Lesson Five Discussion Guide for Group/Individual Use (click more)
Opening Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank you for this time you have provided for us to come together to hear from you and have fellowship in your Word and to learn and apply your Word to our hearts. We need you, Lord. We need your grace all the time. We praise you for your goodness and your love and mercy. Please open our hearts to you and to one another and lead our discussion. Help us not to fear, but to put all of our hope in Christ. Help us to remember there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. May you be glorified in all our thoughts and words and deeds. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
I. LECTURE
Will someone share how the Lord used the lecture to speak to your heart? Did anyone have any questions or concerns about the lecture? If you ever have a question or something is unclear, please let us know. We want to serve you in any way we can!
II. PLEASE READ THE MAIN POINT FROM THIS WEEK’S HOMEWORK
Jesus calls us to come to Him by faith, die to our sinful selves, and receive His righteous life. Once we have made that great exchange, how do we continue on in a pursuit of holiness? How do we seek to be filled with Him and be emptied of self? We must continue to feast upon Him, to eat of the flesh of the son of God and drink His blood through humble, faith-filled and diligent study of the Bible, prayer, and fasting. We are focusing on fasting to discover what lies within our hearts that is not of God and to root them out.
When we fast we are doing what only we can do as we ask God to do what only He can do. We are bowing before Him and asking Him to open our ears to hear Him and our eyes to see our sin as He sees our sin. We are appealing to Him to have mercy on us and to grant us hearts that are truly satisfied in Him and in Him alone. As you fast, always keep before you that it is all about Him, for Him, and from Him. We can’t do anything to change our hearts – only God can.
III. QUESTIONS FROM THE HOMEWORK
Go through the homework, occasionally calling on women. Read scriptures aloud. After asking a question, remember to allow a brief period of quiet “wait-time” to give women a chance to think before answering. After pausing, if no one shares, go ahead with your answer, rephrase question, and/or move on.
DAY ONE
1. Read Philippians 3:8. How much do you desire God? How much do you desire to see a work of God in your heart? How much do you believe that He is the only thing that truly satisfies? How much do you believe that only He can accomplish anything of eternal value?
DAY TWO
2. Which verses from Psalm 139 have spoken the most deeply to your heart?
DAY THREE
3. Read Daniel 9:3 and Psalm 63:1. In hungering after holiness and seeking the Lord, have you been looking up scriptures that speak to your heart regarding your sin? Have you found any? How are you responding to what the Lord has shown you?
DAY FOUR
4. Read James 4:6-8. Have you asked the Lord to help you fully submit to Him and draw near to Him? What is holding you back from fully submitting to Him?
5. How are you doing fixing your eyes upon Jesus and meditating on your verses? Are you able to take every thought captive and fast from your old ways of thinking? Why or why not?
DAY FIVE
6. Read Luke 9:23-25. Will someone vulnerably share the list of things you don’t want to “die” to? What do you need to die to? What will it cost?
7. What do you feel in your heart when the Lord asks you to pick up your cross, die to self, and lose your life?
IV. PLEASE RECITE YOUR SCRIPTURE MEMORY VERSES TOGETHER
V. TAKING THE TRUTH TO HEART TIME
We will now focus on taking God’s truth to our hearts and bringing it to life. James 5:16a states; “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.” And 1 Peter 2:24 says, “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.”
Please turn to the Taking the Truth to Heart and Bringing it to Life page on Day Six. We will each have 3 minutes so that everyone will have a chance to share. Please record one another’s confessions on the Taking the Truth to Heart Guide on the following page so that you can pray for each other throughout the week. Leaders, please set the example by going first.
VI. PLEASE CLOSE IN PRAYER
