Class Lesson August 8, 2021

 

Question 1:

When have you seen a community

really focused on prayer?

THE POINT

Serve those around you

through consistent prayer.

THE BIBLE MEETS LIFE

In 1984, 18-year-old Thomas Haynesworth was on an errand to buy food for his mother. While running this errand, a victim of a recent sexual assault saw him and mistakenly identified him as her attacker. Thomas was wrongly convicted and spent the next 27 years of his life behind bars. Then, lawyers at The Innocence Project intervened, using DNA testing to get his conviction overturned. On December 6, 2011, he was fully exonerated of all charges.1

Haynesworth is just one of many wrongly convicted prisoners now freed due to the work of The Innocence Project, started by lawyers Barry Scheck and Peter Neufeld in 1992. They believed if DNA technology could prove that people were guilty of crimes, it could exonerate the innocent as well. Their desire to intercede for those who cannot help themselves has grown into an international movement that has freed hundreds.2

But you don’t have to be an attorney to plead someone’s case. Elijah’s intervention on behalf of the widow at Zarephath proves we can change others’ lives simply by praying.

WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY?

1 Kings 17:17-18

17 Some time later the son of the woman who owned the house became ill. He grew worse and worse, and finally stopped breathing. 18 She said to Elijah, “What do you have against me, man of God? Did you come to remind me of my sin and kill my son?” 

Just when it seemed things were returning to normal, life came crashing down again for the widow of Zarapeth. Her son became sick—extremely sick. And then she experienced that horrific moment when her son stopped breathing, and life left his body. I know the sheer terror of this feeling. In 2013, my husband and I received a phone call from the hospital. “Your son . . . Code Blue . . . found unresponsive . . . come immediately.” We watched, helpless, as doctors and nurses worked on his lifeless body, assessing his vitals and searching for brain activity. Such moments raise myriad unanswerable questions. Why? Why my child? Why now?

In her shock and despair, the widow turned on Elijah. She asked similar questions: “What do you have against me, man of God? Did you come to remind me of my sin and kill my son?”

Question 2:

What do we learn about the widow

from her question to Elijah?

She wondered if her son’s death was the result of her own sin and if Elijah had been sent to bring her punishment. People in ancient times commonly viewed sickness as God’s punishment for sin (John 9:1-2). Yet Elijah had already spared her son from death once by miraculously extending their food resources. The more pertinent question would have been: Why did God bring my son through the last crisis only to let him die of another?

Not even the wisest believers have an easy answer for much of the suffering we endure. Even Elijah questioned God at this turn of events (1 Kings 17:20). The “why” of suffering is not always clear. C. S. Lewis wrote, “God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: It is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.”3 We may not know the reasons why, but suffering shouts for us to look to God.

Similarly, God had something to say to the widow at Zarephath. He wanted to show her something about Himself. She would soon learn to know God as her deliverer. Her deepest suffering was an opportunity to trust God and witness His power. When it seems all is lost, we are perfectly positioned to turn to God and discover He is the answer to the questions that have no other answer.

1 Kings 17:19-21

19 “Give me your son,” Elijah replied. He took him from her arms, carried him to the upper room where he was staying, and laid him on his bed. 20 Then he cried out to the Lord, “Lord my God, have you brought tragedy even on this widow I am staying with, by causing her son to die?” 21 Then he stretched himself out on the boy three times and cried out to the Lord, “Lord my God, let this boy’s life return to him!” 

We can always find reasons to stay out of other people’s problems. Sometimes people take advantage of us. Sometimes we just don’t have the resources to fix what’s broken. Their problems may seem too big, or their troubles too deep. Quite often, we have enough problems of our own. Elijah certainly did. He had angered Ahab and Jezebel, and had surely troubled a lot of his neighbors, by bringing drought. In spite of all he was facing, Elijah stepped into the widow’s suffering and joined her in her pain. While he could do nothing in his own power to restore her loss, Elijah knew the God who does the impossible (Luke 1:37), so the prophet took it up with Him. I love Elijah’s honesty and humility in this moment. Although the widow had just accused him of bringing this trouble, he didn’t try to defend himself. He didn’t pretend to know the answer to her questions. Elijah simply took the widow’s problem and made it his own. He carried the lifeless boy to his room and laid him on his own bed. He got involved in the messiness of the widow’s troubled life. And then Elijah did the only thing he knew to do under the circumstances. He prayed.

Elijah’s prayer is a picture of real faith. Real faith doesn’t presume to know why God does what He does or why He allows what He allows. Real faith asks the hard questions. It voices the doubts and anguish we feel. Yet, despite the questions, doubts, and hurt, real faith keeps coming back to God. It trusts that, whatever happens, He is all loving and all powerful; it trusts that God is the answer to our every need.

PRAYER PLAN

Develop a prayer plan. Fill in the blanks and consider these important matters this week.

I would like to pray more consistently about____________.

_______________is a person I can pray more regularly for.

_______________is a time/place where I can take time to focus and pray.

The top 3 things I’d like to pray about this week are:

1.___________________________________

2.___________________________________

3.___________________________________

Write out and tape that list in a place where you will see it daily.

