Junk Food Rest

It’s going to take a promise to make rest a reality.

Is rest lost? We’ve talked about all the reasons it shouldn’t be, but is a weekly Sabbath possible? At the end of the work week, especially in a family with kids either back to school or getting ready for it, it’s not a stretch to answer no, and mean it. It sounds so good, but in the same moment we’re also thinking of...
all the things that need to be done this weekend, and if we’re honest, in the weeks to come. That brings us right to the tension with rest and the Sabbath. It revives, restores and blesses us but there’s one final thing it’s going to take—a commitment to it, and fighting against the junk food rest we settle for.

Junk food rest is what Netflix, Crossy Roads and 24-hour news channels all have in common. When we have a spare night, it’s often these kinds of things taking up our “night off”. Martin Saunders, blogger for Christianity Today, calls this a junk food version of rest at best, pointing out, “When we fill our evenings with these kinds of easy, time-passing pursuits, we can end up feeling a little like a kid who just ordered and ate “the works” at McDonalds. Everything felt enjoyable at the time, but now we can’t help feeling a bit bloated, and yet still in need of nourishment.” Fun? Yes. Useful? Maybe in small doses. But rest? No, not really. It’s not the kind of rest that God knew we would need.

A promise to making a Sabbath, resting as God showed us how, and calling it holy is no small thing. It’s the kind of promise that holds enormous possibilities and life-changing perspective, not to mention real rest.

READ, THINK and LIVE… Read and apply the Bible.

Paul is praying to strengthen the believers and communicate what is possible when we come to God for all our needs.

Question: What are the possible outcomes Paul shares here?

Ephesians 3:16-19 (New International Version)

¹⁶ I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, ¹⁷ so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, ¹⁸ may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, ¹⁹ and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

Answer:  What kind of rest have you been getting? Has your rest been Sabbath kind of rest or “junk food” rest? Try these three guiding principles to determine the difference:

Does it bring me joy?

Does it enable me to “exhale” or recharge?

Does it bring me closer to God? 

PRAY… God, what do you want me to know and do?

Use these words or pray on your own: Dear God, I kneel before You and ask for Your strength and power to be a daily reality in my life. Help me to keep a heart open to You, and a faith that puts Your love and Your ways first. Lead me to a commitment to making a Sabbath and keeping it set apart so that I may be filled with You. Amen.

Digging Deeper with this week’s teaching pastor:

Click here to go deeper using the Life Group DVD by the teaching pastor or view the message, including bonus discussion questions.

Thank you for reading today’s LivingItOut! We encourage you to take it one step further by participating in a Daily Bible Reading plan. There are thousands of individual reading plans available and there is ONE that is just right for you!CLICK HERE to download a basic “Bible in a year” plan. Customizable reading plans available at Youversion.com or Biblegateway.com.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS—Answer these questions with your friends and family:

What is an ideal day off for you?

Read Genesis 2:3 and Exodus 20:8-11. What is the Sabbath? Who designed it and for what purpose? If you had to describe it in one sentence to someone who didn’t know what it was, what would you tell them?

Barb talked this weekend about our deep need to realign our minds, hearts, bodies and souls. Which dial is out of alignment for you right now? Why? What will it take to bring it back into alignment?

What are the ways your soul is revived? How often are you doing these activities? Why or why not?

1. How does the Sabbath demonstrate God’s deep and abiding love for us? How is it a blessing to you and those around you?
2. If someone were to look at your calendar, your to-do list, and how you actually spend your time throughout the week, what conclusions would they draw about what the Sabbath and rest means in your life? Are these conclusions also an accurate reflection of your faith in Christ? Does how we rest have a direct reflection on our faith? Discuss.
3. As a result of this discussion, what is one thing you want to be sure to walk away with?

August 2015 Memory Verse:

For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires.

-Hebrews 4:12 (New Living Translation)

Painted Ball Canning Jars

I'm sure it doesn't surprise you to see these lovely Ombre Pink Painted Ball Jars here.  Afterall, look around...see all the PINK on my blog?  I love pink...all shades of pink.  I found this over at Masonjarcraftslove Blog.  For the wonderful Tutorial click the Link:  HOW TO PAINT BALL CANNING JARS

Here's a pretty Fall Centerpiece...
with painted Ball Canning Jars, too...from Hobby Lobby. 

