Motivate and engage women to pray with this mini-session series. Gather up your friends, small group, or ministry leaders to ignite focused fervent prayer. Everything you need to lead is right here. Three recorded messages from trusted teachers, discussion questions, prayer prompts, and bonus resources. Each session is independent so you may use one or all of them. May God set hearts ablaze for passionate prayer as you gather before His throne!
Session 1 Your Kingdom Come, Your Will Be Done
Running Time: 40 minutes
Karen Ellis reminds us that in the face of suffering and persecution, “We gird up our loins and we find hope by falling on our knees.” She leads us to follow Jesus’ agonizing prayers from the garden of Gethsemane to the cross as a model for a yielded life that prays, “Thy will be done.”
Discussion Questions
- How does the song, “Give Me, Jesus” encourage your heart today? Where do you need more of Jesus?
- Because Jesus was forsaken by His Father on the cross (Matt. 27:46), He makes the amazing promise to “never leave you or abandon you” (Heb. 13:5). How does this promise give you hope to endure?
- After Jesus prayed “nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done” (Luke 22:42), an angel appeared to strengthen Him (v. 43). How have you experienced supernatural strength when your heart prayed in agreement with “Heaven rules”?
- Karen said, “The more one prays, the more one is moved to pray.” What are ways we can encourage each other to move toward fervent prayer when our souls are in agony?
- Considering Jesus’ pattern for prayer in Luke 22:39–46 and Matthew 6:5–13, how would you like to pray more like Him?
Pray Together
Spend time in prayer asking for more of Jesus and yielding your hearts to God’s will. Use the pattern of the Lord’s prayer to look up in praise and thanksgiving, look in to repent, then look out to intercede for others and boldly ask God to revive us again (Psalm 85:6).
Bonus Resource
Where Are the Wailing Women? Spoken Word Poetry by Blair Linne
Running Time: 6 minutes
Call for the wailing women to come and cry out—women who love Jesus more than their temptation toward indifference.
Session 2 The Pattern of Prayer
Running Time: 47 minutes
Janet Parshall walks through the pattern of prayer laid out in Luke chapter 18. Learn about consistent, insistent, and persistent prayer.
Discussion Questions
- Janet said that “in the church and in the work of the Lord everything rises and falls on prayer.” How have you seen evidence of that in Scripture, in history, and in your life?
- What keeps you from being consistent in your prayers? How can you make prayer a constant, regular, long-time, and permanent activity in your life?
- How can we choose to keep our eyes on Jesus as we go throughout day-to-day life? What happens when we shift our focus?
- Why is it important to keep the focus on God in our prayers rather than on us? What are some practical ways to do so?
- In which of these areas would you most like to grow: consistency, insistency, or persistency?
Pray Together
Take time to pray as a group to be more heavenly-minded and focused on Jesus. Ask God to build your faith and intimacy with Him in daily personal prayer. Commit to consistently praying these requests until you meet again. Plan to discuss how God answered at your next meeting.
Bonus Resource
We Know How His Story Ends Spoken Word Poetry by Blair Linne
Running Time: 6 minutes
It will be revealed that God was answering all the saints’ prayers. Not one of them ended up in heaven’s lost and found. We all know God loses nothing.
Session 3 Preparing to Cry Out
Running Time: 47 minutes
War Room writer and director Stephen Kendrick issues a challenge to make prayer a priority in our lives. Stephen points to Nehemiah’s example for preparing our hearts to pray and shares how our prayers can be a powerful force in changing our families and our world.
[Stephen Kendrick picks up his session following a video on his mom, who helped inspire the praying older woman in the film War Room. The bonus video is included in this session.]
Discussion Questions
- What are some biblical examples of people who prioritized prayer? How did God work through their prayers?
- How can you make prayer more of a priority in your life?
- Stephen said, “There is no greater privilege for you and I to be able to personally talk to God and speak into the ears of the Almighty.” Does your heart and life reflect that type of attitude? If not, what needs to change?
- Why is the pattern of repentance, prayer, then obedience important in praying strategically and effectively?
- Stephen said that how much you pray reveals how much you’re trusting God in your circumstances. What does how much you pray reveal about your trust in God?
- How can you pray offensively when you bring your requests to God? What is a daring and bold prayer that you’ve been holding back in asking God?
Pray Together
Take turns reading the following verses:
- 1 Timothy 2:1–4
- Acts 2:42
- Romans 12:12
- Colossians 4:2
Once a passage is read, begin “popcorn” prayers that apply these verses in your personal lives and church. Close with a season of thanking God for how He has drawn near to you in prayer. Ask Him to keep growing you as intercessors remembering Stephen Kendrick’s words, “This world would never be the same if women would get right with the Lord, pray in faith, and then obey what God tells them to do.”
Bonus Resource
The Mighty Influence of a Praying Mom: Rhonwyn Kendrick's Story
Running Time: 11 minutes
Rhonwyn Kendrick is a praying mom and grandmother—and she’s seen the indescribable power of prayer firsthand. Watch Rhonwyn and her son, Stephen Kendrick, share stories of God’s faithfulness and power to answer when we call out to Him. We may never fully know or see the lasting impact upon future generations of a mom who values fervent prayer and who loves the Father to whom she prays!