Bible Study on Calling to God in Prayer

¹¹ For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. ¹² Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. ¹³ You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.

Jeremiah 29:11-13

Motivation to pray comes from understanding the heart of God. When we understand and trust God’s work in our lives, we will be motivated to seek God in prayer.

1. Do you believe that God has plans to prosper you and not to harm you?
2. Are you pursuing anything that you believe to be outside of God’s will for your life?
3. What does it mean to seek with “all your heart”?
4. Does the amount of time you spend praying and the quality of your prayers reveal that you are seeking God with all your heart?
5. What about your understanding of God prevents you from seeking Him wholeheartedly?

Decide to study the character of God to gain convictions that will drive you to seek God with all your heart.

The Lord is near to all who call on him,
    to all who call on him in truth.

Psalm 145:18

Truth brings you near to God.

1. What truth are you unwilling to deal with?
2. Is there any bitterness or resentment in your relationship with God or with others?
3. Are there any disappointments or unconfessed sins you’ve not prayed about or talked about with others?

What other nation is so great as to have their gods near them the way the Lord our God is near us whenever we pray to him?

Deuteronomy 4:7

God draws near to those who pray.

1. When you pray, do you stand in awe and reverence because God hears you?
2. Do you see prayer as a privilege to have God near you?
3. What keeps you from praying more to God?

 He will call on me, and I will answer him;
    I will be with him in trouble,
    I will deliver him and honor him.

Psalm 91:15

God honors and delivers those who pray.

1. What is the first thing you do when you are in trouble or distress?
2. Do you call on God in your troubles or do you rely on yourself?
3. Do you trust and believe that God wants to help you?

Additional Scriptures for Further Study:

1. 2 Corinthians 1:3-7
2. Psalm 103
3. Psalm 145
4. Lamentations 3: 22-23
5. Psalm 66:18
6. Psalm 32:8