Rest Blesses Us

God created the Sabbath for us.

Learn that you don’t have to do to be.  –Dallas Willard

Jesus taught that the Sabbath was made for man, and the model and command that God gave about the Sabbath actually reveals His great love for us (Genesis 1, Mark 2). It’s a gift to us because God knew we would need it. He knows that we need to replenish. He doesn’t arbitrarily require it of us, but rather the Sabbath gives Him the space to work in us so that He can do great things through us. That is just part of the blessing because the Sabbath also sets us free from the bondage of our own efforts and our own pride, the idea that we can do all of this by...
 ourselves.

In reality, the only thing we should be doing by ourselves is practicing solitude to be with Him. That is, we must practice time alone, out of contact with others, doing no work. Dallas Willard puts it this way: “We must not take our work with us… we must not try to get God to ‘do something’ to fill up our time. That will only throw us back into work. The command is: “Do no work.” Learn that we don’t have to do to be. Accept the grace of doing nothing. Stay with it until we stop squirming.” And incorporate silence at least a couple times a year. Silence means quietness, freedom from sounds except natural ones like breathing, bird songs and wind and water moving. It also means not talking. Silence is often where God speaks.

As we talked about earlier this week during this “Back to School” series, we’ve talked about Bible reading, prayer and journaling, all ways to develop a deeper relationship with Christ. But today we truly want to find rest in Christ through times of solitude and quiet, to commit to a Sabbath. To find a person who has made great progress in the spiritual life that did not have much time in solitude and silence is rare.

READ and THINK… What does the Bible say?

In the book of Deuteronomy, Moses is looking back at the events that were recorded in Exodus as it happened. He recounts the Ten Commandments and is urging the Israelites to turn towards God and obey His laws.

Question:

 What does Moses re-affirm about the Sabbath?

Deuteronomy 5:12 (New Living Translation)

Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy, as the LORD your God has commanded you.

Answer:

Mark’s Gospel is a simple and succinct yet vivid account of Jesus’ ministry, emphasizing more what Jesus did than what he said. It was written by John Mark who was one of the missionaries that accompanied Paul and Barnabas on their mission trips. The purpose of the Gospel of Mark is to show that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God who was sent to suffer and to serve in order to rescue and restore mankind.

Question:

Verse 27 will be familiar from Tuesday, but we’re taking it one step further today. How does what Jesus says reinforce that the Sabbath is a blessing to us? What does Jesus then ensure we know in the next verse?

Mark 2:27-28 (New Living Translation)

²⁷ Then Jesus said to them, “The Sabbath was made to meet the needs of people, and not people to meet the requirements of the Sabbath. ²⁸ So the Son of Man is Lord, even over the Sabbath!”

Answer:

The book of Hebrews boldly proclaims the superiority of Jesus Christ and Christianity over other religions. It also has practical instructions for following Jesus. One of the themes of Hebrews is that our Christian journey is not an easy one. By depending on Jesus for help, however, we can grow stronger and bring glory to God with our lives.

Question: 

Who can enter his rest?

Hebrews 4:3 (New Living Translation)

For only we who believe can enter his rest. As for the others, God said, “In my anger I took an oath: ‘They will never enter my place of rest,'” even though this rest has been ready since he made the world.

Answer:

LIVE… What will you do now? The idea of rest being a blessing to us comes both now in this life and in the life to come, as outlined in Hebrews. Does this change the way you view the Sabbath or ideas that you had? Why is it a blessing to see what it is today and for eternity?

How will you find solitude and silence this week, even if for a few minutes? In what way would this be a blessing to you? To the people around you?

Think of those people closest to you who have a rich and deep relationship with Christ. Is time alone with God part of what they do? How can that inspire you?

PRAY… God, what do you want me to know and do?

Thank God for the gift of the Sabbath. Ask Him to help you find solitude and silence so that you can replenish and then be ready to do His work again.

Digging Deeper with this week’s teaching pastor:

Click here to go deeper using the Life Group DVD by the teaching pastor or view the message, including bonus discussion questions.

Thank you for reading today’s LivingItOut! We encourage you to take it one step further by participating in a Daily Bible Reading plan. There are thousands of individual reading plans available and there is ONE that is just right for you!CLICK HERE to download a basic “Bible in a year” plan. Customizable reading plans available at Youversion.com or Biblegateway.com.

