Based on the sermon, “How to Cooperate With God in Prayer | 4 PILLARS OF THE CHURCH | PRAYERS” by Pastor Chad Everett
Sermon Summary:
Pastor Chad Everett challenges us to shift from passive, self-centered praying to active partnership with God’s plans. Using powerful examples from Moses, David, and Jesus, the sermon teaches that prayer is not about leading, but about yielding—listening, believing, and obeying even when it’s uncomfortable or unclear. True cooperation with God requires us to pray always, believe wholeheartedly, and surrender our own agendas. Whether facing fear, assumption, or agony, we are invited to walk in step with heaven’s purposes and become vessels through which God moves powerfully on the earth.
Why This Study Matters:
Don’t let Sunday’s Word stop on Sunday. When we take time to study and apply what God is speaking, we grow stronger in faith, clearer in purpose, and more confident in walking with Him every day. Truth isn’t meant to be skimmed—it’s meant to transform.
Designed for:
- Individuals growing deeper throughout the week
- Roads Groups discussion
Audience Categories:
- New Christians
- Mature Christians
- Students
- Families with Young Children
- Families with Students
🗓️ Day 1: Prayer Is Partnership, Not Performance
Focus Overview: Prayer isn’t about performance or checking a box. It’s about intentionally turning aside from distractions and partnering with God’s presence.
Scriptures:
Acts 2:42 — “And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.”
Exodus 3:3-4 — “Then Moses said, ‘I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush does not burn.’ So when the Lord saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, ‘Moses, Moses!’ And he said, ‘Here I am.'”
Matthew 6:10 — “Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
Sermon Quote: “Prayer is not about leading, but about following and yielding.”
Discussion Questions & Applications:
- New Christians:
- What does it mean to “turn aside” to hear God?
- Do you believe God wants to speak to you?
- Application: Find a quiet space this week to turn off distractions and invite God to speak.
- Mature Christians:
- How has your prayer life shifted from performance to partnership?
- What area of your prayer life needs realignment with God’s will?
- Application: Ask God to reveal an area where you’ve been leading instead of yielding.
- Students:
- What distractions keep you from hearing God?
- What would it look like to give God your full attention this week?
- Application: Set aside 5 minutes daily to pause from social media and ask God to speak.
- Families with Young Children:
- Ask: “What do you think God wants to say to us?”
- How can we listen for God together as a family?
- Application: Create a “listening time” in your bedtime routine to hear from God together.
- Families with Students:
- What distracts our family from praying together?
- How can we create intentional space to listen to God?
- Application: Choose one night this week to turn off all devices and ask God what’s on His heart.
🗓️ Day 2: Believe—Don’t Just Hope When You Pray
Focus Overview: Faith isn’t wishful thinking. It’s confident trust that God hears and answers when we pray.
Scriptures:
Mark 11:24 — “Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.”
Hebrews 11:1 — “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”
Romans 1:17 — “For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, ‘The just shall live by faith.'”
Sermon Quote: “Faith doesn’t deny the problem—it denies the problem a place of influence.”
Discussion Questions & Applications:
- New Christians:
- What’s one thing you’re believing God for right now?
- What makes it hard to trust God sometimes?
- Application: Write down a faith-filled prayer and read it each day this week.
- Mature Christians:
- How do you maintain faith when answers seem delayed?
- Where is God asking you to grow in bold belief?
- Application: Speak scripture daily over an area you’ve been passively hoping instead of believing.
- Students:
- How can you pray with belief instead of just hope?
- What’s one thing you need faith for this week?
- Application: Choose a verse about faith and make it your phone lock screen.
- Families with Young Children:
- What is something we can ask God for as a family?
- How can we show that we believe God hears us?
- Application: Make a family prayer board to track what you’re believing for.
- Families with Students:
- In what areas has fear replaced faith in our home?
- How can we encourage each other to trust God fully?
- Application: Share testimonies as a family of when God answered in big or small ways.
🗓️ Day 3: Cooperate—Join God’s Mission
Focus Overview: Prayer connects us to God’s heart, and obedience joins us to His mission. He chooses to work with us, not just for us.
Scriptures:
Exodus 3:10–12 (NKJV) “Come now, therefore, and I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring My people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.”
But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?”
