Psalm 23:1 – Sunday School Outline

I’ve been thinking about Psalm 23.

It’s a short Psalm, just 6 verses but it is packed with good stuff.

I thought today we would spend some time going over verse one.

Psalm 23, verse 1 says,
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.(KJV)

The NIV says, The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.

Because the Lord is our shepherd, we won’t want for anything. We will lack nothing.

Looking at the first part of this verse I think of:

Isaiah 40:11 – He tends His flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in His arms and carries them close to His heart; He gently leads those that have young. (NIV)

 

This is such a sweet, comforting picture of how God loves us, of how He takes care of us.

How He is aware of our situation and holds us close as He leads us.

It’s not some distant, arms’ length away that He holds us.

He holds us up close and personal, in His arms, close to His heart!

A shepherd’s job is to look after the sheep entrusted to him, to make sure they are safe, well taken care of, and to know where they are at all times, keeping track of them.

This is what Jesus does with us.

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He Will Supply All My Needs

I was in a Bible Study recently where the verse Philippians 4:19 came up.

It’s a very popular verse.

It says:

And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of His glory in Christ Jesus. (NIV)

It’s reassurance that all our needs will be met.

It’s a good reminder that God is Yahweh Yireh – the God who provides.

People commonly recite this verse when they are concerned about material needs such as rent, utilities, groceries, etc.

That’s a valid and important part of it.

God does supply for all our material needs.

But – there are other aspects to it.

Ones we don’t always stop to realize and appreciate.

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Peace for Today – Sunday School Outline

This morning I want to take a few minutes and encourage you.

These are unsettling times we’re in.

In some ways it seems like the whole world has gone upside down.

Store shelves are bare, people are getting really sick, the stock market has crashed, and all kinds of things are going on.

Yet in the midst of this, we serve a God who sees all this.

None of it takes Him by surprise.

None of it is out of His reach or control.

I’ve heard people ask why God is allowing this pandemic.

The truth is, I don’t really know but I’ll tell  you what I do know.

He is God,

He is still on the throne.

He knows what is going on, and if He’s allowing it then there’s a reason.

Instead of second guessing Him or trying to figure out why, we should focus on trusting Him in the midst of it.

Here’s the thing, if we are His child, which we are if we are Christians, then we don’t have to worry.

We don’t have to be afraid.

What we can do instead is turn to Him for comfort. 

One of my favorite verses is Psalm 91:4. (NIV)

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P.R.A.Y. Sheet

I’ve created a handy reference to guide you through the steps of prayer.

It is based on the letters of the word PRAY:

 

Praise – Praise and thank God for all He has done, is doing, and will do for you and those around you. Praise Him for His goodness, His grace and mercy, His character, anything about Him that is good. 

    If you want to find phrases to use, look through the book of Psalms. It is full of things to praise God for. 

 

Repent – Confess anything you need to, either that you knew before you started praying, or that comes up as you are praying and praising God. 

    Repent – to agree with God that the action was wrong, that He is right, to apologize to Him, and to commit to not do it again.

 

Ask – Make any requests you have for you or for others. 

Share with God anything that is on your heart, or that you feel you need to talk to Him about, both good and bad, big or small. 

 

Yes – Commit to doing, changing, improving, stopping anything you feel prompted or led to. 

    Agree to follow God and His path, and to improve your serve and commitment to Him. 

 

Close with a few words of thanking God for hearing your prayer and for listening to you. Tell Him how you appreciate the gift of being able to come to Him at any time.

 

 

I hope the simple explanations this sheet contains will help you in your prayer life.

Feel free to download a copy and tuck it in your Bible or prayer journal.

 

Free Downloadable/Printable  PRAY Sheet PDF

 

This P.R.A.Y. sheet was written as part of my lesson outline on How to Pray.

Free Downloadable/Printable How to Pray Lesson Outline PDF

 

A list of all available lessons can be found on my Lessons Outlines page

 

 

 

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Praying Personalized Scripture – Sunday School Outline

Today’s Lesson is part review, part mash-up of previous lessons. 

We’ve studied how to pray. (read that post here)

We’ve looked at what Scripture is and how to study it. (Read those posts here and here)

Today we are going to combine the two.

Today we are going to practice praying Scripture. 

There are several reasons why we might do this.

It honors God and shows Him we are paying attention to His Word, the Bible, and that we have respect for both it and Him.

It brings us closer to God.
     We can better see how the Scriptures were written for us and that He does understand us.
          Because Jesus came to earth as a man He knows first hand what it’s like to live in this fallen world. 

