YOUR PRAYING THE PROMISES RETREAT. Plan for a retreat day or weekend that will be the start of a powerful prayer experiment.

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1 YOUR PRAYING THE PROMISES RETREAT Plan for a retreat day or weekend that will be the start of a powerful prayer experiment. I have always loved prayer experiments. What would happen if...? is one of my favorite ways to start a sentence. Who knows? God has more than we can ask or even imagine stored up and ready to release into our lives in response to prayer. Maybe you have felt inadequate in prayer. Maybe the idea of a daily time of prayer has seemed like something beyond you. Maybe you ve started out with good intentions before, and then didn t follow through. You felt more like a failure than before you started. This time, start out knowing that if you miss a day, or two, or three... you are not in trouble. You have not let anyone down. Just come on back. This book that Cheri and I wrote is designed to make it simple to pray a promise a day. Each day s thought is less than one page long. Keep the book with you and use it at lunch, or while you wait for your child in the car pool line, or while you sit in the doctor s waiting room, or any of those many pockets of hidden time you can redeem just by pulling out your promises book and focusing for a moment on the unseen and eternal while the material world whirls around you. Have a prayer partner or a group you will share with weekly, or monthly. Set the schedule that works for you. No rules! Let it start with this retreat. 1. Use the book trailer video on your DVD to promote your retreat and to stir interest in taking the challenge of praying God s promises every day. 2. At the retreat, welcome and create an open atmosphere for sharing and being transparent with each other. 3. Ask the Lord to knit hearts together and to awaken great hunger for all that He can do when His people pray. 4. Structure your retreat as it suits you. You have a video introduction and welcome from Jennifer and Cheri. After showing that, you might then let people share what brought them to this retreat, what are they hoping to take away, and how they feel about committing with others to pray God s promises for one year. Read the book s introduction for some thoughts to share, or to open up for discussion. You have four 10-minute messages, two from Jennifer and two from Cheri. In this document, you have a discussion or reflection sheet for each message. Print one for each attendee, and use them for small group or prayer partner sharing. In advance, order enough books for each person to have one. You can order in 10-packs at and save significantly. Before you leave your retreat, have a plan in place for how you will do your prayer experiment together.

2 The Purpose of As you survey your life, what might you settle for if you didn t have His promise of more? How have His promises caused you to lift your sights higher? What are some ways that His promises have forced your faith out of hiding? Sum up why you think God works in your life through promises?

3 The PEACE IN Cheri shared that God promises his people PEACE, regardless of the circumstances. This is a peace that surpasses all comprehension (Philippians 4:7). The Lord has done his part in providing this peace what is your part? How many burdens do you need to roll on the Lord today? Write several of these burdens (worries, concerns, anxieties) down. We all have panic buttons. What pushes yours or robs you of peace? Share about a time that God s love calmed your anxious heart. When life becomes stressful or a big problem hits your life, what do you turn to? What do you focus on? Partner up into two s in your group. With just a few words, tell your partner one of your major stressors/ burdens. Listen to hers. Then go right to prayer, casting, rolling your burdens on Jesus.

4 The POWER OF Cheri shared about a promise that fueled her prayers for her sons. What was a promise that encouraged or fueled your prayers? What was the outcome of praying and believing this specific promise? How did God work? The real key to experience power in prayer is perseverance. What helps you persevere (PUSH: Pray Until Something Happens) until the answer comes: praying with other women, Scripture promises,? Praying God s promises is so powerful that even when our address changes to heaven, those we prayed for will continue to experience the blessings of those prayers. Read Revelation 5:8. E. M. Bounds, a great prayer theologian, said Our prayers outlive our lives, outlive a generation, outlive the world. What a great inspiration to continue praying God s promises! Whatever area you need to see God s power working, whether the salvation of someone you love, for provision, for reconciliation of a relationship, pray in two s in your group for this need. Remember, God is the one who keeps every promise forever! (Psalm 146:66)

5 The PASSION IN How does the abundance of God s promises give a hint at how much you mean to Him? How would you repeat this thought in your own words? What do you hear the Father saying to you? How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! If I would count them, they are more than the sand (PSALM 139:17-18) Read Psalm 139:1-16 in your group or with your prayer partner. Read verses 1-6; then verses 7-12; then verses Stop after each passage and share what promises you are hearing right now, in present-tense, for your life and the lives of those you love. What is the Promiser saying to you? How do His promises change your outlook?