Listening Prayer Exercise

Tell everyone you are going to walk them through a listening prayer exercise. They may want a pen and paper to write down what they sense.

• “What are the beliefs I have that prevent me from more fully participating in the Kingdom of God?” Write down what you sense.
• “God, what do you want me to know about that?” Emphasize how important it is to receive from God what they sense and write it down.

Action Steps

• Determine three ways you can live out The Kingdom of God in practical ways this week. Write down your experiences and be prepared to share with the community next week.
• As you close the session, remind everyone to work through the Action Step and Pre-video questions and be prepared to discuss at the next gathering. 

Transformational Practice for Session 1

Set aside 15 minutes a day to just be with Jesus and discover what He wants you to know. 

The time frames below are just a guideline.

• 3 min: drink a big glass of water and sit in a comfortable position and just breathe deeply (don’t skip this step of hydration and oxygenation, it primes you to receive.)
• 3 min: Think about Jesus right there with you (remember, He is Emmanuel, God with us). Ask Jesus what He wants you to know about his love for you. Pay attention to the first things that come to your mind or feelings that you feel.
• 10 min: Write down everything that you sense while remaining postured in your spirit to receive what Jesus wants you to know.
• Close the time communicating gratitude to Jesus.

• In light of the teaching, when was a recent time you think you were hearing from God?
• When inquiring from the Lord about specific things, there are 4 principles to keep in mind from Habakkuk 2:1-3: 
  1. Stand (don’t waver in doubt) and watch/wait expectantly.
  2. Look to see (be expectant and look with your spiritual senses).
  3. When the vision (answer) comes, write it down! We receive from God in the same place in our mind where we dream. It's very important to write it down or you will forget. Writing it down also helps you stay in the flow of intentional communicative relationship.
  4. People will run toward your vision (or what you hear/sense from the Lord) because it will not delay or deceive.
• A good definition of Listening Prayer or Hearing from God is: The free flow of thoughts that come to your mind when you are focused on Jesus. Whatever comes to your mind that is good, pure, lovely and joy producing.
• How do you know what you are hearing is from God checklist:
  1. Does what you are hearing align with the principles in Scripture? 
  2. Does what you are hearing bring God glory in some form? 
  3. Does what you hear motivate? 
  4. Feelings of guilt or shame are never from God. If you are motivated by guilt, that’s not God communicating to you.
• Practice going through the checklist with each other. When a person says what they sense from the Lord during a listening exercise, encourage another person not to give their opinion about it, but to ask the checklist questions and encourage the hearer!
• Jamie’s story - What do you want us to know? What do you want us to do? Acts 2:12 and Acts 2:37 

Listening Prayer Exercise

• Think of a current situation you are in right now where you aren’t sure of how to proceed or resolve and just like in Acts 2, ask God, “What do you want me to know about this situation?”  Write down what you sense.
• Then, ask God, “What do you want me to do? Write down what you sense.
• We often jump to the doing before we sit and listen for the knowing. Doing without knowing is folly. Pray the prayer of wisdom before you step out in faith. - Leanne Payne.

Action Steps

• Take time to listen to God through the week. Ask God the question: God, what do you want me to know? Write down what you sense He is communicating to you. Be prepared to share your experience in the community next week.
• As you close the session, remind everyone to work through the Action Step and Pre-video questions and be prepared to discuss at the next gathering.

Transformational Practice for Session 2

Set aside 15 minutes a day to just be with Jesus and discover what He wants you to know. 

The time frames below are just a guideline.

• 3 min: drink a big glass of water and sit in a comfortable position and just breathe deeply (don’t skip this step of hydration and oxygenation, it primes you to receive.)
• 3 min: Picture in your imagination that you are sitting in a forest by a beautiful stream and Jesus is right next you. Simply ask Him, “What do you want me to know about who You are?”
• 10 min. Write down everything that comes to your mind or that you feel/sense. 
• Close the time communicating gratitude to Jesus. 

Listening Exercise

Close your eyes and think about Jesus sitting right there with you. Remember, He is always with you. Take a minute to feel his love and affection toward you. 

• Think about the false identity you wrote down earlier (during the post video discussion).
• Now, simply ask Jesus what his identity is for you? Who did he create you to be? How does he see you?
• Give time for people to sense God’s communication. It may be a word, an image, a feeling. Everyone senses God differently. But it is usually the very first thing that people sense - the very first thing that pops into their head. Write down what you sense about your True Christ Identity. 
• If there is time, have a few people share what they sensed. 
• They will focus more on their True Christ Identity in the Transformational Practice

Action Step

1. Choose a couple of examples of identity in scripture – Moses, Gideon, Paul, Mary, Abraham, Peter, just to name a few. Write down a few thoughts on their false identity and the experience they had coming into their true unique identity from God. Take a few minutes to meditate on Is. 43:1 and ask God about your identity. Who does He say you are?
2. As you close the session, remind everyone to work through the Action Step and Pre-video questions and be prepared to discuss at the next gathering.