“I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers,

intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people.”

1 TIMOTHY 2:1

In crying out to God, Elijah spoke up for the widow. He raised the questions that plagued her. He pleaded for the help she needed. He demonstrated the only two things needed to be a great prayer warrior: compassion for someone in need and faith that God can help. Elijah is an example of an effective pray-er.

“The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. Elijah was a human being, even as we are. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops” (Jas. 5:16b-18).

“Elijah was a human being, even as we are.” He possessed no miraculous powers in himself. He had no greater authority with God than we do, but he believed God could do anything. And he dared to ask God for the impossible: “Lord my God, let this boy’s life return to him!”

Question 3:

When have you seen someone pray

courageously during a time of need?

1 Kings 17:22-24

22 The Lord heard Elijah’s cry, and the boy’s life returned to him, and he lived. 23 Elijah picked up the child and carried him down from the room into the house. He gave him to his mother and said, “Look, your son is alive!” 24 Then the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the Lord from your mouth is the truth.”

God is not a divine Santa who grants our every wish. God is not beholden to do our

bidding just because we ask, but He invites us to participate in helping others. He encourages us to intercede on their behalf. He responds to the prayers of His people.

Question 4:

What are the challenges and benefits of

praying boldly for others?

God still acts in response to the prayers of His people. Well I remember those days in the hospital with my son when we did not know if he would survive. Friends and family surrounded us with love and prayed with us for our child. When my son walked out of that hospital days later, it was a testimony to God’s work and the power of prayer. Seven years after, he is healthy and strong. His very presence is a continual reminder of God’s mercy and the compassion of friends, brought together in prayer.

I don’t imagine it was any goodness in my family or me that prompted God to act. Nor do I suppose our prayers were more persuasive than others. I don’t know why every prayer doesn’t receive the answer we seek. I don’t believe God spared my son just to end my suffering.

Often God’s “yes” is aimed at a higher purpose. Through His response to our prayer, He reveals something of His nature and fosters our faith. We see that when Elijah presented the widow with her revived child and declared, “Look, your son is alive!” Her first words were, “Now I know. . . .” At last she knew God is real, and Elijah was His spokesperson. It was not just her son who came to life. Faith also came to life in the widow through Elijah’s answered prayer. Living in a culture of Baal worshipers, the widow awakened to the truth. Yahweh alone is the true and faithful God!

Perhaps more people around us would come to faith if we, like Elijah, dared to ask God for the impossible. When we pray, God responds, and when God responds, it points to Him.

Question 5:

How have our group’s prayers helped you in

your walk with Christ?

LIVE IT OUT

How will you step into the lives of others by praying for them?

Choose one of the following applications:

Pray. Pray right now for someone you know who is in need physically or spiritually. Trust God to answer. 

Journal. Begin a prayer journal to list the needs of others. Use it in your daily quiet time and update it with answers God provides.

Pray with Others. Start a prayer group at your church, work, or with your neighbors. Invite others to pray with you for needs in your community and around the world.

The Innocence Project has interceded for innocent prisoners who served a combined total of over five thousand years in prison. Lives have been restored and families have been reunited. When we intercede for others in prayer, we can likewise join with God in restoring lives and leading people to Christ.

Teacher's Notes:

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through Prayer:      Passage: 1 Kings 17:17-24    (Intercessory Prayer)

Elijah’s intervention this morning on behalf of the widow at Zarephath teaches us that – we can change others’ lives simply by praying.

At one point or another everyone faces disappointments, obstacles, and circumstances that seem impossible to overcome. Whether it’s a struggling marriage, health crisis, financial loss, wounds from our past, or something else altogether, life’s struggles leave us desperate for a breakthrough. God sees you, He hears you, and He is ready to respond. But breakthroughs don’t happen spontaneously, they happen when you seek them. And the way you seek them is through prayer.

 

The Setting: After the prophet’s bold proclamation before King Ahab, God dramatically changed the trajectory of Elijah’s ministry. Instead of public ministry in Samaria, God sent him into the wilderness, then into the very land of Jezebel where he ministered to a widow and her son. Instead of the widow’s preparing a last meal, God miraculously provided food—and life. So, Elijah stays with the widow and her son, giving them the opportunity to feed on the truth of God.

1 Kings 17:17-18

17 Some time later the son of the woman who owned the house became ill. He grew worse and worse, and finally stopped breathing. 18 She said to Elijah, “What do you have against me, man of God? Did you come to remind me of my sin and kill my son?”

 

The bible says even when God has done a miracle in our lives, our troubles may not be over. The famine was a terrible experience, but the worst was yet to come. God’s provision is never given in order to let us rest upon it. We need to depend on Him as each new trial faces us.

 

1.   Hardship is an opportunity to trust God.

·        Life, at times, seems unfair, with hardship after hardship falling upon us. Our response to those times becomes a reflection of our view of God. Rather than blame God for what is wrong, we must learn to trust God to do what is right. Taking measures to grow in our faith will prepare us for times of struggle.

 

What is your initial reaction to hardships or unwanted news?

What have you learned about trusting God when difficult news comes?

