Tuesday, December 24, 2013

BIBLE STUDY WEEK 4 (12/24/13)

Phase One:  Approaching God through Daily Praise and Worship

 

 

SPEND THE FIRST SEVERAL MINUTES IN GENUINE

PRAISE, THANKSGIVING AND WORSHIP

 

Use praise, thanksgiving and worship to prepare your heart for dynamic prayer.

§  In Psalms 100:4, the writer says "Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise."

 

What are some areas of your life that you are thankful? _____________________________

 

 

 

What words of praise come to your mind?  List them. _______________________________

     

 

§  In this text, God reminds us to come before Him with a sense of awe, praise, and reverence.

 

When you pray, what attitude or sense do you feel?  ________________________________

 

Is it one of awe? ____________________________

 

How do you develop a sense of awe before the Lord? ________________________________

 

 

 

Do you think awe and reverence are the same?  Explain your answer.

 

________________________________________________________________

 

§  We also see this in Jesus' model prayer:  "Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed by Thy name" (Read Luke 11:2).

 

In the Lord's prayer, what does it mean "Hallowed be thy name?" ______________________

 

 

 

 How do we as humans genuinely praise and worship God? ___________________________

     

 

Steps to a Meaningful Time of Praise

 

1.    Dedicate adequate time to heartfelt praise and worship.

§ Do not rush through your time of praise so you can get to your want list!

§ A minimum of several minutes should be given to nothing but praise and worship.

 

Is your prayer time mostly devoted to a "wish list" filled with your needs? ________________

 

Estimate how much time you spend in praise rather than in asking. _____________________

 

2.    Spend time thanking God for things He has done in your life.

§ Thank God for past, present and promised future blessings.

§ Nothing builds faith and prepares you to pray like thanking God for a significant list of answered prayers!

 

As the Holy Spirit guides you, make a list of past blessings for which you can thank God. 

 

____________________________________________________________________

    

    

Make a list of present blessings that God has given you. _____________________________                           

 

 

 

Now make a list of future blessings that God will bestow upon you.

 
_____________________________________________________________________

     

 

 

3.    Spend time praising God for who He is and what He is like (His characteristics).

§   Meditate on each of God's characteristics and praise Him for what they mean to your life.

§  Meditate on the meaning of His biblical names.

 

Besides those listed in the book, what other Biblical names can you think of for God?  

 

_____________________________________________________________________

 

_____________________________________________________________________

 

 

Which of God's names do you relate to the most? __________________________________           

 

_____________________________________________________________________

 

Why? ________________________________________________________________

 

§  When we take time to meditate on who God is and all He has done for us, praise becomes natural and spontaneous.

 

Who is God to you?  Spend some quiet time thinking about God and who His is to you.  As you   think of words or phrases to describe Him write them down.  Give examples of God's characteristics that has blessed or ministered to you.

 

____________________________________________________________________

 

____________________________________________________________________

 

_____________________________________________________________________

 

Take your time of praise very seriously.  The greatest way to secure God's manifest presence is to give Him genuine praise and worship.  Remember, "God inhabits the praises of His people" (Read Psalms 22:3).

 

 

& KEY POINTS – The Biblical Path to a Powerful Prayer Life

 

& There is not an exact pattern for prayer, but there are general patterns for prayer that are biblical and serve as basic guidelines.

 

& Your daily time with God is a relationship and should always contain an element of spontaneity and variation. The goal is to allow the Holy Spirit to direct each time you meet with God.

 

& God wants your heartfelt praise and worship above everything else.

 

& If you will give regular time to significant praise, God will revolutionize your relationship with Him !

 

& If we neglect praise, prayer becomes more like a dry ritual than a warm personal relationship.  Learn that you cannot praise only when you "feel" like it.  Never forget, the deepest praise and worship is based on a choice, not a feeling

.

& Like nothing else, praise and worship prepare your heart for dynamic prayer.

 

& Take your time of praise very seriously!

 

& Pray for a deeper and purer worship every day of your life.

 

Ask God to increase the depth of your praise and worship.  When we ask, God continually reveals  ways to worship Him in ever-increasing depth.

 

Please turn to page 52, look up the scriptures, answer the study questions and pray the prayers for daily growth.

 

 

QUESTIONS:

 

1.   In your own words, describe at least three steps to significant time of personal praise and worship.

 

2.   Why do you think some of your deepest worship will occur in times of pain or disappointment?

 

 

PRAYER:

Father God, teach us to give You thanks and praise at all times (1 Thessalonians 5:18). Make us keenly aware of the many things for which we should praise, thank and worship You.  Lord, teach us to worship in ways ever deeper and pure. Enable us to especially worship and praise in times of trial.  Teach us to offer the sweet sacrifices of praise (Hebrews 13:15). This we pray in Jesus' name, amen.

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