Rest Revives

How we rest matters.   Rest:  cease work or movement in order to relax, refresh oneself, or recover strength. 

The definition of “rest” is to cease work or movement in order to relax, refresh oneself, or recover strength.  Paradoxically, in order to find true rest that revives, we actually have to do a little work, because it’s a different rest that gets us to be refreshed and restored. In other words, we have to be intentional about our rest and sometimes that takes work!     First of all, we must be persistent. So many things vie for our attention and time that if we are not persistent, and insistent, about our time of rest, we will never get it. Next, we must recognize the difference between  merely relaxing and real, restoring rest. Simply “vegging out” in front of the TV or playing...
on Facebook does not restore the  soul. In fact, using anything to block out our problems, even if it’s TV, does not make the problem go away, and it usually makes us feel worse later.

   The rest that revives us is intentionally acknowledging God. In order to do that, we must discover ways to connect with Him that speak to us personally. There are a lot of ways to do this and can range from still silence to playing outdoors. While some may connect with God more in nature, taking a hike or kayaking, others may prefer quiet time reading the Bible or listening to praise music in a candlelit room. Some find great connection in journaling, others may choose to watch sermons or listen to podcasts, while others may just like a quiet place in which to pray.

     There are many time frames to choose from as well, from one great intentional day of prayer and fasting to a retreat of several days. Even a restful vacation with family can be a great way to reconnect and refresh.

   Whatever we do, we must work at resting. Being persistent in taking the time, being intentional in our acknowledgment of our awesome God, as well as the ways in which we connect with Him will give us true, reviving rest.

READ and THINK… What does the Bible say?

The apostles had been sent out to teach and cast out demons by Jesus’ authority. Upon their return, Jesus shows concern for their well-being, but then also becomes concerned for the gathering crowd.

Question: What does Jesus want to do with the disciples? What does he do for the crowd instead? Why?

Mark 6:30-34 (New Living Translation)

³⁰ The apostles returned to Jesus from their ministry tour and told him all they had done and taught. ³¹ Then Jesus said, “Let’s go off by ourselves to a quiet place and rest awhile.” He said this because there were so many people coming and going that Jesus and his apostles didn’t even have time to eat. ³² So they left by boat for a quiet place, where they could be alone. ³³ But many people recognized them and saw them leaving, and people from many towns ran ahead along the shore and got there ahead of them. ³⁴ Jesus saw the huge crowd as he stepped from the boat, and he had compassion on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things.

Answer:

Jesus then went on to feed 5,000 people with 2 fish and 5 loaves of bread. Although he is interrupted in his quest for rest by first seeing the need to feed the crowd, both literally and spiritually, Jesus then continues persistently towards his goal.

Question: How does Jesus interact with the disciples after feeding the 5,000? What does Jesus do then?

Mark 6:45-46 (New Living Translation)

⁴⁵ Immediately after this, Jesus insisted that his disciples get back into the boat and head across the lake to Bethsaida, while he sent the people home. ⁴⁶ After telling everyone good-bye, he went up into the hills by himself to pray.

Answer:

LIVE… What will you do now?

Does God immediately come to mind when you think of resting? Why or why not?

When was the last time you had the kind of rest that revives? How often does that happen? How can thinking of rest as reviving your soul change the way you approach rest?

As discussed, there are a variety of styles and ways to rest, reconnect and revive our resources as part of a Sabbath. What are the ways you would like to try? Not sure what would work for you? Take the quiz at this link to find out, then commit to one this weekend.http://common.northpoint.org/sacredpathway.html

PRAY… God, what do you want me to know and do?

Praise God for giving you amazing examples of rest through His word and deeds. Ask Him to help you be more intentional about resting. Thank Him for His grace that not only gives rest, but mercy when rest is difficult to attain. 

Digging Deeper with this week’s teaching pastor:

Click here to go deeper using the Life Group DVD by the teaching pastor or view the message, including bonus discussion questions.

Thank you for reading today’s LivingItOut! We encourage you to take it one step further by participating in a Daily Bible Reading plan. There are thousands of individual reading plans available and there is ONE that is just right for you!CLICK HERE to download a basic “Bible in a year” plan. Customizable reading plans available at Youversion.com or Biblegateway.com.

