Bible study for couples for prayer8/9/2023 ![]() Many of us are experts at identifying and even debating about what the Scripture says and means while avoiding its implications. ![]() Understanding a passage is often easier than seeing the connection with what is happening in our lives. Pray that God would give insights on how to lead those they teach in connecting the Scripture to the life challenges you face. This requires both discernment and creativity, so pray that God will help them have both and be able to help others clearly understand the message of the Scripture.ĥ. It takes insight to understand how to help others see the meaning and significance of what a passage says. It is one thing to gain insights through the study of Scripture, and another to know how to pass them along in meaningful ways to others. Pray that God would help them understand how to make the meaning of the Scripture clear. Pray that your teachers will grow to know those they teach well, so God can use them more effectively.Ĥ. This helps them understand which aspects of the Scripture will be most important to understand, where hope needs to be offered, where correction or rebuke is needed, where encouragement in the light of hard truths is critical. Understanding the Scriptures is an important beginning, but to teach well, they must also understand and empathize with those they teach. Pray that God would help them understand the circumstances and needs of those they teach. Pray that your teachers will learn and grow from study of the Scripture, for from this will flow deeper teaching.ģ. In Ezra 7:10 it says, “Ezra had set his heart to study the Law of the LORD, and to do it and to teach his statues and rules in Israel.” God wants to teach your teachers first before they begin to teach others. God has not called your pastor or teachers to dispense truth at arms length, but to take it in and allow God to teach them first before they try to teach others. Pray that they would be open to God’s teaching and correction in their own lives. Pray that your teachers will experience this.Ģ. We don’t just read about God, we meet God as we open ourselves to his inspired Word. It is also a matter of reading and receiving the Word as if God were present with us, speaking his Word to us fresh. Preparing to teach the Bible is not just a matter of exegetical accuracy, as important as that is. ![]() Pray that God would meet them in their study of the Scriptures. Praying for Those Who Preach and Teach God’s Word:ġ. Given the importance of these ministries of the Word, we who benefit from them should be praying for our pastors and teachers, all those who serve God’s people the “bread of life.” But how can we pray best for those who teach us? Let me offer seven suggestions that every pastor and teacher would welcome: It is here, naked and exposed to God in the light of his Word, that hope comes for our transformation from unfaithful to faithful disciples. ![]() Hebrews 4:12-13 reminds us that God’s Word is living and active, able to pierce through our protective outer selves and show us our thoughts and the intentions of our hearts. These ministries, carried out by gifted and called members of your congregation, multiply the ministry of the Word, providing a context for the Holy Spirit to work in transforming us. I believe it also applies to others who take on teaching roles in other specialized ministries, such as Bible study leaders, Sunday school teachers, youth group leaders. Included in that list of called-out ones are shepherds (pastors) and teachers, or “shepherd-teachers.” This passage clearly applies to those God calls to the pastoral/elder roles in our congregations. In Ephesians 4:11-12, Paul writes that God has given to his church those whose ministries are to equip us for “the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ” (ESV). This is one of the most powerful agents for change in our lives. From children’s classes to youth group settings, to small group ministries, throughout the week God’s Word is opened and studied in churches around the world. Who has God brought into your life to teach you the Bible and help you grow in your faithfulness in following after Christ? Is it your pastor? Are there also others who have taught you the Scriptures, or who are teaching your friends or family members? In most churches, the Bible is being taught in a variety of places to different groups of different ages and stages of life. ![]()
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