to raise up and send out 500 full-time missionaries. We believe the shared mission of all Christ-followers is to participate in taking the Good News of Jesus Christ to the entire world (Matthew 28:18-20). Many will be supporters and senders, but our vision and sincere prayer is that God will raise up 500 (or more) individuals from River Valley Church who are willing to go and bring the gospel to the billions of people who have yet to hear. This God-sized dream cannot come to pass without prayer. This week’s theme 26

presents us all with a special opportunity to “adopt” one (or more) numbers from 1 to 500 and build a habit of praying for the missionary represented by that number–whether it corresponds to someone who is already on the field or one who has yet to hear and obey the Spirit as He prompts them to go!

PRAY FOR THE 500

“For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.”

Ephesians 3:14-21

As we conclude our Small Group, we pray that verse for every member of our church family throughout the rest of this year. May God do exceedingly and abundantly more than we can ask or imagine! Let us ask, seek and pray with greater intensity and see God move in and through us like never before!

BUILD ON

Ask God to grow your heart for the world He loves and pray that the Holy Spirit would lead you to share His love with someone each week. 27

PRAYER REQUESTS

PRAISE REPORTS

Additional Resources

SCAN HERE to access additional resources for the Ask, Seek, Pray Small Group Series

Small Group Leader FAQs What if we don’t make it through the entire set of Scriptures and questions for the week? That’s OKAY! As a Small Group leader, your main goal is to help generate deeper conversation about our church vision for the year and bring everyone into stronger relationships as a church family. If your group didn’t make it through all the questions because the dialogue surrounding some particular portion of the curriculum was so rich, you still accomplished the main purpose! If your group didn’t make it through all the questions because the conversation was drawn away into a tangent significantly distinct from the main themes of the sermon and curriculum content, next time be sure to gently insert your voice and redirect the discussion to get back on track sooner. Either way, you can always encourage your group members to read through the rest of the content for the week, consider the questions on their own and come back the following week with any additional questions or thoughts.

Can I ask my own questions or bring in other Scriptures that weren’t in the curriculum content? Of course! If a question or a passage of Scripture comes to mind that you believe would help your group build upon and further develop what you are currently discussing in the content, just ask the Holy Spirit whether it would be helpful to share or not. If the Lord gives you peace and an unction to share it, go for it!

I am leading a Small Group of kids, youth students or college-age young adults…how can I make this especially fun and engaging for them? Start with a game! When students (and adults!) laugh together, learn interesting things about each other, and even get a little active and competitive, it often will help everyone open up, get authentic conversation flowing, and build trust.

My group really bonded! Can we continue meeting as a group beyond the four-week series? Absolutely!! Just submit a request to create a new small group via your Small Group Leader Toolbox. Make sure everyone who wants to continue participating in the group signs up via the online Small Group Locator! If you’re looking for ideas of discussion topics to guide your conversation as you continue to meet together, consider: The Power of Prayer – Disciple U series Any other DiscipleU series that stands out to your group! Topics include everything from deeper dives into books of the Bible (Hebrews, James, 1 John, Colossians, Philippians) to Intro to the Holy Spirit to The Fire Series about what it means and looks like for us to represent the image of God. Talk about your observations, questions and prayers from the churchwide SOAP Bible reading plan for the day/week. Watch an episode of The Chosen and discuss it each week. You can go back and watch our sermon series about The Chosen to help you unpack four specific episodes!