Why do we sometimes feel God doesn’t hear our prayers? How to pray in a manner that we can be assured of answers at all times?
Overview
What the Bible says
Theme Verse
How it impacts us
Activity
Be Holy as God is Holy
The Spiritual Man vs. the Carnal Man
What the bible says
God is Supreme
- For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes. Deut 10:17
What the bible says
God is unchanging
- God is not human, that he should lie, not a human being, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill? Numbers 23:19
God’s ways are higher
- “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,”
declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. Isaiah 55:8,
What the bible says
God is everywhere
- “Am I only a God nearby,”declares the Lord, “and not a God far away? Who can hide in secret places so that I cannot see them?”declares the Lord.
“Do not I fill heaven and earth?”declares the Lord.Jer 23:23,24
God sees everything
- 13 Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account. Heb 4:13
What the bible says
All honour belongs to God
- 17 Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen. 1 Tim 1:17
God is Holy (THEME VERSE)
- 44 I am the Lord your God; consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy. Do not make yourselves unclean by any creature that moves along the ground Leveticus 11:44
Holy God and me
How does that impact the way I relate to God?
The only true God, He cannot be shared with other gods (Jer 10:3-10).
God is unchanging – In a changing world, He remains constant. I can trust Him.
He is way higher and I need to step up in my thinking to relate to Him. “Set your minds on things above not on earthly things” Colossians 3:2
Holy God and me (Cont'd)
God is everywhere. Nothing is hidden from Him.
We face a heavenly audit
But I tell you that everyone will have to give account on the day of judgment for every empty word they have spoken.
Matt 12:36
Give Praise and Honour to God
Honour God with our:
- lips
- hearts
- behaviour
Be Holy as God is Holy
- Destroy idols in our lives
- Be living sacrifices
- Let go of the world and receive God’s abundant life right here on earth
In God’s perspective:
- Sin is “missing the mark”
- Even a slight notch below the ideal is sin
- God cannot tolerate even the smallest speck of sin.
Activity
Draw a cross on the board (or paste a small patch on a wall) and ask kids to throw something to hit that mark (chalk, small rubber ball, etc.)
Mark where different kids hit the board/ wall.
Highlight that while some are close or some are far, all have missed the mark.
Be Holy…As God is Holy
For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness Isaiah 61:10
Discussion
- Discuss and answer the following in your own words.
- What does “missing the mark” mean with respect to sin? Give examples (Rom 14:22,23)
- How do we prevent our spirits from getting darkened? (1 John 1:7)
- What is the difference between the “carnal” man/woman and the “spiritual” man/woman? (1 John 4:6)
References
- Content based on the Navigators’ LOAD (life of a disciple) series.
- Powerpoint presentation prepared by Swati Griffin Salins