Rest Reconnects

We need rest to reconnect us to God.  It is not God who is too busy to hear us, it is we who are too busy to hear God.  –Jennifer Megan Varnadore

Have you heard the term “hangry”? Urbandictionary.com defines it as a state of anger and irritability resulting from being hungry or an amalgam of hungry and angry invented to describe that feeling you get when you are irritable from being hungry. For most of us, that doesn’t mean we didn’t have food to eat, either. It’s actually a self-imposed condition because we haven’t taken the time to eat.

Barb talked this weekend about misalignment and used the...
acronym HALT – Hungry, Angry, Lonely, Tired – to describe the condition we find ourselves in when we haven’t rested. It’s easy to get out of sync. When we get busy, we forget about God. When exhaustion sets in or we feel discouraged, sin starts looking better and better. We become misaligned and those HALT symptoms are often the results—sometimes just one or two of them, but often all together at once. Each of these disconnects us in some way from each other and from God. We start to battle with things like worry, control, the need to try harder, exhaustion, discouragement, burnout and more—all things that are the opposite of what rest and the Sabbath does for us.

Rest fills the need for us to connect, to realign our minds, hearts, bodies and souls to God first and then to each other. The Sabbath reconnects us with His promises and purposes, putting things back in order. We experience love, peace, joy and a heart that is aligned with His will first.

READ and THINK… What does the Bible say?

By the time Jesus came, keeping the law, including the Sabbath, had become an end in and of itself, a way to ensure you were doing the right thing rather than a way to fulfill God’s ultimate law of love. The disciples were breaking the heads off of the grain to eat but the Pharisees asked Jesus why he was letting them harvest on the Sabbath. He uses the example of when King David did the same thing to point out their self-righteousness.

Question: What does Jesus teach and reinforce about why the Sabbath was created?

Mark 2:23-27 (New Living Translation)

²³ One Sabbath day as Jesus was walking through some grainfields, his disciples began breaking off heads of grain to eat.²⁴ But the Pharisees said to Jesus, “Look, why are they breaking the law by harvesting grain on the Sabbath?” ²⁵ Jesus said to them, “Haven’t you ever read in the Scriptures what David did when he and his companions were hungry? ²⁶ He went into the house of God (during the days when Abiathar was high priest) and broke the law by eating the sacred loaves of bread that only the priests are allowed to eat. He also gave some to his companions.”²⁷ Then Jesus said to them, “The Sabbath was made to meet the needs of people, and not people to meet the requirements of the Sabbath.

Answer:

Peter, a disciple of Jesus, is giving specific instructions to both elders and young people about how to lead both themselves and the people around them.

Question: Note how humility and giving your worries to God are connected here. Why does Peter ultimately say we should give our worries and cares to God?

1 Peter 5:6-7 (New Living Translation)

⁶ So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time he will lift you up in honor. ⁷ Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.

Answer:

LIVE… What will you do now?

In 1 Peter 5, Peter teaches us to humble ourselves and in the very next verse, says give your worries to God. Why do you think that is? How does this relate to reconnecting with Him?

Review the exercise from this weekend again. Mark an X where you think your current alignment is. Where are you furthest out of alignment? In what ways can having your own Sabbath realign that area first, and then the others?

In the “Back to School” series, so far we’ve discussed Bible reading, prayer, praying Scripture or a Psalm, journaling and now the Sabbath. Which one of these do you need to make a commitment to in order to put things back in alignment and reconnect with God?

PRAY… God, what do you want me to know and do?

Pray for God to show you where you need to realign with Him. Give Him your worries, struggles, exhaustion, burnout, discouragement and anything else that is creating a disconnect. Ask Him to help you with whatever you are dealing with and take time for yourself to be present in the Lord.

 Digging Deeper with this week’s teaching pastor:

Click here to go deeper using the Life Group DVD by the teaching pastor or view the message, including bonus discussion questions.

Thank you for reading today’s LivingItOut! We encourage you to take it one step further by participating in a Daily Bible Reading plan. There are thousands of individual reading plans available and there is ONE that is just right for you!CLICK HERE to download a basic “Bible in a year” plan. Customizable reading plans available at Youversion.com or Biblegateway.com.

