Women of the Word by Jen Wilkin
Week 8: Chapter 7 — The Five P's: Prayer
Read Chapter 7 of Women of the Word by Jen Wilkin.
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Wilkin closes her five P's with prayer — not as a ritual bookend to Bible study, but as the posture of dependence that should animate the entire enterprise. This week, consider how prayer and Scripture belong together.
Discussion Questions
7 questions1.Why does Wilkin include prayer as one of the five P's, rather than just assuming it? What does her inclusion of it say about how easily prayer can be separated from Bible study in practice?
2.She argues that the Holy Spirit is the one who illuminates Scripture — that no amount of good method can substitute for dependence on God to open our eyes to what His Word says. How does that conviction change the way you approach your preparation for Bible study?
3.Wilkin encourages praying *through* the text — using the passage you are studying as the content of your prayer, much as the Psalms do. Have you ever practiced this? What would make it feel natural or unnatural?
a.Try it briefly: take one verse from a recent passage you've studied and turn it into a two- or three-sentence prayer. What did you notice?
b.How does praying back to God what He has already said to us guard against making prayer merely a vehicle for our own wishes?