Spiritual Warfare Armor, Pt. 2 – Sunday School Lesson

We’ve been talking about the Armor of God.

It’s a set of weapons and tools the Lord has gifted us with so that we can fight spiritual battles.

Last week we looked at the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness and having our feet shod with the gospel of peace.

 

Today we are going to cover the other pieces of armor.

Turn to Ephesians 6:16 –

16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. (NIV)

The enemy is going to attack you – he’s a roaring lion looking for someone to devour [1 Peter 5:8 –  Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. (NIV)]

That’s why we have to be on guard at all times.

When he throws his assaults, attacks, and lies at you, you can use your shield of faith to stop them.

You can stop these attacks by choosing to trust and have faith in God to take care of it and to prevent it.

You can call on God to protect you.

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Spiritual Warfare Armor, Pt. 1 – Sunday School Outline

Last week we talked about Spiritual Warfare.

We have an enemy who is like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour (1 Peter 5:8)

He hates us because he hates Christ and wants to destroy us.

Thankfully, Christ beat him once and for all at Calvary with His death, burial, and resurrection.

He’s a defeated foe.

As Christians we’ve been given weapons of warfare to fight against the enemy and his schemes.

These weapons are called the armor of God.

So, today we’re going to look at some of the pieces of that armor.

 

We are still in the book of Ephesians, chapter 6.

Ephesians 6:14 –

Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around our waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place – NIV

Let’s look first at the belt of truth –

Or, as the KJV calls it – having your loins girt about with truth

I went to BlueLetterBible.org and looked this word up in the original Greek.

It had 3 definitions –

What is true in any matter under consideration; in reality; in fact; certainty.

So, this would mean whatever is true of a situation; what’s really going on.

The literal truth of it.

 

The second definition was:

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Intro to Spiritual Warfare – Sunday School Outline

Scripture is an important part of our spiritual self-defense.

In Ephesians 6 Paul tells us we have been given weapons of warfare to defend ourselves.

There’s a reason we need to defend ourselves.

Ephesians 6:12 tells us our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. (NIV)

The KJV says it like this: for we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

Sometimes we forget that some of the things that happen to us are spiritual attacks.

Not all things, but some.

Some of it is our own fleshly choices not to obey.

Sometimes our pride gets in our way.

Sometimes it is an attack from the enemy.

 

It’s important we understand the enemy is a defeated foe.

Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection settled it once and for all.

Jesus was, and IS! victorious.

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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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