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What Does It Mean to Persist in Prayer
In "Word Focus", William Sillings writes:
This man was in earnest about his request. He went unto him, and besought him (v. 47). This construction is made of verbs of varying intensity, and when used together they convey how the man approached Jesus. The first, went unto him (apelthen), is an ingressive aorist indicative indicating that he “went off at once” as soon as he heard that Jesus had come to Galilee. The second, besought (erota), is an imperfect active indicative verb which has the sense, “he began to beg and kept it up.”
While the major purpose of this passage seems not to be intended to teach persistence in prayer, it certainly does illustrate it. This man went down to get Jesus to come back home with him, but Jesus refused with the words, “You won’t believe unless you see signs and wonders.” But this man kept up his request, “Sir, come down before my child dies.” This was a dire situation, and there was no hope outside of Jesus’ intervention.
Perhaps many of us would have given up when we were first denied our request by the Lord. But not this man. Something inside him made him keep asking. The reward for such persistence is that he got what he wanted.
Discussion: How can we learn from this man's persistence in seeking Jesus' help?
Source: Miracles of Jesus: Adult Teacher's Insights, page 64.
The Accessible Sunday School
Wes Haystead writes, "A Sunday school that is not seeing unchurched people won to Christ is a stagnant program." Haystead also notes that many Sunday schools have become ingrown, even though they may have never said that their purpose was only to serve the Christian.
As you consider your typical class format, are there any methods that would be confusing to the new person? For example, when your class prays together, do you prompt your students to stand, kneel, etc., or is the prayer position assumed? Would a new person be embarrassed because she didn't know the procedures your class follow by habit? When referring to lesson books, do you prompt your students where to turn? Would a new person be frustrated because he didn't know how to follow along?
As you teach this week, be attentive to ways your class may have become less accessible to the unchurched.
Haystead, Wes (2005). The 21st Century Sunday School: Strategies for Today and Tomorrow. Cincinnati, OH: The Standard Publishing Company. p.15
Faith Defined
Read Hebrews 11:1-10
“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (v. 1).
In The Edge of Adventure, Keith Miller and Bruce Larson tell of a letter that was discovered in a baking powder can. The can was wired to the handle of an old water pump on the seldom-used trail across Nevada’s Amargosa Desert. The letter read, “This pump is all right as of June 1932. I put a new sucker washer into it and it ought to last five years. But the washer dries out, and the pump has got to be primed. Under the white rock, I buried a bottle of water, out of the sun and cork end up. There’s enough water in it to prime the pump, but not if you drink some first. Pour about one-fourth and let her soak to wet the leather. Then pour in the rest medium fast and pump like crazy. You’ll git water. The well has never run dry. Have faith. When you git watered up, fill the bottle and put it back like you found it for the next feller. [signed] Desert Pete. P.S. Don’t go drinking the water first. Prime the pump with it and you’ll git all you can hold.”
Just as the thirsty traveler had to trust in something he could not see to receive water he desired, so the Hebrew writer tells us we must trust God for that which we desire. (Gayle Woods)
Faith in God is based on the substance of hope and the evidence of a yet to be realized reality.This devotional is the Monday, February 8, 2016 entry of Opening the Word.
Faith Rewarded
Lesson 11 - February 14, 2016
Focus Text: John 4:43-54
Central Truth: Great things await those who trust Christ.
Objective: By the end of this lesson my students should be able to state how they can exercise their faith to help it grow.
Lesson Outline:
- Faith Challenged (John 4:43-48)
- Faith Exhibited (John 4:49-50)
- Faith Rewarded (John 4:51-54)
Prayer – Lesson 10, The Storm Calmed
Heavenly Father, as our teachers lead their classes today in study of Your miracle of calming the stormy lake, help them to impress upon their students the lesson that Your presence drives out fear; therefore, we should seek to live daily close to You. We pray this in Jesus' name, Amen.
Your Church's School
Arthur Flake asserts "The Sunday School is the 'school' of the church." (Toler, 1995, p. 2).
When you think of "school", what comes to your mind? Heavy textbooks, boring lectures, and an overwhelming sleepiness or new adventures, challenging discussions, and practical application?
Most probably agree that school is important, even though some may argue that the traditional classroom is not always the most effective method of training. We recognize our level of achievement will be greatly stunted if we do not receive some type of education.
Sunday school does not necessarily have the same respect. This is unfortunate as Sunday school plays an integral role in our discipleship. Such disdain may have been earned from years of enduring boring, trivial or unprepared classes. Your calling, Teacher, is to help make Sunday school an essential ministry of your local church.
When your students think "Sunday school", what comes to their mind?
References
Toler, Stan (1995). 101 ways to grow a healthy sunday school. Kansas City: Beacon Hill Press.