Samuel Sunday School Lesson Topic Discussion

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Samuel Sunday School Lesson Topic Discussion

1.What experiences in Samuel's life equippedhim to pray effectively? What personal experi-ences have taught you how to pray?

Samuel grew up in the temple surrounded bythe leaders of God's people. He had a motherwho modeled a life of fervent prayer. He wascalled by God as a prophet and served as a judgeof God's people. Sometimes the very experienceof being thrown into leadership causes a personto pray more fervently.

Asa general rule, most of us pray more out ofneed than from self-discipline. Thus when westep out into ministries that are larger than ourabilities, we pursue prayer as the only availablemeans to fulfill our tasks for God! To move frompraying primarily out of need to praying out ofself-discipline is a mark of spiritual maturity.

2.What should biblical repentance look liketoday? Does Samuel's four-part process stillapply? Why, or why not?

We often think of repentance as feeling sorryfor our personal sins. But biblical repentance alsorequires a change of our will. That is, we changeour allegiance from the world (or self) to God.But there is more. Biblical repentance includesrecompense (Exodus 22:1-15; Numbers 5:5-8:Luke 19:8). That is, we make restitution to theone wronged whenever possible. Furthermore,the concept of repentance in the Bible often has aplural subject. Thus it is not merely somethingan individual does (as important as that is), it isalso a group activity. National repentance, espe-cially one accompanied by a fast, is very biblical.

3. If God called you to be a Samuel in thetwenty-first century, how would you lead yournation to repentance? What activities would youcall people to participate in?

We most be careful here not to allow this tobecome a political debate. However, there aresome things in the Bible that are beyond ques-tion. For example, idolatry is the main thing thatSamuel called his own people to repent of. Butwe should not restrict our thinking of idols asbeing merely blocks of wood and stone. Idols ofthe heart are most displeasing to God (Ezekiel14:4, 7; Ephesians 5:5; Colossians 3:5, 6). Unfortunately, the casual use of the word idol, as inthe TV show American Idol, has desensitizedmany to the sobering nature of the word.Certainly, sexual immorality is a blight thatcalls for repentance; it is listed alongside idolatryin 1 Corinthians 5:10, 11. The ease with whichwe abort babies must make God sad. Our listcould include violence, neglect of the poor,abuse of women, and abandonment of children.As always, repentance begins in our own hearts.We may not pour out water on the ground as didSamuel; we may write letters to sponsors of luridTV programs instead.

4.What kind of an Ebenezer could we raise today? In other words what kinds of memorials could we establish that would remind us to pray for our nation and repent of our sins?Every year the ancient Israelites were to ob-serve a Day of Atonement (Leviticus 23:26-32). It was a time of national repentance. Some Chris-tian groups have similar observances surround-ing Easter or (in America) the anniversary of thecourt decision Roe v. Wade, which legalizedabortion. Could we participate in such tradi-tions?Could we combine a national day ofprayer with a fast for forgiveness? Could we usethe Lord's Supper as an Ebenezer that would re-mind us to repent as a church?Try to create a re-alistic list of Ebenezer events you could practice.

5.What are the various kinds of prayers andpetitions that we could lift up to God? Whichkind do you pray most often? Why?

Obviously, there are different kinds of prayers.Help your students think through the following:praise (honoring God for who He is and what Hehas done), confession of sins (both individual andcorporate), thanksgiving (recognizing and appre-ciating God's provisions), requests (presentingour needs before God for healing, provision,comfort, guidance, and strength), imprecation(praying against some person, thing, idea or be-havior that stands in the way of God's church),intercession (asking God to help someone else,whether an individual or a nation). This lastkind of prayer is the focus of this lesson. Perhapsyou could end by putting this one into practice.

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