 

God had something to say to the widow at Zarephath. He wanted to show her something about Himself. She would soon learn to know God as her deliverer. Her deepest suffering was an opportunity to trust God and witness His power. When it seems all is lost, we are perfectly positioned to turn to God and discover He is the answer to the questions that have no other answer.

 

1 Kings 17:19-21

19 “Give me your son,” Elijah replied. He took him from her arms, carried him to the upper room where he was staying, and laid him on his bed. 20 Then he cried out to the Lord, “Lord my God, have you brought tragedy even on this widow I am staying with, by causing her son to die?” 21 Then he stretched himself out on the boy three times and cried out to the Lord, “Lord my God, let this boy’s life return to him!”

 

We can always find reasons to stay out of other people’s problems. Sometimes people take advantage of us. Sometimes we just don’t have the resources to fix what’s broken. Their problems may seem too big, or their troubles too deep. Quite often, we have enough problems of our own. Elijah certainly did. He had angered Ahab and Jezebel, and had surely troubled a lot of his neighbors, by bringing drought. In spite of all he was facing, Elijah stepped into the widow’s suffering and joined her in her pain. While he could do nothing in his own power to restore her loss, Elijah knew the God who does the impossible, so the prophet took it up with Him in prayer.

 

2.   Service to others includes interceding on their behalf.

·        Interceding for others is faith moving forward into the unknown even when we struggle with doubts or questions. We serve through prayer when we pray specifically to the Lord. We serve through prayer when we seek opportunities to intercede on behalf of others whose needs are great but whose faith is weak.

 

 

Elijah is an example of an effective pray-er. “The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. Elijah was a human being, even as we are. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. He possessed no miraculous powers in himself. He had no greater authority with God than we do, but he believed God could do anything. And he dared to ask God for the impossible: “Lord my God, let this boy’s life return to him!”

PRAYER PLAN

 

Develop a prayer plan. Fill in the blanks and consider these important matters this week.

 

 

I would like to pray more consistently about____________.

 

_______________is a person I can pray more regularly for.

 

_______________is a time/place where I can take time to focus and pray.

 

 

The top 3 things I’d like to pray about this week are:

 

1.___________________________________

 

2.___________________________________

 

3.___________________________________

 

 

Write out and tape that list in a place where you will see it daily.

 

 

“I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers,

intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people.”

1 TIMOTHY 2:1

 

1 Kings 17:22-24

22 The Lord heard Elijah’s cry, and the boy’s life returned to him, and he lived. 23 Elijah picked up the child and carried him down from the room into the house. He gave him to his mother and said, “Look, your son is alive!” 24 Then the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the Lord from your mouth is the truth.”

 

God is not a divine Santa Claus who grants our every wish. God is not beholden to do our bidding just because we ask, but He invites us to participate with Him in helping others. He encourages us to intercede on their behalf. And He moves to respond to the prayers of His people.

 

3.   God’s answers to our prayers can influence others to turn to Him.

·        God is attentive to the prayers of His people. God is the giver of life. God can work though our lives to accomplish His will and to bring others into a right relationship with Him.

 

Often God’s “yes” is aimed at a higher purpose. Through His response to our prayer, He reveals something of His nature and fosters our faith. We see that when Elijah presented the widow with her revived child and declared, “Look, your son is alive!” Her first words were, “Now I know. . . .” At last she knew God is real, and Elijah was His spokesperson. It was not just her son who came to life. Faith also came to life in the widow through Elijah’s answered prayer. Living in a culture of Baal worshipers, the widow awakened to the truth. Yahweh alone is the true and faithful God!

Perhaps more people around us would come to faith if we, like Elijah, dared to ask God for the impossible. When we pray, God responds, and when God responds, it points to Him.

Wrap It Up

To illustrate His point James cited the experience of the prophet Elijah. He “was a man subject to like passions as we are.” He had a nature like ours. He had his flaws and weaknesses but still his earnest praying was effective, for he prayed in faith, trusting the Lord. For that you and I can be grateful. God does not just hear and respond to the prayers of “super saints”; His ear is attentive to all who come before Him in righteousness. Therefore, let us pray.

 

The idea that power is inherent in prayer is a very popular one. According to the Bible, the power of prayer is, quite simply, the power of God, who hears and answers prayer.

 

The power of prayer does not flow from us; it is not special words we say or the special way we say them or even how often we say them. The power of prayer is not based on a certain direction we face or a certain position of our bodies. The power of prayer does not come from the use of artifacts or icons or candles or beads. The power of prayer comes from the omnipotent One who hears our prayers and answers them. Prayer places us in contact with Almighty God, and we should expect almighty results, whether or not He chooses to grant our petitions or deny our requests. Whatever the answer to our prayers, the God to whom we pray is the source of the power of prayer, and He can and will answer us, according to His perfect will and timing.

 

  

Have you discovered the power of prayer?

Prayer is a mighty weapon at the disposal of every man or woman who loves God, and knows His son Jesus Christ. I once heard prayer described as guided missile that can be launched from anywhere on the face of the planet at any target, and there is no defense against it. Satan can’t stop your prayers. The enemy would rather have you do anything else than pray. Prayer is a conversation with God in which you seek His face and His hand. Seeking God’s face is about a relationship with God, while seeking His hand is about seeing results in prayer. There is nothing like a consistent prayer life that will move your faith from the realm of a religion into a true relationship with Christ. Prayer also energizes the heart of a believer through the power of the Spirit.