Recess

Barb Roose, Today's Teaching Pastor

There were endless possibilities, not out of reach.  – John Maynard Keynes, economist

In 1930, John Maynard Keynes predicted that Americans would only need to work three hours a day, and probably only by choice. That sounds like crazy talk, right? We couldn’t imagine a scenario where an American employee could earn enough to support themselves, much less a family, on only three hours per day. However, 85 years ago, Keynes observed our country’s rapid economic progress and technical advances and assumed that Americans would experience tremendous access to leisure...
and rest.

 Except, that isn’t the case. How many of you would use words like “tired”, “stressed” or “busy”, to describe your lives? Don’t be ashamed because if you do, you’re in good company. Lots of us feel like we are losing the battle to get it “all” done. For all of the time-saving advancements like smartphones, carryout, Evernote, text messaging, etc., we’re still feeling rushed. And each day the pressure to complete our never-ending to-do list mounts, filled with items that overflowed from the days before. One task after another, after another, after another…

We heard the story of one Creeker mom who worked part-time, but felt her schedule was overrun by her kids’ ballet, basketball and travel sports schedule. Her husband worked fulltime and coached one of the travel teams. As much as she loved watching her kids engage with activities they enjoyed, her mind was always moving and planning out how to manage their nonstop schedule. Maybe your family situation is different, but have you ever felt like you were hostage to a nonstop schedule?

This weekend, Barb’s message was titled, “Recess”, where we had a conversation about the importance of rest. Here is a reminder of one of her main ideas, “If you want to be blessed, then prioritize rest.”

In Genesis 2:3, we read how God shows great love for us by modeling rest. Remember, God created the universe. THE UNIVERSE. While God doesn’t need rest, He set aside one day of the week and rested from His work. What does that mean for us? If God set aside a day for rest and called it “holy”, then we need to integrate that practice into our lives as well.

Yes, we’re busy. Time is precious. But, we are more precious to God than time. Our human bodies were designed by an Almighty God to operate within a healthy rhythm: meaningful work followed by a period of rest. This weekend, Barb talked about how rest realigns us with God’s purposes. When we work and then we rest, we create space for God to do a miracle within our hearts, our minds, our bodies and our souls. Think about your spine and what happens when your spine gets out of alignment. Our lives can get out of alignment. We can lose track of God’s priorities by being too busy. But, when we rest, we give God space to do a miracle in us! He can revive our hearts, our minds, our tired bodies and our weary souls. Is your life out of alignment? If so, then you need to make plans to rest!

THIS WEEK’S STUDY IS ABOUT PRIORITIZING REST AS A NECESSARY GOD-HONORING RHYTHM OF OUR LIVES.

What is Sabbath?

Big Point: The Sabbath was made and demonstrated by God first.

If you rest, you rust.  – Helen Hayes

Why don’t we rest? Ask anyone around you if they want to have a day to rest this week, and while their initial reaction is usually an enthusiastic yes with the body language to follow — shoulders losing their tension, maybe even a wistful smile — it’s quickly followed by the list of reasons why that won’t happen. Why don’t we rest, really?

1)  We don’t think we NEED rest. Sometimes it’s because we’re control-freaks and can’t let anything go. Some of us have endless ambition while others of us really like to work. Sometimes it’s a Superman or Superwoman complex going on, “I can do everything- you can count on me!” And if we’re being honest, there’s currency in being busy, an air of importance that we believe is real.

2)  We don’t know HOW to rest. We have prioritized certain activities above other activities and rest isn’t even on the list.  In Genesis 1, the very first thing we see God doing is work. He created. In contrast, on the seventh day, He rested. In between is a week filled with meaningful, creative and necessary work, but the order is important—He started with work and ended with rest.

The Sabbath is one day a week when we don’t work. It’s when we rest our bodies, rest our minds, rest our hearts and rest our souls for God’s purpose. This kind of rest demonstrates that we trust in God’s provision for our lives. Simply put, it reminds us that there is a God and it is not us.

READ and THINK… What does the Bible say?

In the very first verse of the Bible, God already establishes the importance of His ways in our life.

Question: What did God model to us first in Genesis 1:1?

Genesis 1:1 (New Living Translation)

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

Answer:

From Genesis 1:1 to this verse in chapter 2, God is creating the world in an orderly fashion. For example, light before vegetation, the fish in the sea and livestock before humans.

Question: What did God create on the seventh day? Why?

Genesis 2:2-3 (New Living Translation)

² On the seventh day God had finished his work of creation, so he rested from all his work. ³ And God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, because it was the day when he rested from all his work of creation.

