October 6: Residence (New Title: For This Reason, I Pray)

What prompts you to pray for fellow believers? When you do pray for fellow believers, what is the content of those prayers? The Apostle Paul gives us a great model to follow as we pray for fellow believers. God is so rich in love for us, and it was Paul's desire to pray that all who believed would come to a full understanding of this reality. LifeWay's Explore the Bible Study: Residence will explore this vital discipline of prayer.

ADJUSTED TITLE AND TARGET

• Adjusted Title: For This Reason, I Pray
• Adjusted TARGET: "We should pray for fellow believers, that they will come to fully understand the riches of God's glory."

LifeWay's title and goal focuses on one element of Paul's prayer, the dwelling of Christ in a believer's heart. This is but one element of a larger prayer covered in the complete passage. The Downloadable Teaching Ideas provide an alternate approach that focuses on the content of Paul's prayer.

The emphasis is on helping believers learn what they personally should glean from Paul's prayer and then how to pray this prayer for other believers.

Prayer should be a constant discipline and action in our lives. It should become as natural to us as breathing. Equally, we should make sure our prayers are not just for the physical needs of others or for personal requests. While these are important, we should pray intentionally and intently for the spiritual needs of the saved and for the salvation of the unsaved.

CHALLENGE YOUR GROUP

Consider the following as you draw this study of Ephesians 3:14-21 to a close.

• How much time have you spent during the last week praying the elements of Paul’s prayer or something similar for the following individuals whom you know are believers? – parents, spouse, children, grandchildren, pastor(s), fellow church members, Bible study group members, neighbors, friends, or co-workers.
• We need to make it a priority to pray for spiritual transformation for ourselves and others. 
• Boldly ask God to do far more spiritually in your life, family, and church than you can begin to imagine. 
• Use Ephesians 3:14-21 as a guide to begin praying for yourself, your family, and your church.

DOWNLOAD THE SUPPLEMENTAL TEACHING IDEAS

Word Version

PDF Version

God Qualifies the Called (A special post of encouragement to you)

This is not the weekly study helps; It is coming soon! This is a repost from a friend of mine related to serving as a Bible study leader. I hope it will encourage you as it did me.

God uses broken people…and He qualifies the called by Ken Braddy
Too many people sit on the church’s sidelines and never get onto the field of play, content to watch the game from afar. That’s not how God designed church! You know full well that we are all gifted to serve (I Corinthians 12), and that all believers have the mandate to “go and make disciples” (Matthew 28:18). Lots of people who could serve, don’t. One reason is they have a poor understanding of what it takes to be a leader. They look back at their past, focus on their failures and inadequacies, and forget that God qualifies the ones He calls.

Yes, a group leader needs to know God’s Word in order to teach it, but a teacher doesn’t have to be a Bible scholar to step into a group and begin teaching and leading. So what’s the holdup, you ask? In my experience, people just don’t feel qualified to teach and lead; they have a sense of inadequacy. So today, if that’s you, let’s consider some of the people God used throughout the pages of Scripture who were just slightly less than perfect. In fact, you might say they were quite broken:

• Adam blamed God and Eve for his failure
• Noah was a drunk
• Abraham was old…some would say too old
• Moses had a speech impediment
• Moses was also a murderer
• David was an adulterer…and a murderer
• David also had a rebellious son who went crazy and turned the household upside down
• Jonah rebelled against God and became a runaway
• Rahab was a prostitute
• Paul was an arch enemy of the church and hunted Christians for fun
• Peter was a failure several times over
• Samson had woman problems
• Jacob was a cheater
• The Samaritan woman was divorced
• Martha was a worrier
• The disciples were slow learners
• Matthew was a tax collector and worked for the wrong guys…the Romans

I could go on, but it’s pretty clear that God chooses the weak things of the world in which to display His power. Thank goodness for that! So if you’ve been asked to lead and feel unqualified, join the club. God has asked you to lead in order to display His power and might through you. If you feel unusable, unlovable, and an unlikely candidate for leadership, congratulations – you’re just the kind of person God wants to use.