 

Consistent prayer also releases the power of God’s blessing on your life and circumstances. Jesus said, “When you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret will reward you,” (Matthew 6:6). The person who develops a secret life of prayer with Christ is promised reward from the Father. A consistent rhythm of meeting with the Father in prayer brings blessing and favor upon the individual. If you don’t believe that yet, let me share another verse. In Hebrews, it says, “And without faith, it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him” (Hebrews 11:6). This is just one more verse that talks about God’s reward for the person who is seeking after him. Can you imagine what it would be like to have the reward of the Father in your life? That can be yours. You can have that as you learn to meet with Jesus through prayer in the secret place. As you learn to talk to the Lord, you will discover the blessing of the Lord.

 

Prayer will also result in God’s power to bring about change. James said, “The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective” (James 5:16). Have you ever taken a magnifying glass and used it harness the sun’s power? I remember as a kid burning holes in a leaf with a magnifying glass. You could somehow harness the sun rays and focus them on one little place on the planet, and cause a leaf to burn. Prayer is like that magnifying glass. It allows the believer to harness all the power of Christ and focus His mighty power upon one place, person, or circumstance on the planet. This is the awesome power of prayer that we so often neglect. A consistent life of prayer will set a spiritual fire around you.

 

Without prayer, you will not fully receive all that God has provided for you. God has set up his Kingdom in a way that we must consistently come to Him in a relationship, seek Him personally, and ask Him to be at work in us and our circumstances. The Lord wants us to continually invite Him into our lives, surrender to Him, and to seek His power. James said, “You do not have because you do not ask God” (James 4:2). I am fully convinced that the Lord has blessings for you and your life that He has chosen to withhold from you until you come to Him in prayer. He is not going to give all that He has for you unless you really connect with Him in a relationship. And that’s the Word.

Class Lesson for August 1, 2021

 

Question 1:

Who would you trust to lead you

through difficulty or danger?

THE POINT

Service to God should be

fueled by trust in Him.

THE BIBLE MEETS LIFE

On June 30, 1859, tightrope walker Charles Blondin astonished the world when he walked just over a thousand feet across Niagara Falls on a cable about three inches thick. The cable sagged about sixty feet in the middle, forming a sharp slope, and the drop was nearly two hundred feet.

After that first daring walk across Niagara Falls, Blondin would perform the feat many more times, always escalating the risk and amazing the crowds. Later, he would cross blindfolded, on stilts, and even wearing a gorilla suit and pushing a wheelbarrow. 

Blondin’s enthralled audiences responded with wild applause. But when he asked for a volunteer to ride on his back while he crossed the falls, they were less than eager. The crowds believed he could do it, but no one believed it enough to climb on his back. Only his manager trusted in Blondin enough to accept his challenge. That is real trust.1

Elijah similarly demonstrated real trust in serving God. He didn’t just talk about what God could do. He built his life on it and showed others how to do the same.

WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY?

1 Kings 17:7-12

7 Some time later the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land. 8 Then the word of the Lord came to him: 9 “Go at once to Zarephath in the region of Sidon and stay there. I have directed a widow there to supply you with food.” 10 So he went to Zarephath. When he came to the town gate, a widow was there gathering sticks. He called to her and asked, “Would you bring me a little water in a jar so I may have a drink?” 11 As she was going to get it, he called, “And bring me, please, a piece of bread.” 12 “As surely as the Lord your God lives,” she replied, “I don’t have any bread—only a handful of flour in a jar and a little olive oil in a jug. I am gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son, that we may eat it—and die.”

Instructions don’t always make sense. What do you do when those instructions come from God? That’s the dilemma Elijah faced while in hiding by the Kerith Ravine, where God had been feeding him (1 Kings 17:2-6).

Elijah was out to prove Yahweh was the One, true God. The prophet had declared God would stop the rain indefinitely, proving He alone had such power. But this prophecy put Elijah in grave danger from Ahab and Jezebel, the nation’s rulers who worshiped Baal. So God had led Elijah into hiding at the Kerith Ravine. Water flowing from this brook and food brought by ravens sustained Elijah.

After some time, even the wadi dried up. A wadi is a rocky watercourse that runs dry most of the year but fills during the rainy season. As time went on without rain, the stream stopped flowing. But why? Surely the God who miraculously stopped the rain and sent ravens with food could keep a wadi filled, even during a drought. God cared about Elijah. And God certainly has the power to do all things, so why did He allow the life sustaining wadi to run dry?

Question 2:

What helps you trust God’s guidance

when it doesn’t seem to make sense?

When God is our Provider, we will always have what we need. The nature of the provision may change, but He Himself is our Source. Sometimes what God permits us to lose or endure points us to the truth that He is all we really need (2 Cor. 12:7-10). It is a matter of learning to trust in Him and not in the things He provides.

