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A Prayer of Hope
Focus Text: Psalms 71:1-5; 130:1-8
Central Truth: God’s merciful nature extends help to those who seek Him.
Objective: By the end of this lesson my students should be able to identify ways in which God shows His mercy to man.
Lesson Outline:
I. Trusting in God (Ps. 71:1-5)
II. The Sinner's Cry (Ps. 130:1-3)
III. The Hope for Forgiveness (Ps. 130:4-6)
IV. The Mercy of God (Ps. 130:7, 8)
A Prayer for Visitors
Heavenly Father, I pray today for those who visited our class this past Sunday, and those who will come this next weekend.
Some of our visitors are Christians from out of the area who have come here for different reasons. Encourage them in the faith. Help them to feel welcome in our church, even though their visit may be brief. Work through them to encourage our class, that we might see in a new way how you are working around the world to build your Church.
Other visitors are not Christians. We pray that their time in our Sunday school class will be enjoyable and profitable. We know that many of our traditions have become so ingrained in us that we do not even recognize how confusing they are to outsiders. Help us to know how best to ease new people into our religious patterns.
Help each visitor to our class to feel welcomed but not suffocated, accepted rather than isolated, and challenged instead of bored. Help our class to prepare ahead of time for guests so that we will welcome them appropriately when they come.
In Jesus’ name we ask all this. Amen.
The Promise of Deliverance
Read Job 5:17-27
“He shall deliver thee in six troubles: yea, in seven there shall no evil touch thee” (v. 19).
But wait, there’s more! The concept of claiming to offer an irresistible deal, then adding further incentives happens all the time in marketing campaigns. The Old Testament Hebrews often used the same ploy in their writings. When Job’s friend Eliphaz told him God would deliver him six — no, wait, seven! — times, he was really saying, “God will deliver you over and over and over again!
Can you imagine how that might have sounded to Job? “Look, Job, I know you’ve lost your oxen and donkeys and servants and sheep and more servants and camels and more servants and all your children, but God will deliver you again and again.” I don’t think I would have reacted as well as Job did.
Job’s first reaction to his tragedy was to worship the Lord, and his reaction to Eliphaz’s speech was a heartrending cry, “My grief cannot be measured!” It took what seemed to Job like an awfully long time, but when he rested on this promise, God did deliver him. (Michelle D. Avery)
Father, teach me to live standing on your promises.
A Prayer for Deliverance
Focus Text: 2 Kings 19:14-22, 32-35
Central Truth: There is no problem too great for God.
Objective: By the end of this lesson my students should be able to list some difficulties in their lives from which God has power to deliver them.
Lesson Outline:
I. A Prayer for Deliverance (2 Kings 19:14-19)
II. An Answer from God (2 Kings 19:20-31)
III. A Deliverance Realized (2 Kings 19:32-35)
A Prayer for Students
Heavenly Father, thank you for giving me the privilege of teaching such a wonderful class. Thank you for how you are working in each of my students’ lives. Thank you for (state specific ways you see God working in the lives of your students). May you continue to bless each one, increase their faith, and deepen their love for you and for one another.
Lord, I pray that you would enlighten my class’s understanding of your Word. Help each one to see that the Bible is not an ancient, out-of-touch document, but instead that you are speaking to us through Scripture and that in your words we find abundant life.
I also pray that you would encourage my students to care for one another. Help us not to be a group of strangers meeting weekly, but a family who cares for one another deeply. When one has a need, help us all to rally around in support. When one rejoices, may we join in the celebration, happy that you have poured blessings upon our fellow Christian.
Father, help our class to develop a passionate love and concern for lost people. May our passion move us to action, instead of allowing us to simply feel good while sitting on the sidelines. Use us to impact the world with your love.
The Troubler
Read 1 Kings 18:16-19
“And he answered, I have not troubled Israel; but thou, and thy father’s house, in that ye have forsaken the commandments of the Lord, and thou hast followed Baalim”
(v. 18).
“Attitude is the mind’s paintbrush. It can color any situation.”
False accusations are a part of life, but that does not make them any easier to take. And often being falsely accused can bring out the worst in us.
If you were playing the role of Elijah in this little skit, what would be your tone of voice as you speak the words of our focus verse? Defensive? Vengeful? Matter-of-fact? Sorrowful? Or to say it differently, “What is your attitude when you are falsely accused?”
However he said it, Elijah was not intimidated by the presence of the king. But neither does he “lose his cool.” Instead, Elijah carefully proposes to resolve their differences in an objective encounter. Even the king could not refuse the objectivity of Elijah’s proposal.
Attitudes are the result of cultivation. The attitudes we display under adversity have been a long time in the making. And our attitude can so color a situation that even God has difficulty redeeming it. (Gordon L. Snider)
“A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger” (Prov. 15:1).