Series Info and Messages
Week 1: Like a Child, Come to Your Father
Week 2: Like a Child, Talk With Your Father
Week 3: Like a Child, Depend on Your Father
Week 4: Like a Child, Be With Your Father
Week 5: Like a Child, Cry Out to Your Father
Week 6: Like a Child, Trust in Your Father
•Listen to the message from June 4th
Study Guide Archive
Introduction
There are four notable instances in the New Testament Gospels where Jesus stresses the significance of children in God’s Kingdom (Mark 10:13-16; Matt 18:1-5; Luke 10:21; Mark 9:33-37). One of these instances occurs in the Gospel of Mark when the disciples try to prevent mothers from bringing their children to be blessed by Jesus. The disciples do not want Jesus to be disturbed by the children. Jesus becomes upset with the disciples and tells them, “Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it” (Mark 10:14-15). This is a pretty serious statement. Jesus is teaching the disciples the necessity of becoming like a child when receiving the Kingdom of God. He is directing the disciples to strive for the virtues that children have, the things adults lose or become dull to, as they grow older. Jesus says that if one does not welcome God’s Kingdom like a child they will not be part of it.
One of the foundational Christian spiritual disciplines is prayer. It is a primary way that Christians discover, develop, and maintain their relationship with God. Ironically, prayer also tends to be a neglected, misunderstood, or intimidating part of ones Christian life. We ask ourselves questions like: why don’t I pray more, am I praying the right way, is God really listening to me? This sermon series will be taking the statement Jesus makes about receiving the kingdom of God like a child and applying it to the key discipline of prayer. We will learn together what it means to be more like a child in our prayer lives. We will look at prayer from a perspective you perhaps have not thought much about. The six main topics will include: Like a child… 1- come to God; 2- talk to God; 3- depend on God; 4- be with God; 5- cry out to God; 6- trust God.
By taking Jesus’ command to “receive the kingdom of God like a child” and applying it to our prayer life we will grow our intimacy with God, our spiritual Father. We will explore ways to express ourselves to Him that He desires and longs for. We will find encouragement to pray more and remove the barriers that may be keeping us from a deeper relationship with our God.