     It helps us see that Scripture does apply to and affect us.
          Seeing how relevant to us they are makes obeying them easier.

Because the Scriptures are God’s own Word, we know that if we are praying the Scripture we are asking for things that God has already offered, mentioned, suggested, and instructed us about. 
     This means we are praying in God’s will!

As you are going through the Scripture you will see that some, especially in the Psalms, are already written first-person. 

Those are easy to pray. 
     You just pray them as they are written.

This exercise will help you with the ones that aren’t. 

Here’s how to do it:

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How to Pray – Sunday School Outline

A lot of people have a lot of ideas about what prayer is, so let’s start with the actual definition.

I went to Blue Letter Bible and looked up the original Greek from several places in the New Testament.

There were 2 words in the definitions that kept coming up:

Intercession – to go to or meet a person, esp. for the purpose of conversation, consultation, or supplication
     to pray, entreat

Supplication – need, indigence, want, privation, penury
     a seeking, asking, entreating, entreaty to God or to man

From this we can see prayer is talking to God about a problem or situation you or someone else has.

It is NOT a one-way transaction or monologue.

It is a conversation.
     We don’t just insert a prayer or two and go on our merry way, expecting to receive what we need.

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Word of the Year 2020

It’s a New Year.

With it comes a new word.

Each year I choose a word to focus on throughout the year.

Last year my word was resolve. (read that post here)

It came from 1 Corinthians 2:2:

“For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you, except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.” (NIV)

Paul was explaining to the Christians in Corinth that he wasn’t interested in material things or fame. He wanted only to share the gospel and lead people to Christ. His only focus was Christ and the importance of the crucifixion.

I spent a good portion of my study and prayer time seeking to better know and understand who Christ is.

I also focused on putting Him first in every situation.

It was hard.

There were times when I failed, had to repent, and start again but I learned so much.

I learned first hand just how much Christ loves us and just how close to us He is, if we will just pay attention.

It was a year of huge growth I am eternally grateful for.

 

When I was praying and looking through Scripture for 2020’s word I came across John 8:25-30.

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God’s Timing – Sunday School Outline

The first thing we need to understand is that God’s timing is different than ours. 

Turn to the book of  Isaiah, chapter 55.

In it God is explaining some of the things He has done for man. 

He is encouraging man to turn from his evil ways and to seek after Him. 

Look at verses 8 and 9. This is God speaking –

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. 9 “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” (NIV)

God’s way of doing things is much different than our ways. 

That includes His timing. 

Consider 2 Peter 3:8-9 – 
8 But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. 9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. (NIV)

As Creator of the Universe, God created time so He is not bound by it.

Instead He works on a higher level. 

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Proverbs 20:22 – Sunday School Outline

Today’s lesson is on Proverbs 20:22:

Do not say, “I’ll pay you back for this wrong”, wait for the Lord, and He will deliver you. (NIV) 

The KJV says, 22 Say not thou, I will recompense evil; but wait on the Lord, and he shall save thee.

Sometimes when people are mistreating us we might be tempted to deal with them, pop our mouth off at them, set them straight, or give them “a piece of our mind”, or maybe even think, “I’ll show them!”.

When we do any of these are trying to handle it.

But there is a verse we need to consider first.

19 Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. (NIV)

This does not mean we sit back and grin at what God’s going to do to them because they were mean to us.

This comes from a bigger passage that says:

Romans 12:17-21 – 17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. 18 If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. 19 Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. 20 On the contrary: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him;  if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.” 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. (NIV)

So in other words, the way we respond to others being mean or evil toward us is with good.

That can be hard!

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Our Words – Sunday School Outline

Our words come from what’s in our hearts
 
We know this because according to Luke 6:45 –
45 A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of. (NIV)
 
So, whatever is in your heart is going to come out of your mouth.
      You can tell a lot about yourself by listening to what you say.
      -The great thing is, if you don’t like what you say, you can do some heart work and submit it to God for cleansing.

Ephesians 4:29 says,
29 Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. (NIV)   
 
The King James says it like this:
Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. (NIV)
 
I looked up unwholesome/corrupt in the original Greek
      It means rotten, putrid, unfit for use, poor quality

We are not supposed to let anything corrupt come out of our mouths.

Instead, we are to allow edifying things out
 
Edify – to instruct and improve especially in moral and religious knowledge (Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary )
 
The words that come out of our mouth are supposed to help others, instructing them.
      -This does not mean beat them over the head with it.

Instead:

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