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January 24 Bible Study

Mid Week Bible Study- Adapted from "Life Principles from the Prophets of the Old Testament"

Samuel

- Read Judges 21:25
What was the Spiritual Climate around the time of Samuel’s birth?
What is the Spiritual Climate in our time?
-Become familiar with the events that surrounded the birth of Samuel by reading 1 Samuel 1-2
How did Samuel’s mother handle her sorrow of not having a child? 1 Samuel 1:9-18
Contrast the home of Samuel with the climate around the tabernacle- 1 Samuel 2:12-16
Look closely at the actions and attitudes of Samuel in 1 Samuel 2:11, 18-21, 26
- The Place that God’s Word played in Samuel’s life
Become familiar with 1 Samuel 3
What do you think that it means that the Word of the Lord was rare in those days? (1 Samuel 3:1b)
What life lessons can we learn from the call of Samuel in 1 Samuel 1:1-10, 15-20?
Samuels’s faithfulness is seen in 3:19. The Lord was with him and let none of his words fail.
Read 1 Samuel 3:21- 4:1
What was the result of Samuel’s faithfulness?
What hope does that give us for today?
- Samuel helped teach the people that knowing the Word of God meant they needed to follow the will of God
Become familiar with 1 Samuel 4:1-10, 7:1-12
In 1 Samuel 4:11-6:21 we read that pestilence and trouble plagued the Philistines because they had captured the ark of the Lord.
Why is that in 1 Samuel 4:1 we read that the word of the Lord came to Israel and yet a few verses later Israel was defeated and the ark captured?
What is the message Samuel gave to the people in 1 Samuel 7:4?
- Following the will of Lord the way that God desires
Become familiar with 1 Samuel 8:4-22; 10:2-8; 13:8-14; 15-16:13
The people of Israel decided that they wanted to have a king. Samuel’s boys did not follow the Lord and the people decided that they wanted a king to rule them like the other nations. The Lord instructs Samuel to listen to their desires and appoint a king. The first king in Israel was Saul.
Although Samuel felt the people had rejected him notice his heart for them in 1 Samuel 12:22-23.
After Saul was anointed king Samuel gave him instructions from the Lord. He was supposed to go to Gilgal and wait for Samuel. When Samuel arrived he would offer burnt offerings and peace offerings and give Saul further instructions from the Lord.
What did Saul do (1 Samuel 13:8-14) and what were the consequences of his actions?
What central truth did God teach Samuel in the events of anointing David as king (1 Samuel 16:1-13)?
- The example of Samuel in following God
What did you learn from the life of Samuel that you could apply to your life in following God?

Weekly Devotional Subject: Prayer
Weekly Devotional Text: 1 Thessalonians 5:17 “pray without ceasing;”
Weekly Devotional Thought: Our understanding of prayer will greatly influence how we understand this passage and how viable it truly is in our lives. If we view prayer as simply a religious duty we will fail to reap the benefits of this passage. As a religious duty some see prayer as a reciting of the Lord’s Prayer; asking God to do something in their lives; listening to another read a well articulated prayer! Prayer is NOT a religious duty; it is an awesome opportunity for the believer to fellowship with their Creator. Prayer is our means of communication with the Great & Awesome God! It is our means of fellowship with God! Bringing our needs to the Father in the name of Jesus is just the tip of the iceberg to all that God intends prayer to be! As we come we see prayer as a blessing to have fellowship with the Triune God (Revelation 3:20 & 2 Corinthians 13:14). We begin to see how exciting & relevant praying without ceasing really is. Prayer becomes a 24/7 privilege to talk with the Lord, listen to the Lord and allow the Spirit of God to take the things of God & reveal them to His precious children (1 Corinthians 2:10-13).
A few thoughts to ponder:
- How often do I converse with the Lord throughout the day!
- What is my view of prayer?
- How can I make prayer a regular habit in my thought life?
- How can I keep prayer a regular habit in my life?


For more on how to Develop a Biblical Prayer Life see Pastor.
Free Book Available & Possibility to set up personal Bible study through book if interested.

Weekly Devotional Subject: Voice of Hope
Weekly Devotional Text: Ephesians 2:11-13 “Therefore remember that formerly you, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by the so-called Circumcision, {which is} performed in the flesh by human hands-- {remember} that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.”
Weekly Devotional Thought:
This passage reminds us what a great hope that we have been given! We were once without hope. Without hope because we were without God! So now our hope is grounded in our relationship with the living God because of the blood of Christ through the fellowship of the Holy Spirit (2 Corinthians 13:14). Not only is this hope that we have been given a source of overflowing joy, but we are the voice of hope to the world! We are the voice of hope crying in the wilderness! We are the voice of hope pleading with a world that does not know Christ!
A great question would be how can we have a continual overflowing hope? Our hope within is linked with our passion to be this voice of hope to others. As we follow the Lord’s desire to be His ambassador (2 Corinthians 5:20) our hope is increased! Our hope is strengthened! And as a result our hope will not be silenced! It has been my experience that the most joyous & hope filled experiences as a believer have been the times I am the most active in being a voice of hope. In short we can say that we have been given a great hope and we are the voice of hope!
Meditative thoughts to take with you this week:
- Thank God for the hope that is ours because of His Son!
- Meditate on why you can have such hope in Christ!
- Ask the Lord to show you how often throughout the day you are filled with hope!
- Ask the Lord to reveal the people around you that are without hope!
- How can you help those around you to find hope in Christ!