Answer:

God provided written instructions for His people, known as the Ten Commandments or the law, to help lead them to a life that would be pleasing and holy to Him.

Question: What is the definition of Sabbath that God provided?

Exodus 20:8-11 (New Living Translation)

⁸ Remember to observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. ⁹ You have six days each week for your ordinary work, ¹⁰ but the seventh day is a Sabbath day of rest dedicated to the Lord your God. On that day no one in your household may do any work. This includes you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, your livestock, and any foreigners living among you. ¹¹ For in six days the Lord made the heavens, the earth, the sea, and everything in them; but on the seventh day he rested. That is why the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart as holy.

Answer:

LIVE… What will you do now?

What does Sabbath mean to you?

Read Genesis 2:3 again, this time noting all the verbs in the verse. For example, rested, finished (there are a total of 5). Looking over this list, does this match what you described?

Now, take that same list of verbs from Scripture and line up what each of these could actually look like on your Sabbath day. (A couple of examples have been done for you.)

Rested—

Finished—celebrate project reaching first goal

Blessed—

Declared holy—journal my prayer

Imagine if God didn’t model rest or a Sabbath day – would that be loving? What are you modeling for the people around you when it comes to rest? What do you want to model?

PRAY… God, what do you want me to know and do?

Use these words or your own: Dear God, thank You for work and thank You for rest, for a day to declare as holy. We were made in Your image and right from the start, You have shown us how we need both. You have shown me how deeply You know me and can meet my every need. God, I’m asking You to help me see the area where I need to pay the most attention and seek You the most this week. In work or in rest, lead me to first desire knowing and following You more. Amen.

Digging Deeper with this week's teaching Pastor:

Click here to go deeper using the Life Group DVD by the teaching pastor or view the message, including bonus discussion questions.

Thank you for reading today’s LivingItOut! We encourage you to take it one step further by participating in a Daily Bible Reading plan. There are thousands of individual reading plans available and there is ONE that is just right for you!CLICK HERE to download a basic “Bible in a year” plan. Customizable reading plans available at Youversion.com or Biblegateway.com.

Outward

Make your requests known to Him in prayer and pray for others.  Prayer is simply the key to everything we need to do and be in life.  – Tim Keller

Jesus taught the disciples to pray for their needs each day. Paul said we should pray for God to take away our...
anxiousness. It is right for us to pray for God to meet our needs or take care of our concerns because it shows dependence on Him. But if we’re not careful, we can get stuck there and forget that prayer should also move us outward.

Prayer that moves us outward refers to both asking for help to do His will in the next steps we take, but it’s also about praying for others.

There are many different kinds of prayers to offer for every person in our lives. Furthermore, we can pray for people who indirectly affect our lives. For instance, we can pray for the hospital staff when a loved one is having surgery. In the same way, we can pray for our government leaders to be wise and discerning.

Other prayers may not be about specific people, but groups of people. Some examples are to pray for opportunities to spread the Gospel, or to see others as God sees them. Praying for Muslims and other religious groups to come to know Christ or just praying for your neighbors in general are further ways of having your prayers move you outward. The bonus: prayers like this often help us to recognize how God is working in and through our lives, too.

READ and THINK… What does the Bible say?

John has talked about the assurance believers have of eternal life through faith and now turns to how when we pray for others. We should pray that God’s will be done in their situation, so that they can have assurance of the same thing.

Question: When should we have confidence that God hears our prayers?

1 John 5:13-14 (New Living Translation)

¹³ I have written this to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know you have eternal life. ¹⁴ And we are confident that he hears us whenever we ask for anything that pleases him.

Answer:

In this passage, Jesus is talking to the apostles using a metaphor for the connection between a vine and branches. He goes from talking about the consequences of not staying connected to the rewards of remaining connected.

Question: What does Jesus tell the apostles to do? What is the reward, or what will then be the outcome of their prayers? (Note that this is what is referred to as an if/then statement, so by their action, if they do what Jesus says, then they will experience the outcome he teaches.)

 John 15:7 (New Living Translation)

But if you stay joined to me and my words remain in you, you may ask any request you like, and it will be granted! 

Answer:  Paul is writing about the importance of prayer in the Christian’s life. He tells us that not only should we pray for ourselves and our friends and family, but for everyone in the world.

