Too Busy Not to Pray by Bill Hybels
Week 4: Chapter 3 — A Pattern for Prayer
Read Chapter 3 of Too Busy Not to Pray. Key passage: Matthew 6:9–13 (the Lord's Prayer).
Previewing Week 4 of Too Busy Not to Pray
Read 3 of 8 discussion questions below. Unlock the complete 13-week guide when you’re ready.
Hybels gives us a practical, memorable framework for organizing prayer so that it becomes full-bodied rather than one-dimensional — consider how your own prayers might be reshaped by this structure.
Discussion Questions
8 questions1.Hybels builds his prayer pattern around the Lord's Prayer, breaking it into four movements: Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, and Supplication (sometimes called ACTS). Before reading this chapter, had you ever used a framework like this? What were the results?
2.Hybels argues that most Christians jump straight to Supplication — asking — without spending time in Adoration, Confession, or Thanksgiving first. Why do you think that is? What does it reveal about our default view of God and prayer?
3.Adoration means focusing on who God is before asking for anything. What happens to your heart and your sense of perspective when you start prayer by rehearsing God's character and greatness? Try it right now for two minutes before continuing.
a.What attributes of God came most readily to mind?
b.How did it shift your emotional state or sense of need?