Lesson 19: Discipleship: Prayer and Practice

In this last lesson, the group will study about how Paul’s prayers for believers guide our praying and ministry.

Then, the lesson introduces the lesson series for discipleship. The class should look at some of those lessons while studying this lesson, then plan how to fulfill the practice assignment.

The group will need to meet more than once to fulfill this assignment.

Students who have finished the lessons for the course Biblical Evangelism and Discipleship should practice these lessons for new converts. First, someone should demonstrate how to teach a lesson by teaching one to the group. Then, each member of the class should practice teaching at least one lesson. After the group has seen a lesson demonstrated, they could divide into smaller groups so that more people can practice leading at the same time. In groups of four, each member could lead a lesson and observe the other three members as they each lead a lesson.

Paul's prayers for new believers tell what needs to happen to a new Christian. These prayers guide us in praying for young Christians because we should pray the same things for them that Paul prayed. These prayers also guide our ministries because we should cooperate with what God is doing for them.

Let's look at Paul's prayers for three different groups.

Read 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24.

The first letter to the Thessalonians gives a call to holiness. Every believer is called to live in victory and purity, and God promises that it is possible by faith. We should pray and teach with the goal of bringing every believer to victory and purity.

Read Philippians 1:9-11.

These verses tell about an ongoing process in the believer’s life. His love should be continually increasing. As that happens, his ability to discern what is best should increase. As he discerns, he adapts his life to focus on what is best. This must be happening in order for him to be pure (sincere) and without offense.

The people that Paul wrote to in these verses had been Christians for some time already. Yet, Paul was praying that they would keep increasing in their love for God and, by that love, be able to understand God’s will for them better.

Here are some questions that a young believer should consider:

• What is an example of a change that I made in my life when God showed me that an attitude, habit, or action was not the best?

• Is there anything in my life that I have doubts about?

• Am I willing to let God show me in prayer any changes I should make?

Read Colossians 1:9-12.

He prayed that they would receive knowledge of God's will, in wisdom and spiritual understanding. A new convert does not yet understand all about the will of God for his lifestyle. He will gradually see that certain habits, words, and attitudes in his life should change. Since he loves God, he will more and more conform his life to God's will. The discipler should be praying and carefully teaching the young Christian to recognize God's will.

He said that they would, as a result of better understanding God's will, "have a walk worthy of the Lord." They would become more appropriate representatives of God. Their lives would better match their profession of being transformed by grace. What the discipler must remember is that until this process has gone on for a while, some inconsistencies will show in the life of the young Christian.

A part of "a walk [that is] worthy" included "being fruitful in every good work." We should not be surprised when a young Christian is not yet fruitful in every good work. He may not yet be as responsible and conscious of duty as he should be.

The verses also tell us that we can have "patience and longsuffering with joyfulness." A person who can keep Christian joy as he serves and endures has gained some spiritual maturity.

The prayers of Paul for young Christians tell us much about the work of discipleship. We should have the right goals for believers’ development. We should be able to recognize progress. We should not be surprised to see inconsistencies, misunderstandings, and irresponsibility in a young Christian. We should not expect that all Christian qualities will appear suddenly.

We should notice that Paul was not most concerned about their ministry training or development of ministry skills. He was most concerned about the development of their faith and Christian character. We should not be satisfied with people who can do ministry jobs but lack Christian character.

The teacher is important because of his example and because of the value of information. Learning is emphasized in two of the above prayers. Knowledge is involved in the spiritual process. The teacher has a great impact through his use of truth.

We should pray Paul's prayers for the young Christians that we influence. We should cooperate with the Holy Spirit to help these processes occur in their lives.

The following prayer is based on Paul's prayers for new Christians.

Heavenly Father,

I pray for ___________ that you would sanctify him completely. I pray that he would be holy in his actions, attitudes, and motives.

Help his love for you to keep growing, so that he understands better and better what your perfect will for him is. Help him to discern what is best and always to choose it, so that his life will bear fruit for your glory.

Help him to live daily as a Christian should, pleasing you in everything and learning more about your ways. Help him to draw strength from you, so that he can live in victory and endure trials with joy. May he always be thankful for the grace you give.

In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.

In the Appendix of this course is a series of lessons for discipleship. They are provided so that every student who has finished the course can use them for teaching groups. There are 12 lessons in this series. A larger set of 26 lessons (including these 12) is available from Shepherds Global Classroom.

The lessons are designed to be used in a group of new converts or believers who are interested in spiritual growth. The lessons are easy to teach, with discussion questions provided. There should be much discussion during the lesson, then personal sharing at the end.

In preparation for each meeting, the leader should read over the lesson, making sure he understands the concepts and their importance. He should be prepared to start the sharing time by sharing from his own experience. He should consider how he would answer the sharing questions at the end of each lesson. The depth at which he shares will tend to set the depth at which others share.

Each lesson has a worksheet for the students. The teacher should glance over those pages before each lesson, so that he knows what parts the student has. Words to be put into blanks in the student's edition are underlined in the teacher's edition.

The ► symbol that occurs several times in most lessons marks a question that is designed to get member participation. The leader should wait for a response after asking those questions, rather than giving the answer immediately. Often the responses will help prepare for the material to follow.

Most scripture verses to be used are printed in the teacher's material, but not on the students’ worksheets. The teacher should ask someone to look up the verse and read it aloud. Occasionally, he can save time by reading it himself from his notes, especially when many verses are used, but he should not do it himself often. Having students look up verses gives them another way to participate, gives them practice and familiarity with their Bibles, and gets them accustomed to seeing verses in context. It continually reinforces the sense that the Bible is our final authority.

Each lesson ends with a study assignment. The group could occasionally make time to discuss the results of their individual study.

The prayer at the end of each lesson helps the members pray for fulfillment of the truth in their lives. Someone should read the prayer at the end, and the members should be encouraged to go back to it during the week and truly make it a prayer from their hearts.

The section of material labeled “For Group Sharing” provides questions to start discussion at the end of the lesson. For many topics, the discussion may start easily, and the questions may not be needed. Not all of the questions have to be used.

Many of the lessons call for the members to make specific commitments to apply the truth learned. The leader should take note of the commitments made and ask members later if they have followed through.