Trust comes easily when God’s leading makes sense, but that’s not always the case. When the Kerith Ravine dried up, God directed Elijah to go to Zarephath. Strange guidance because Zarephath was in Phoenicia, Jezebel’s home and the center of Baal worship in that region. Furthermore, God promised to support Elijah on the income of a widow living there. That sounded improbable because widows in that agricultural society typically lived in abject poverty. Yet that was where God sent Elijah, and Elijah trusted God enough to go.

Arriving at the city gate, Elijah met the widow as she was gathering wood. When he asked her for water and food, it only seemed to reinforce that this seemed like an outrageous plan since the widow was preparing to make her final meal with her last flour and oil. With the pantry bare, she had reconciled herself to the idea she and her son would soon starve to death. Other people might have turned around and walked out the door thinking, “If I’m going to make it, I’ll have to provide for myself.” But Elijah trusted God enough to follow through with His “absurd” plan.

1 Kings 17:13-14

13 Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid. Go home and do as you have said. But first make a small loaf of bread for me from what you have and bring it to me, and then make something for yourself and your son. 14 For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the Lord sends rain on the land.’”

When our routines are upset and provisions are in question, we have a new opportunity to trust God and lead others to trust Him too. That’s exactly what Elijah did in his situation.

The widow had nothing to offer Elijah and no prospects of getting more. She had lost hope and given up. Elijah might have joined in her despair. After all, he also had nothing for sustenance and no “check in the mail.” The difference was Elijah had learned from experience that his God always provided. Elijah didn’t have to see God’s promises with his eyes to claim them by faith.

Elijah responded to the widow with the words God speaks to us time and again throughout Scripture, “Don’t be afraid” (v. 13). He allowed God to speak through him to comfort and encourage the widow in that moment. The widow was focused on her lack. “I don’t have any bread—only a handful of flour in a jar and a little olive oil in a jug” (1 Kings 17:12). Elijah challenged her to see what God could do with what she placed in His hands.

Elijah’s actions compare with those of Jesus when He instructed His disciples to feed the five thousand. They responded like the widow, “We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish” (Matt. 14:17, emphasis added). But Jesus challenged them to offer their meager resources to God and see Him do what only He can accomplish. By directing the widow to feed him before feeding her son and herself, Elijah invited her to believe God’s promise.

Just as Elijah had predicted the drought, he prophesied continuing provision for the widow as if he had already seen it happen. With his ear tuned closely to God’s voice, Elijah spoke aloud with confidence what God had impressed on him in secret. His example serves as a model for us. Will we hold fast to faith when hope seems lost? Will we share our faith and invite others to trust with us in the God who never forsakes His own?

Question 3:

What provisions of God in the past have

encouraged you to trust Him in the present?

1 Kings 17:15-16

15 She went away and did as Elijah had told her. So there was food every day for Elijah and for the woman and her family. 16 For the jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry, in keeping with the word of the Lord spoken by Elijah.

We can trust based on how God worked in biblical times, and our faith can grow when we hear what God has done for others today. But nothing is like the confidence we possess when we take Him at His word and see His power for ourselves. We must personally trust His faithfulness and His provision. We must trust His promises and see God move mountains and resurrect what was dead.

That’s what happened when the widow in Zarephath did what God’s prophet told her to do. Rather than playing it safe and holding onto the little she had, she let it go. Ignoring reason, she used her last resources to feed Elijah. By trusting God, she opened the door for Him to prove Himself. As a result, the widow, her household, and Elijah all ate for many days. God miraculously multiplied what she trusted to Him, and He provided for her throughout the three-and-a-half-year drought (Luke 4:25). God demonstrated His sovereignty even in Zarephath, a Phoenician town where people believed Baal reigned.

Question 4:

How is trust in God developed

and strengthened?

Our willingness to trust God and act in faith gives Him the opportunity to display His power. In the modern world, no one better modeled how to trust, try, and prove God than George Müller of nineteenth-century Bristol, England. Müller famously founded orphanages and trusted God to provide miraculously for the children under his care. In his autobiography, he wrote, “I want to show these people that God is faithful and can be trusted without reservation . . . by giving my brothers visible proof of the unchangeable faithfulness of the Lord, I might strengthen their faith . . . This is the primary reason for establishing the orphan house . . . that God would be magnified because the orphans under my care will be provided with all they need through prayer and faith.”2 Müller’s daring faith challenges us still today: How will we trust, try, and prove God? And how will others see God’s faithfulness proven as a result?

Question 5:

How has God used others to

strengthen your trust in Him?

TRUST AND OBEY

One of the great hymns of the faith is “Trust and Obey.” Under the headings below, write several phrases from today’s text that link trust in God with obedience to God. Then write several phrases that show areas you have trusted and obeyed God this week.

From the Text

Trusting God:                                           Obeying God:

From Your Life

Trusting God:                                           Obeying God:

“Jesus, Jesus, how I trust him!

How I’ve proved him o’er and o’er!”

LOUIS ASTEAD

LIVE IT OUT

How will you express your trust in God? Choose one of the following applications:

Trust. Identify one thing God has told you to do that doesn’t seem logical. Do it anyway.                                                                                                                                                                         

Encourage. Name someone struggling with a crisis. Share with this person your hope in Christ. Tell him or her how God has brought you through trouble and pray with the person.                                                                                                                                                                              

Give. Give an “outrageous” gift to your church or someone in need. Trust God to replenish what you need.

