JesusWalk Bible Study Forum: Question 4 - JesusWalk Bible Study Forum

4. What place do praise and thanksgiving have in Simeon's and Anna's lives? What does this say about them? How do we nurture these in our lives? Why does our culture see long periods spent in prayer as wasted? How did Anna see it?

4. What place do praise and thanksgiving have in Simeon's and
Anna's lives?
This is their life.
What does this say about them?
That they are fully dedicated to the Lord.
How do we nurture these in our lives?
By following the Lord.
Why does our culture see long periods spent in
prayer as wasted?
Never heard of a wasted prayer, prayer is a means of communication with the Lord how can this be wasted time.

What place do praise and thanksgiving have in Simeon's and Anna's lives?
That was the first thing they ever did ...

What does this say about them?
They realised that they were dependant on the only living God, in His care and couldn't be or recieve anything if it was't for (from) Him. They probably also learned to have joy in all circumstances. (I'm reminded of Phil 4:4)

How do we nurture these in our lives?
It's a decision ... it's a filling our ears and minds with Godly things ... it's to draw aside and seek God's perspective when we face difficult times ... it's actively praysing Him always & everywhere!!!

Why does our culture see long periods spent in prayer as wasted?
We are doers ... we don't want to wait ... we want to see results (answers) yesterday.
The church (in general) has for a long time prayed selfish prayers and not prayed in Spirit and truth and therefore not according to God's will and have seen little of these answered in ways that they expected.
So why bother?
They have not experienced praying on the Father's lap yet ... in His presence
We don't lead prayerful lives - we don't know what it means ... aren't continuously in His presense and in conversation with our Friend as it should be.

How did Anna see it?
This was her calling ... this was her purpose for existing (as it should be ours)!

ALL praise and honour and glory and strength be to our God!

Simeon is described as just and devout, the text doesn't indicate how much time he spent on prayer and worship but to develop such a reputation it must have been a significant amount. And when he offered his "psalm" of praise to God it flowed out of him so naturally which indicates he was no stranger to praising God. Anna is remarkable--she "did not depart from the temple but Served God with fasting and prayers night and day". Certainly prayer was no waste of time for her. This lifestyle is not for everyone, certainly the special circumstances of her life led her to this type of service, but it challenges all of us to think of how we could devote more of ourselves to God. I also identify with Anna as a single person--without the demands of family she had the freedom to devote her time to God in this way. I can also use my time as a single person to devote myself more to God--though it's not easy. Today far too many other things strive for my time and attention.

I believe that praise and thanksgiving in Simeon's and
Anna's lives had priority one in their daily lives. Their faith, hope, patience and obedience proves that. In my own life I can say that I not always have been thankfull to what Jesus has done for me, and I try every day to thank Him for saving me from eternal death. I think that we should thank Him more often and dedicate more time to spent with Him.
I think that the culture in US somehow has departed from the first love, material things have replaced Christ in many families, the rush to live our lives is an example of that, fewer people stop to take time to enjoy God's creation (flowers, a beautiful sunset, the change in stations, spring, winter, birds singing, etc). Churches have been replaced by TV preachers, more and more people are spending Sundays home.
For the contrary Anna and Simeon spent all day long in the temple worshipping God and waiting patiently for the answer to their prayers.

These were the things they lived for and spent their time on. I think that we admire people who devote long periods of time to fasting and prayer and may even expect our pastor's or spititual leaders to do it but we don't take time to arrange our lives so that we have time for extended times of prayer and worship. we are missing out on a great experience with God and I feel like many of us, myself included, don't know what we are missing by not giving Him more of our time.

4. What place do praise and thanksgiving have in Simeon's and Anna's lives?

The amazing facts about Simeon and Anna’s accounts, that we can so easily miss, is their sincere and unswerving devotion to God. Hold on, I haven’t finished yet! The fact is, their faith was based purely on the Old Testament writings and their obedience to the Blessed Holy Spirit. We mustn’t forget how radical it would be for anyone to believe the Messiah would arrive on earth as a man-child and yet here we see Simeon and Anna paying homage to Jesus as their promised Messiah. Notice how they were exercising a principle that Jesus Himself did also. He offered up His prayers to the Father with thanksgiving. Paul writes for us all to heed, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God” (Phil 4:6-7) You see, to say thank you before you have actually received the answer to your prayers is a further exercising of our faith in God and His promise that whatever we ask for in prayer, believe that you will receive it.

What does this say about them?

Simeon and Anna shared their utter devotion to God and His promises with those about them. I see no record of either of them inquiring of Mary or Joseph about their background etc. There’s no account of either Mary or Joseph telling Simeon or Anna of the miraculous conception and birth of Jesus. And yet, without a moment’s hesitation, when they saw Jesus they hadn’t a single doubt as to who this child was. You see, they most certainly had their ‘Spiritual’ eyes open. There is just so much we can learn from their example.

How do we nurture these in our lives?

Paul wrote “Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Eph 5:19-20) There’s that ‘Always giving thanks’ again. Just notice, throughout Jesus’ life the times of prayer where He gives thanks to God. Notice too, no matter how little Jesus has at His disposal, God blesses and multiplies it. The feeding of the multitude as an example (Matthew 14:18-19)

Why does our culture see long periods spent in prayer as wasted? How did Anna see it?

It is with my tongue firmly in my cheek when I reply to this. For I know that it is only through indiscipline that I fail to stay in prayer for any great length of time. I have to admit, when it comes down to serious prayer, I am, to my shame, basically lazy. And yet I know, the longer we prolong our time in prayer with God the deeper our fellowship with Him becomes. I think perhaps one of the main problems we all of us at some time or another struggle with, is simply in ‘Listening’. Ironically, Simeon’s name when translated means ‘Listener’. We so miss the fact that Prayer is a ‘Dialogue’, not a ‘Monologue’. It should always be a time of listening as much, if not more, than speaking. This is the difficult part of praying. Just simply waiting on God and listening attentively to His voice as He speaks to us. Anna, on the other hand not only listened to God, she was obedient to His voice. Anna would undoubtedly see her prayers as an investment in the coming Kingdom of God and that is exactly how we should see it.

Verse 25 - 26 says: And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon; and the same man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel; and the Holy Ghost was upon him. And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghose, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord's Christ. Verse 36 - 37 says: And there was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of the Phanuel, of the tribe of Aser; she was a great age, and had lived with an husband seven years from her virginity; And she was a widow of about fourscore and four years, which departed not from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day. Verse 38 says: And she coming in that instant gave thanks likewise unto the Lord, and spake of him to all them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem.

They were devoted, loyal believers of God and obedient.

Praise and thanksgiving were Simeon and Anna's main priority in life.

They were devout.

We nurture praise and thanksgiving in our lives by giving God time in our lives every day. Our journey started with one step and each day we draw closer. The journey will end in Heaven if we remain faithful and obey, praising and thanking God for who he is and what he does.

Our culture is based on worldly wisdom and not on the power of prayer.

Anna saw prayer as most important.

Their lives were spent in Prayer and praise to God. This was the most important part of their Lives in the temple.

We are always rushing and tearing about, never spending a lot of time in prayer, we must try and slow down and spend time to pray. not only to pray, but to open our minds and listen.and make a space for the Holy spirit to come into our lives.