Sunday School Lesson on Obedience Topic Discussion

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Sunday School Lesson on Obedience Topic Discussion

1.How can you better prepare yourself tohear the Word of the Lord? What progress haveyou made in this regard?

It has been said that understanding God'sWord is like a bank account: you get out of itwhat you put into it. A true hearer of the Word ofGod must invest time and effort into the task.Proverbs 8:34 says one way we hear is by watch-ing and waiting daily. It is not just listening to amessage one day a week, but daily taking time toread and hear God's Word.

Ecclesiastes 5:1 says that we need to "be moreready to hear, than to give the sacrifice of fools."The sacrifice of fools in this context is aboutspeaking many words about or to God while fail-ing to hear words from God (compare Matthew6:7, 8). We hear God's Word best when we hear itfor what it actually is and not what we want it tobe (2 Timothy 4:4).

2.What stirrings have you brought to God in the past that you think He was dissatisfied wills?How did you get back on the right track?

We can offer God the sacrifice of praise withour lips without giving Him our hearts (Isaiah29:13). We can be guilty of going through the mo-tions of worship and praise to the person of Godwhile lacking commitment to the will of God.When we offer our financial gifts as a means oftrying to appease God instead of honoring Him,He is not pleased. When we bring our offerings toGod while at the same time having dissensionwith a brother or sister in Christ. God is not satis-fied with that offering (Matthew 5:23, 24). SomeChristians focus so much on giving a specificpercentage of their income that their families gowithout necessities (compare 1 Timothy 5:8).These problems may be spiritual blind spots tous. Sometimes the intervention by another Chris-tian is necessary to make us aware.

3. How might our assemblies become iniquities in the eyes of God? What safeguards can weimplement?

In some of the same ways that our offeringscan be a dissatisfaction to God, so can our wor-ship be an iniquity to Him. When we neglectworship that is in spirit and truth, we have of-

freed improper worship. Worship that is done asa show that seeks to please people instead of Godis an iniquity to Him.

Paul pointed out that when created things areworshiped instead of God the creator, abomina-tion results (Romans 1:25). In some parts of theworld, this happens literally where people holdcertain animals to be sacred. The problem pre-sents itself in Western democracies when materi-al things occupy the throne of our heart whereGod should be instead.

Worship that does not offer God our best is aproblem. Leftovers in regard to time, energy, or fi-sauces are displeasing to Him. Examining our lev-els of commitment (or overcommitment) in otherareas can help us avoid giving God leftovers.

4.What can you do to assure that God hearsyour prayers? Conversely, how do you makesure that nothing hinders your prayers?

Some people feel that their prayers are risingno higher than the ceiling. Part of the problemmay be that the prayer is not being answered inthe way the one praying wants it to be or asquickly as he or she would like for it to be. To beopen to the Lord's will, to ask the Lord's will tobe done, and then to be patient for Him to dothings His way in His time are all important.Prayers also may be ineffective because of on-repented sin. The fervent prayer of the righteousperson is effective (James 5:16). Thus, there maybe a need for true repentance and godly sorrowprior to presenting our requests to God. Prayingmore for others and for the work of God and lessfor personal and selfish ends is vital (James 4:3).

5.What are sonic ways your church can helpthe oppressed, the fatherless, the widow, andthe widowers? What should your own part be inthis ministry?

There are many possibilities. A starting pointis to examine why more hasn't been done so far.Often we fail to help these people because wehave become blind to them. We can be guilty ofbeing involved in a "holy huddle" where we failto look outward to those to whom we are calledto minister. To develop a mind-set of go andshare rather than strictly come and see is a start.

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