Few of us will ever draw as much attention from others as someone tightrope walking across Niagara Falls. But we can point to our Provider by telling what He has done in our lives and have an even greater impact—in ways that matter or eternity.

Teacher's Notes:

Serve with Trust       Passage: 1 Kings 17:7-16

Video: Indiana Jones – Leap of Faith

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Have you ever really had a “Leap of Faith” moment?

How do we trust God outside our comfort zones?

Trust plays a large role in our lives. We trust our alarm clocks will go off at the right time. We trust the food we eat for breakfast was made properly and is safe to eat. We trust our vehicle is safe to drive. But people and things can fail. Trusting God outside our comfort zones is a literal walk we all must have with God. We all have been at a place called "There." It's a place of not knowing what you are going to eat, how your bills will be paid, or even where you are going to live. God used an unusual source to feed Elijah last week–a raven and this week He uses a widow. Similarly, Scripture tells us in Matthew 6:26 that if we look at the birds in the air they don't sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet our heavenly Father feeds them. Just like birds, we are not to worry! We may lose our family members, friends, or even a job. We can lose everything we have, but it's important for us not to lose our faith! At times, our faith is all we have! At times it requires a leap outside of our comfort zone.

 

 

What was last week’s setting? Elijah’s story continues. Consider what has happened. The prophet Elijah burst on the scene to confront the problem of Baal worship that King Ahab and his queen, the evil Jezebel, had introduced into Israel. Elijah declared that a drought would cover the region. This would be a demonstration of the power of the Lord God over Baal, the regional god of rain and vegetation. The Lord controls life and death, fertility and infertility. Obviously, Ahab did not delight in hearing such a proclamation. Though not explicitly described, Elijah apparently was in danger, so the Lord instructed him to retreat to the Jordan River area. That area also was affected by the drought, but God provided for Elijah in the form of water in a brook and an ample supply of food delivered by ravens every morning and evening. Elijah was sustained in a place of safety by the miraculous work of the Lord. Eventually, the brook dried up but God’s care and provision did not.

 

 

1 Kings 17:7-12

Some time later the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land. Then the word of the Lord came to him: “Go at once to Zarephath in the region of Sidon and stay there. I have directed a widow there to supply you with food.” So he went to Zarephath. When he came to the town gate, a widow was there gathering sticks. He called to her and asked, “Would you bring me a little water in a jar so I may have a drink?” As she was going to get it, he called, “And bring me, please, a piece of bread.”  “As surely as the Lord your God lives,” she replied, “I don’t have any bread—only a handful of flour in a jar and a little olive oil in a jug. I am gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son, that we may eat it—and die.”

 

 

1.   Follow God’s directions.

• During the good times and the bad times, the Lord takes care of His people and directs their path.
• The blessing of the Lord is found on the path of obedience.
• The word of the Lord is sure, even when it doesn’t appear so from a human perspective.
• God can use the little and the least to accomplish His purpose when the little and the least are entrusted to Him.

 

When has God provided for you through unlikely means?

 

We pick up in 1 Kings 17 where Elijah has been depending on God. However, we are about to see that the way he once depended on God was about to shift. But God did not just change gears without first giving Elijah instructions on where his next supply would come from. Often times we miss our next instructions from God because we are so caught up on handling the change or shift from God. Elijah, on the other hand, saw how God provided for him and understood that the brook running dry was a sign of the promise of the drought to come. That is how Elijah knew he was in God 's care. We must focus on the promises of God instead of the circumstances of our situation.

As we already know, Elijah walked in boldness, and there is a lot to be said about that. Most believers are too timid to pray in front of others let alone openly share the gospel. How can one begin to think that God will move for them, when they won't move for Him? Elijah did not hesitate to get up from where he was in order to venture to his new destination that was appointed by God. Then once he arrived there, he walked in the obedience and authority of God to make a request. See this is where God wants us, so that He can use us to serve Him. However, I am curious. How many believers would have tried to find another way instead of humbling themselves? See, when God says move, we should move right then without hesitation. I always compare it to the scenario of "if you received a phone call saying that you inherited $100 million, but you had to stop what you're doing right then to receive it, what would you do?" Many would instantly drop what they were doing. But, when it comes to God, we wait and contemplate. When God is actually worth far more than $100 million. We must move for God in the fashion that we want Him to move for us.

 

Elijah was out to prove Yahweh was the One, true God. The prophet had declared God would stop the rain indefinitely, proving He alone had such power. But this prophecy put Elijah in grave danger from Ahab and Jezebel, the nation’s rulers who worshiped Baal. So, God had led Elijah into hiding at the Kerith Ravine. Water flowing from this brook and food brought by ravens sustained Elijah.