As you close the session, remind everyone to work through the Transformational Practice and Pre-video Questions and be prepared to discuss at the next gathering.

Transformational Practice for Session 3

Set aside 15 minutes a day to just be with Jesus and discover what He wants you to know. 

The time frames below are just a guideline.

• 3 min: drink a big glass of water and sit in a comfortable position and just breathe deeply (don’t skip this step of hydration and oxygenation, it primes you to receive.)
• 3 min: Picture yourself with Jesus walking along a beautiful beach (or your favorite place). Take a minute to settle in and feel the air, hear the sounds of the water and the birds. Ask Jesus, “What do you want me to know about living in my true identity today?”
• 10 min: Write down everything you sense that Jesus is communicating to you. 
• Close the time with a prayer of gratitude. 

Listening Exercise

• Forgiveness is like a coin in that it has two sides. One side is about releasing your own sin to God and participating in forgiveness, the other is about releasing people who have sinned against you. Forgiveness is an act of obedience in order to set you free! The following is a simple exercise to get you started practicing Biblical forgiveness.
• Sit quietly for a few moments and allow the Holy Spirit to search you and know you (Ps. 139: 23-34) and ask God, “Where in my life do I need to release forgiveness, either for myself or another person?” As things come to mind, just give them to Jesus. 
• Use these two statements if you need assistance:
  
  • “God, in the name of Jesus, I forgive (name the person) for (name the  offense).”  Imagine giving that person over to Jesus and you being released from any connection to their sin. 
  • God, in the name of Jesus, I receive your forgiveness for (name your own perceived offense). Jesus has already forgiven you. By admitting the offense you are released to walk in peace and joy and freedom! 

Action Step

• Unforgiveness (not receiving or not releasing it) is one of the main blocks to hearing God. Take account of your holdings (like the master in Mat. 18). Are you holding onto unforgiveness? Have you just not thought about it or do you think your sins are unforgivable? Are you holding on to unforgiveness toward another person? Take time this week to walk through the steps of releasing yourself and others in Biblical forgiveness.
• As you close the session, remind everyone to work through the Action Step and Pre-video questions and be prepared to discuss at the next gathering. 

Sample prayer of receiving God’s forgiveness for your own sin:

God, in the name of Jesus, I confess that I believe that you will not provide for me and it is causing me to worry and stress about money, robbing me of joy and peace in my life, (visualize the cross and focus on giving that unbelief to Jesus on the cross. Remember that He is canceling or cutting off this wrong belief from you making it obedient to the cross, 2 Corinthians 10:4-5). In the name of Jesus, I receive your forgiveness. God, what else do you want me to know about this?

Sample prayer of forgiving others:

God, the name of Jesus, I release ________ in forgiveness for committing the sin of ________ against me. (Visualize the cross and focus on giving that person to Jesus on the cross, making it obedient to the cross – 2 Corinthians 10:4-5. Focus on their sin against you being cut away from you, the effects of it being canceled). In the name of Jesus, I ask that you would bless ________ and restore my heart, soul, mind, and spirit regarding him/her.

After receiving and releasing forgiveness, take a moment to meditate, asking God what He desires to replace in that space in your heart where the unforgiveness had residence. Take your time. This is where true repentance takes place so you can walk victoriously in the truth of the “Great Exchange!”

Listening Exercise

• Pray from Ps. 139:23-24, “God search me and know me…” Is there any place in my life where  I need to confess to you the truth about a negative belief ?” 
  • Take a few moments to listen and write down what you sense in the form of a belief statement: I believe that ______________.
  • Think for a few minutes why you believe that. You learned that belief somewhere in your life. 
  • Now ask, “Jesus, what do you want me to know about that? What do you want me to believe about this _______________? Allow Jesus to cut you off from the negative belief so you can attach to him in the truth. What does that look like, feel like?
  • Listen with the eyes of your heart and write down the very first things you sense.
  • If time permits, have a couple of people share what they sensed.

Action Step

1. Practice daily times of Biblical confession and repentance. At some point each day ask God, “Is there any person I need to forgive? Is there any unconfessed sin in my life?” Use the sample prayers from week four if needed.
2. Pray through Psalm 139:23-24: “Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me and lead me in the way everlasting.”
3. Record your experiences in your Listening Journal and be prepared to share these experiences with your community.
4. As you close the session, remind everyone to work through the Action Step and Pre-video questions and be prepared to discuss at the next gathering.