Few things in life are more needed but more neglected than the power of fervent prayer. If there has ever been a time in the history of the world that every believer in Christ should be praying passionately and fervently, that time is now.

Fervent prayer has always preceded great movements of God in the world. We need a great movement of God to bring revival and spiritual awakening in our country and in our world.

God expects us to pray and He answers when we pray. Therefore, prayer is a very important part of living the D-Life.

In Matthew 6:5-13, Jesus taught His disciples to pray and gave them a model prayer. Like Jesus, we must teach disciples in our D-Groups to pray.

Matthew 6:5-13 – And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. Pray then like this: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

Living the D-Life involves praying with others and practicing the discipline of prayer in our daily lives.

All who are in a D-Group should practice the discipline of prayer in their daily lives. Each week as D-Groups meet together, they will share prayer requests and pray for one another. By praying with others, those in a D-Group will grow in the spiritual discipline of fervent prayer.

THROUGH D-LIFE WE MUST TEACH THE PRIORITY OF PRAYER.

Jesus modeled a life of prayer for His disciples. In Luke 5:16, the Bible says, “He Himself often withdrew into the wilderness and prayed.” Throughout the New Testament we read about the priority of prayer (Colossians 4:2; 1 Thessalonians 5:17; Hebrews 4:16).

Prayer is a great privilege. We must not neglect that privilege. In every D-Group, we must teach and model the priority of fervent prayer.

THROUGH D-LIFE WE MUST MODEL THE PRACTICE OF PRAYER.

Jesus not only taught His disciples about the priority of prayer, but He also trained them how to pray. He gave them an example of a model prayer.

Like Jesus and His disciples, we can best learn to pray by following the example of others. As we pray together in our D-Groups, we learn the practice of prayer from one another.

• Jesus taught His disciples the manner of prayer.

In Matthew 6:5-8, He taught them not to be “like the hypocrites” who prayed to be seen by others. Jesus taught His disciples that prayer was not something to do for show.

Jesus said that you should “go into your room and shut the door and pray” in secret, and that God would see in secret and reward you. We are to pray in this manner. To be seen by others must never be our motive in prayer.

Jesus was not prohibiting all public prayer. There is a place for public and corporate prayer. Our motive in prayer is the issue. Prayer must not be something we do to impress others, but something we do to meet with God.

D-Groups that meet in public places such as a restaurant or a coffee shop should pray together. However, the motive is not to be seen by others, but to be heard by God.

Jesus also instructed His disciples not to “heap up empty phrases” or to use vain repetition when they pray. They were to pray sincere words from the heart. In our D-Groups, we must model sincere praying from the heart.

• Jesus taught His disciples a model for prayer.

The Lord’s Prayer was not given for us to memorize and to repeat word for word. Instead, it was given as a model prayer (Luke 11:1) It was given as an example of how we should pray.

In this prayer, there is praise, adoration, confession, and supplication. In our D-Groups, we want to follow the pattern of The Lord’s Prayer.

Everyone in a D-Group is encouraged to keep a prayer notebook. This notebook can be a paper notebook or an electronic notebook. The D-Life Web Site has an electronic notebook that can be used.

Our prayer notebooks should be used to keep weekly prayer requests and to pray fervently over these requests daily. In our D-Groups, we should teach that fervent praying involves:

• Adoration – Praising God for who He is.
• Confession – Confessing our sins to God.
• Thanksgiving – Thanking God for things He has done.
• Supplication – Interceding for others and praying for personal requests.

We should teach those in our D-Groups to use the ACTS acrostic when they pray. We can also use the Bible in our prayers to God. By reading only one chapter daily, we can meditate on it. Then we can pray our meditations back to God.

God answers prayer. Through D-Life, we will learn to pray fervent and sincere prayers to God and we will see God do great things.

THROUGH D-LIFE WE MUST NURTURE FAITH IN THE POWER OF PRAYER.

Jesus said to His disciples, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you” (Matthew 7:7). The power of prayer cannot be more simply stated.

The Bible is filled with promises of answers to prayer (John 14:13-14; James 5:17-18). These promises should encourage us and give us great confidence when we pray.

In many places, the Bible teaches about the power of agreement in prayer. There’s something powerful that happens when believers come together and pray.

Throughout history, great movements of God have been preceded by the fervent prayers of believers who agreed together in prayer. Many great revivals and spiritual awakenings in the past were the result of groups of people coming together to pray and to pour out their hearts to God (Acts 4:31; 12:7; Matthew 18:19-20).

When D-Groups pray together in agreement, there is great power in our earnest prayers. We can be confident that God will do great things.

One thing all D-Groups MUST do every time they meet is to pray for revival and the spiritual healing of our land. The promise of 2 Chronicles 7:14 is a promise we must fervently claim.

2 Chronicles 7:14 – If My people who are called by My name humble themselves, and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

If we as God’s people will seek God’s face and humbly confess and turn away from our sins, then He will hear our prayers, forgive our sins, and heal our land. God promises this.

Every time your D-Group meets, you should take prayer requests and pray for those requests and for one another. You must also pray every week for our national leaders, for spiritual awakening, and for God to heal our land. DON’T FORGET THIS.

One main responsibility of a D-Group leader is to lead your group to pray bold prayers to our big God. There’s nothing He cannot do.