Prayer, Discipleship, And Worship
Lesson 1 God Hears and Answers: What is My Role as His Disciple? A story to consider: It seems like yesterday when it happened, but in reality, it happened long ago. I was in high school and thought it would be fun to smoke a cigar in school. So I did it in the chemistry lab, lighting the cigar with a Bunsen burner and then trying hard to cover up the smell by mixing up a batch of foul-smelling chemicals. Anyway, the smoke that resulted from the whole thing set off the fire alarms. Everyone left the building and stood around on the playground while the fire department came and checked out the cause of the alarm. Afterward, the principal asked for information about who it was that lit a cigar in the chemistry lab. I didn’t say a word, but I was miserable inside all week. I had done a terrible thing. There might have been an explosion and a fire; someone might have been hurt or killed. My parents noticed my dejected state and asked about it. My close friends knew my secret and vowed to keep it, but eventually word got around. After a week went by, I received a call to the principal’s office. The principal greeted me warmly and then asked me if I had anything I wanted to talk to him about. There I was, seventeen years old and the star of the basketball team, and I burst into a series of uncontrolled sobs as I told the whole story and how sorry I was. After I regained at least some degree of composure, the principal smiled at me and said, “I respect a man who is big enough to learn from his mistakes.” And that’s all he said. I went back to class able to respect myself once again.
Questions to ponder: 1. Do you think that the boy in the story was treated too easily? Why or why not? __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ 2. In what way does God remind you of the principal in the story? __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________
Jacob’s Journey with God Read Genesis 27:1 through 28:9. Then fill out the graphic organizer below. In the “Obedient” column, put the things Jacob did to obey God. In the “Deceitful” column, put the things that Jacob did that were not what God wanted. Obedient Deceitful
Read Genesis 28:10 - 15. What were the blessings that God told Jacob he would receive in the following verses: (13) __________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ (14)__________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ (15)__________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ Read Genesis 28:16-22. Then, put the following events in the correct order. ____ Jacob took the stone that he had put under his head and set it up for a pillar and poured oil on top of it. ____ Jacob said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.” ____ Jacob made a vow, promising to worship God at this place and to give God one tenth of God’s blessings to him. ____ Jacob said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of Heaven.” ____ He called the place Bethel, meaning “house of God”.
Lesson 2 Discipleship: In What Ways Am I Blessed to Be a Blessing? God’s Grace to Gideon Read each of the following sections from the book of Judges. Then, tell how God was there for His people. Judges 6:11-17 ______________________________ ______________________________ ______________________________ ______________________________ Judges 6:18-23 ______________________________ ______________________________ ______________________________ ______________________________ Judges 6:36-38 ______________________________ ______________________________ ______________________________ ______________________________ Judges 6:39-40 ______________________________ ______________________________ ______________________________ ______________________________
Judges 7:1-3 ______________________________ ______________________________ ______________________________ Judges 7:4-8 ______________________________ ______________________________ ______________________________ Judges 7:9-15 ______________________________ ______________________________ ______________________________ Your Turn! What future career interests you? How could you honor God in that career? __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________
Lesson 3 Following Jesus in Prayer: Who? Where? What? When? Why? The Father Read Luke 11:1-13. Then fill in the blanks with the correct missing words from verses 11-13. “What father among you, if your __________ asks for a __________ will instead of a __________ give him a __________; or if he asks for an __________, will give him a __________?” Fill in these examples of what this would be like in your life: If I asked for a bowl of oatmeal, but my parents gave me a bowl of __________________________________________________________________ If I asked for a winter coat, but my parents gave me __________________________________________________________________ If I asked for a warm place to sleep, but my parents gave me __________________________________________________________________
Prayer, Offered Two Ways Read these two passages and compare what they are telling us. Luke 11:5-13 John 4:46-53 A man goes to a friend who can help. The man is persistent in his request to his friend. The man’s company benefits from his friend’s generosity. The man benefits from his friend.
I Kings 18:20 - 40 - Read this passage and fill in the blanks. ____________ told the children of Israel to stop “____________ between two ____________”. He told them to either follow the true ____________ or the idol ____________. Elijah set up a challenge with the bull sacrifice to see whether ____________ would answer his prophets when they called upon him or not. From morning until noon, the ____________ prophets of Baal called to him. ____________ answered. The prophets of ____________ began to cut themselves in an attempt to move their god to act. Still there was ____________ answer. ____________ prepared his altar in the name of the Lord. Elijah prayed saying “O Lord, you are ____________ in Israel, and I am your ____________. Answer me, that these people may know that you are ____________.“ ____________ from the Lord fell and consumed the offering, the ____________, and the ____________. The people fell on their faces and ____________ God saying "The Lord, He is God!”
Lesson 4 Where and How Should We Pray? For each of the following, fill in the blanks if needed and choose if it is an Enemy Assault or and Encouragement. Acts 13:4-12 - _________________________ (island visited) Bar-Jesus, a magician whom Paul called teh son of the dvil and enemy of righteousness, sough to turn Serius Paulus away from the faith. Enemy Assault Encouragement
Acts 13:13-52 - After going to Perga in Pamphylia, Paul and Barnabas visited ________________ in _______________. They preached the Good News and the people wanted to hear more. But when the Jewish leaders saw the crowd that gathered to hear them, they became jealous and began to revile Paul. Enemy Assault Encouragement A group of Gentiles came to faith and began rejoicing and glorifying the Word of the Lord, and the Word of the Lord began to spread throughout the entire region. Enemy Assault Encouragement Jewish leaders incited people to persecute Paul and Barnabas and drive them out of the district. Enemy Assault Encouragement The disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit. Enemy Assault Encouragement Acts 14:1-7 - _________________ Paul and Barnabas spoke boldly for God and performed miracles and a great number of both Jews and Gentiles came to faith. Enemy Assault Encouragement
Unbelievers stirred up the people and poisoned their minds against believers; they attempted to mistreat and stone Paul and Barnabas, but Paul and Barnabas learned of it and escaped. Enemy Assault Encouragement Acts 14:8-23 - _______________ The crowds at first made attempts to worship Paul and Barnabas as the gods Hermes and Zeus, but later, persuaded by Jews from other cities, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, where they left him for dead. Enemy Assault Encouragement Acts 14:24-28 - From Pisidia, Pamphylia, Perga, and Attalia, they sailed to _______________ in _______________. Enemy Assault Encouragement Paul and Barnabas gathered the church and declared how God helped them minister to the Gentiles. Enemy Assault Encouragement