Question: Why should we pray for people we don’t know? Why does it matter?

 1 Timothy 2:1-5 (New International Version)

¹ I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people— ² for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. ³ This is good, and pleases God our Savior, ⁴ who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. ⁵ For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus.

Answer:

LIVE… What will you do now? Review the verses today. What would you say is the common link between them today? How do they together demonstrate how prayer moves us outward? 

Who do you know—perhaps a family member, coworker, neighbor or friend—that you need to pray for? Whom can you pray for that you don’t know directly?

PRAY… God, what do you want me to know and do?

Dear Father, I thank You that I was born in this country. I am so grateful that I live in this city where I have the ability to worship You freely and openly follow Your will. I pray for every neighbor and person living near me today. I pray that they know you, Lord, and if they don’t, I pray that something would bring them to know You. If there is something You would have me to do to be a part of that, I am ready to serve You in any way I’m asked. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Digging Deeper with this week’s teaching pastor:

Click here to go deeper using the Life Group DVD by the teaching pastor or view the message, including bonus discussion questions.

Thank you for reading today’s LivingItOut! We encourage you to take it one step further by participating in a Daily Bible Reading plan. There are thousands of individual reading plans available and there is ONE that is just right for you!CLICK HERE to download a basic “Bible in a year” plan. 

Customizable reading plans available at Youversion.com or Biblegateway.com.

Inward

Prayer opens our heart to God so that we can make a personal connection with Him.  We don’t change the message, the message changes us.  – Unknown

While upward prayer focuses more on honoring God and reflecting on who He is, inward prayer is more about...
self reflection. It is about becoming transparent before God and sharing with Him our innermost selves, what’s really going on. While He knows us and what is going on in our life, He still wants us to come to Him willingly and share with Him what is really happening in our lives personally. Richard Foster, in his book Prayer, says to “bring ourselves before God just as we are, warts and all!”

When we pray, we are reminded of who we are in relationship to God and what we need most inside that only He can supply: hope, help, faith, strength, joy, love and the like. We talk about prayer as a time of building our relationship with the Lord because when we share everything with Him, we make way for Him to work in us.

After all, what kind of relationship would we have with our friends and family if we only asked them for things? Learning about someone requires spending time in their presence where we listen as much as we talk.  As one Bible teacher shared, “Prayer is open, honest, and forthright conversation with God, who has more to say to His people than His people have to say to Him.”

READ and THINK… What does the Bible say?

1. During the reign of Solomon, he prayed for wisdom and guidance and fulfilled the rebuilding of the temple that was his father, David’s, dying request. Once it was complete, God spoke to Solomon telling him how His people could maintain a relationship and deep connection with Him.

Question: What does God say we should do? What is the role of prayer?

2 Chronicles 7:14-16 (New Living Translation)

¹⁴ Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land. ¹⁵ My eyes will be open and my ears attentive to every prayer made in this place. ¹⁶ For I have chosen this Temple and set it apart to be holy—a place where my name will be honored forever. I will always watch over it, for it is dear to my heart.

Answer:

Fast forward to the New Testament, where we find Paul imprisoned, writing about the plans of God and his prayers for spiritual growth for believers.

Question: Where does growth and strength come from?

Ephesians 3:16 (New Living Translation)

I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit.

Answer:

LIVE… What will you do now?

Take an inventory of your prayers. Are they mostly asking God for things? How many of your prayers are self-reflection?

What keeps you from becoming transparent before God? Is it fear? If so, how can you combat that fear? How does opening your heart to God increase your connection to Him?

PRAY… God what do you want me to know and do?

Take some time to sit quietly and tell God what you really want Him to know about you and what is going on in your life right now. Talk to Him candidly and then listen. Allow Him to reveal to you what He loves about you and even what changes you can make to grow spiritually and become closer to Him. Close with a Psalm.

 

Digging Deeper with this week’s teaching pastor:

Click here to go deeper using the Life Group DVD by the teaching pastor or view the message, including bonus discussion questions.

Thank you for reading today’s LivingItOut! We encourage you to take it one step further by participating in a Daily Bible Reading plan. There are thousands of individual reading plans available and there is ONE that is just right for you!CLICK HERE to download a basic “Bible in a year” plan. 

Customizable reading plans available at Youversion.com or Biblegateway.com.