 

What helps you trust God’s guidance when it doesn’t seem to make sense? - Leap of Faith

 

Trust comes easily when God’s leading makes sense, but that’s not always the case. When the Kerith Ravine dried up, God directed Elijah to go to Zarephath. Strange guidance because Zarephath was in Phoenicia, Jezebel’s home and the center of Baal worship in that region. Furthermore, God promised to support Elijah on the income of a widow living there. That sounded improbable because widows in that agricultural society typically lived in abject poverty. Yet that was where God sent Elijah, and Elijah trusted God enough to go.

 

1 Kings 17:13-14

Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid. Go home and do as you have said. But first make a small loaf of bread for me from what you have and bring it to me, and then make something for yourself and your son. For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the Lord sends rain on the land.’”

 

2.   Encourage others to join you.

• The promises of the Lord are true because He is true.
• A faith response is one in which we act upon a conviction that what God makes known is true.
• God supplies from the riches of His power and grace to give what we need to live.
• Because of our own experiences with the Lord, we who believe are well-equipped to encourage others to trust Him too.

 

What are some opportunities you’ve had to trust God and lead others to do the same?

Here we find the greatest level of obedience, which is sacrifice. We are already familiar with the text in 1 Samuel 15:22 when Samuel asks, “Does the LORD take pleasure in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the LORD? To obey is better than sacrifice.” We find here that Elijah wanted the widow to be obedient in her sacrifice. How often do we hold back from what God has told us to do, or to give out of fear of being left "empty handed"? The other point in this is that the widow was so distraught that the only thing she could see is death. Elijah probably thought God sent him there to save his life, but he was actually sent there to save hers and her son's life.

Now, this last part always amazes me. See, this is the part where God was creating a famine and drought in other places, but God was granting surplus here. We have often heard the phrase "You can't see the forest for the trees," but here we find that this woman could not see the bread for the flour mill; she only saw what she didn't have.

However, God 's provision was more than enough because of Elijah and her obedience. Let's just think, what would have happened had Elijah not followed God? I'm glad that he wasn't the only one that followed God in what appeared to be dark times. Christ also pushed through the dark times to save us and give us life everlasting. See Christ’s Garden of Gethsemane moment was a time of challenge and sacrifice in obedience.  

When our routines are in upheaval and our provision is in question, we have a new opportunity to trust God and lead others to trust Him too. That’s exactly what Elijah did in his situation.

The widow had nothing to offer Elijah and no prospects of getting more. She had lost hope and given up. Elijah might have joined in her despair. After all, he also had nothing for sustenance and no “check in the mail.” The difference was Elijah had learned from experience that his God always provided. Elijah didn’t have to see God’s promises with his eyes to claim them by faith.

Elijah’s actions compare with those of Jesus when He instructed His disciples to feed the five thousand. They responded like the widow, “We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish” (Matt. 14:17, emphasis added). But Jesus challenged them to offer their meager resources to God and see Him do what only He can accomplish. By directing the widow to feed him before feeding her son and herself, Elijah invited her to believe God’s promise.

Just as Elijah had predicted the drought, he prophesied continuing provision for the widow as if he had already seen it happen. With his ear tuned closely to God’s voice, Elijah spoke aloud with confidence what God had impressed on him in secret. His example serves as a model for us. Will we hold fast to faith when hope seems lost? Will we share our faith and invite others to trust with us in the God who never forsakes His own?

 

1 Kings 17:15-16

She went away and did as Elijah had told her. So there was food every day for Elijah and for the woman and her family. For the jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry, in keeping with the word of the Lord spoken by Elijah.

 

3.   See God’s work.

• Our willingness to obey the Lord allows us to know the benefits of His work in our midst.
• The Lord will provide what we need; His provision is always sufficient.
• Look for God at work all around you. Trust Him to be faithful.
• Rejoice that the Lord desires to use you to declare His word and to encourage others to trust and obey Him.

 

What lessons about trust do we learn from Elijah and from the widow?

 

Make the comparison of this Gentile woman and the one Jesus ministered to in the New Testament.

We can trust based on how God worked in biblical times, and our faith can grow when we hear what God has done for others today. But nothing is like the confidence we possess when we take Him at His word and see His power for ourselves. We must personally trust His faithfulness and His provision.

Our willingness to trust God and act in faith gives Him the opportunity to display His power. In the modern world, no one better modeled how to trust, try, and prove God than George Müller of nineteenth-century Bristol, England.

Müller famously founded orphanages and trusted God to provide miraculously for the children under his care. In his autobiography, he wrote, “I want to show these people that God is faithful and can be trusted without reservation . . . by giving my brothers visible proof of the unchangeable faithfulness of the Lord, I might strengthen their faith . . . This is the primary reason for establishing the orphan house . . . that God would be magnified because the orphans under my care will be provided with all they need through prayer and faith.”6 Müller’s daring faith challenges us still today: How will we trust, try, and prove God? And how will others see God’s faithfulness proven as a result?

 

The Point for this session: Service to God should be fueled by trust in Him.

 

LIVE IT OUT

Trust. Identify one thing God has told you to do that doesn’t seem logical. Do it anyway.

Encourage. Name someone struggling with a crisis. Share with this person your hope in Christ. Tell them how God has brought you through trouble and pray with the person.

Give. Give an “outrageous” gift to your church or someone in need. Trust God to replenish what you need.