So He said, “I will certainly be with you. And this shall be a sign to you that I have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.”
2 Corinthians 6:1 (NKJV) We then, as workers together with Him also plead with you not to receive the grace of God in vain.
John 15:5 (NKJV) “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.”
Sermon Quote: “God doesn’t need someone perfect. He needs someone willing.”
Discussion Questions & Applications:
- New Christians:
- Why do you think God wants to use people like you and me?
- What’s something small you can do for God this week?
- Application: Say “yes” to one opportunity to love, serve, or encourage someone.
- Mature Christians:
- Where have you hesitated to obey God?
- What’s your current assignment from heaven?
- Application: Step out boldly in obedience this week in that area.
- Students:
- How could God use you at your school or on social media?
- What are you afraid to say “yes” to?
- Application: Ask a trusted leader to pray with you about stepping out in faith.
- Families with Young Children:
- Who can we help or love this week?
- What does it mean to obey God together?
- Application: Pick one way to serve someone as a family.
- Families with Students:
- What gifts or talents in our family could God use?
- Where is He asking us to go or act?
- Application: Brainstorm one mission or outreach idea as a family.
🗓️ Day 4: Don’t Assume—Ask Again
Focus Overview: God doesn’t always repeat methods. Prayer keeps us aligned with His direction in real time.
Scriptures:
2 Samuel 5:22–25 (NKJV) Then the Philistines went up once again and deployed themselves in the Valley of Rephaim.
Therefore David inquired of the Lord, and He said, “You shall not go up; circle around behind them, and come upon them in front of the mulberry trees.
And it shall be, when you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the mulberry trees, then you shall advance quickly. For then the Lord will go out before you to strike the camp of the Philistines.”
And David did so, as the Lord commanded him; and he drove back the Philistines from Geba as far as Gezer.
Proverbs 3:5–6 (NKJV) Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.
James 1:5 (NKJV) If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.
Sermon Quote: “Don’t replay the last victory—ask God what He wants to do this time.”
Discussion Questions & Applications:
- New Christians:
- Have you asked God for help today?
- Why do you think He wants us to keep checking in with Him?
- Application: Begin every day with a one-sentence prayer: “What’s Your plan for me today, God?”
- Mature Christians:
- What have you been doing on autopilot that may need a fresh word from God?
- Application: Fast from “default” and ask God again.
- Students:
- Do you feel pressure to have it all figured out?
- What’s one thing you could ask God about instead of assuming?
- Application: Write one question to ask God, then wait and journal what you feel.
- Families with Young Children:
- What does it mean to ask God before doing something?
- How can we practice that together?
- Application: Choose a small daily decision (like what to eat, read, or play) and ask God together.
- Families with Students:
- Where have we stopped asking God as a family?
- How can we hear God’s direction together?
- Application: End one dinner this week by each asking God a question and sharing responses.
🗓️ Day 5: Obey When It Hurts—Cooperate Through Agony
Focus Overview: Jesus cooperated with God’s will through suffering. Can we trust Him enough to say “Yes” when the path is painful?
Scriptures:
Matthew 26:39 (NKJV) He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.”
Romans 12:1–2 (NKJV) I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.
And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
Philippians 2:8 (NKJV) And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.
Sermon Quote: “Can we cooperate with the will of heaven even in agony?”
Discussion Questions & Applications:
- New Christians:
- What’s something hard you’re facing?
- How can Jesus help you through it?
- Application: Surrender that area to God with a written prayer.
- Mature Christians:
- When has obedience been costly but fruitful?
- What difficult assignment are you facing now?
- Application: Revisit your “yes” to God and renew it with fresh strength.
- Students:
- What’s something uncomfortable you know is right?
- Why is it hard to obey when it costs us socially?
- Application: Talk to a mentor or parent about an area you’re struggling with.
- Families with Young Children:
- What does it mean to do what’s right even when it’s hard?
- Can we trust Jesus to help us?
- Application: Tell a story of a time someone in the family obeyed even when it was hard.
- Families with Students:
- What area is God asking each of us to surrender?
- What’s holding us back?
- Application: End your week with a family prayer of surrender, each person naming one thing.
Closing Thought:
Prayer is not just a request list—it’s an invitation to partner with heaven. This week, move from performance to participation. Yield. Ask. Listen. Obey.