  

Live It Out - Hobbs

If, as some say, the difficult places of life are God’s training ground, many people who lived through 2020 may think themselves to be trained to the max for anything! Think of all we went through as a nation and a people.

• Areas of the country were ravaged by forest fires that raged for weeks, burning thousands of acres and homes. Deadly “inland hurricanes,” blasted though the Midwest US, destroying crops and ruining the farming season. Multiple hurricanes tore through the Gulf Coast, some areas being hit several times during the year.
• A sweeping Covid-19 pandemic brought not only uncertainty, sickness, and death but also divided a nation into camps of those who considered it a real danger and those who wondered if the media were overblowing it.
• Racial tensions boiled over because of violent deaths on the streets of our cities.
• And add to all this the question of a presidential election.
• And look at all that has occurred in 2021? Some days we couldn’t help but wonder, Can anything or anyone be trusted? Is there any source of stability and hope for a troubled world?

 

Conclusion: At times our obedience may not make sense to us; however, we have to place our faith and trust in our Maker, our Lord and Savior. Throughout our lives we may go through a drought from time-to-time. The droughts of our lives may be in the form of sickness, death, or even a relationship that leaves us broken. When we are going through a drought, remember that in John 4:14, if we drink from the water that Christ offers, we will never thirst again. We have to stand on the promises of God. God will always provide. In Romans 8:28, “We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.” Elijah was called and God provided for him using unusual sources. His obedience and faith carried him. We have to walk in obedience and have the same kind of faith that Elijah had.

A Leap of Faith

The book of Hebrews is an excellent place to find answers to our questions about faith. Chapter 11 begins with this short definition of faith: “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see” (Hebrews 11:1).

What, then, is a leap of faith? The term leap of faith is not found in the Bible. It is a common idiom, though. Usually, to take a leap of faith means “to believe in something with no evidence for it” or “to attempt an endeavor that has little chance of success.” Leap of faith actually originated in a religious context. Søren Kierkegaard coined the expression as a metaphor for belief in God. He argued that truth cannot be found by observation alone but must be understood in the mind and heart apart from empirical evidence. Since we cannot observe God with our eyes, we must have faith that He is there. We jump from material concepts to the immaterial with a “leap of faith.”

 

Continuing in Hebrews chapter 11, we find an impressive list of men and women in the Bible who took a “leap of faith,” as it were. These are just a few of the people mentioned who took God at His Word and trusted Him to do what He had promised:

• By faith, Noah obeyed God and built an ark to save his family from the flood (Genesis 6:9 – 7:24).
• By faith, Abraham prepared to sacrifice his son, believing God would provide a lamb (Genesis 22:1–19).
• By faith, Moses chose to side with the Hebrews rather than stay in the Egyptian palace (Exodus 2 – 4).
• By faith, Rahab risked her life and sheltered enemy spies in her home (Joshua 2:1–24).

 

Throughout the rest of Scripture, the stories of the faithful continue.

 

• By faith, David confronted a giant with only a sling and a stone (1 Samuel 17).
• By faith, Peter stepped out of the boat when Jesus invited him to come (Matthew 14:22–33). The accounts go on and on, each story helping us to understand the biblical meaning of a leap of faith.

 

Exercising faith in God often requires taking a risk. Second Corinthians 5:7 tells us, “For we live by faith, not by sight.” But a biblical step of faith is not a “blind” leap. Our faith is backed by assurance and certainty. Faith is soundly supported by God’s promises in His Word. A leap of faith is not an irrational impulse that causes us to jump out into the great unknown without any foresight. According to the Word of God, believers are to seek counsel from godly leaders (Proverbs 11:14; 15:22; 24:6). Also, Christians are to acquire wisdom and direction from God’s Word (Psalm 119:105, 130).

 

The stories in the Bible exist for a reason. Our trust and faith grow stronger as we read these accounts of God’s powerful deliverance and rescue in times of need. God miraculously delivered Joseph from slavery and placed him in charge over all of Egypt. God transformed Gideon from a coward to a courageous warrior. These Bible characters took leaps of faith because they trusted in the God who was powerful enough to rescue them, hold them up, and not let them fall (see Jude 1:24).

 

Putting our faith into action may feel like a scary leap, but that is part of the testing and proving of our faith: “In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls (1 Peter 1:6–9; See Hebrews 11:17 also).

 

Stepping out in faith requires trusting God to do what He has already promised in His Word, even though we may not see the fulfillment of His promise yet. Genuine faith, belief, and trust will move us to action.

 

A leap of faith might mean leaving the safety of your comfort zone. Peter abandoned his safety and comfort when he jumped out of the boat to walk on water to Jesus. He could take that leap of faith because he knew his Lord and trusted that He was good: “The LORD is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made” (Psalm 145:9). When Jesus said, “Come,” Peter exercised childlike faith, the type of faith we are all called to possess: “But Jesus called the children to him and said, ‘Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these’” (Luke 18:16).

 

When we demonstrate authentic trust in God, we know that our “leap of faith” is actually a leap into His all-powerful and loving arms. He delights in our trust and rewards those who earnestly pursue Him: “Without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him” (Hebrews 11:6).