LisaZ

Q4. (20:3) What is the basis on which Hezekiah asks for healing? Why is personal righteousness and holiness important in getting your prayers answered? How can unrighteousness prevent answered prayer if all gifts from God are by grace anyway? Hezekiah asks for healing based on his walk with God: "Remember, O LORD, how I have walked before you faithfully and with wholehearted devotion and have done what is good in your eyes." 2 Kings 20:3 Personal righteousness and holiness are important in getting your prayers answered because when you walk in righteousness and holiness you remain close to God and He says that the prayers of the righteous are powerful and effective. Unrighteousness can prevent answered prayer in several ways. God does not reward wickedness. Also sometimes God speaks to us in different ways, with the answers we need but if we are walking in unrighteousness and our hearts are not open to God then we miss what He is saying and the answers we are looking for get missed.

Q3. Why is Hezekiah's healing important for his nation? How did it relate to God's promises to David? Hezekiah's death would have occurred at a time of crisis and the upheaval that would have resulted would have been very devastating for the nation and its ability to be strong and defend itself. If Hezekiah had died at that point, it would have threatened God's promise to have an unbroken line of successors to David's throne. Although Manasseh was not a godly king he did continue the lineage after Hezekiah.

Q2. (19:15) How do the first two sentences of Hezekiah's prayer (verse 15) correspond to the first sentence of the Lord's Prayer? How are they important to faith? How are they important to God answering the prayer? They acknowledge the greatness and majesty of God. They are important to faith because they reflect Hezekiah's view of God and if he didn't see God as powerful and great it would be difficult to have faith in God and in His ability to do amazing things. In the Bible it says that without faith it is impossible to please God. The Bible also says that if you pray believing that you receive, you will have what you ask for. Faith is a key to having prayers answered.

Q1. (19:14) What is the significance of Hezekiah spreading out the enemy's message before the Lord? What is the underlying principle illustrated here? How can we apply this principle to our own lives? What happens when we don't apply this principle? Hezekiah went straight to the Lord because the letter mocked God and God was the only One who could address the situation. We need to go to God first with our problems and challenges. When we don't do this, we are relying on ourselves, our strength and our resources which are sorely limited. We are often prone to failure when we don't allow God to get involved and seek His wisdom and help.

Q4. Why is a person's attitude with regard to giving related to that person's attitude towards praise? Why does an attitude of possessiveness with regards to giving get in the way of worship? In what sense do all your possessions belong to God? What then should be your relationship to your possessions? How will these truths re-energize your giving? Your praise? Giving and praising are related. You have to "give" praise to God. It is very difficult to do so if you are holding onto things selfishly. By not giving or not giving willingly, you show an attitude that you believe those things belong to you when in essence they all belong to God and He has allowed you to have those things as a steward. God blesses us with things but He also expects us to bless others. It is impossible to truly be free to praise and worship God if you do not have a giving attitude. When your belongings do not have a hold on you, you are free and you are in a position to truly praise and trust God.

Q3. Verses 11 and 12 both attribute various characteristics to God, such as glory, honor, and might. How might you begin to mention God's greatness in your own prayers? Where is this kind of praise found by example in the Lord's Prayer? What are your favorite songs that point to God's greatness? I could begin prayer by meditating on God's greatness and His wonderful attributes and naming them as they come to mind, thanking God for His characteristics. The Lord's prayer begins by addressing Father God and declaring that His name is hallowed. And the prayer ends by declaring God's power and glory and His kingdom are everlasting. Some of my favourite songs are: Great is thy faithfulness Beautiful One Show Me Your Glory

Q2. In what way does praise exalt God? Why should we exalt God? What does this exaltation do in us? What does it say about us? Our praise lifts God up and gives Him glory that He deserves. We should exalt God because He is glorious and mighty and it is right that He should be exalted because of His perfection. When we exalt God it makes us realize how amazing God is and how wonderful it is that He loves us and wants to be in relationship with us so much that Jesus died to enable us to draw close to God. It is very humbling and also invigorating. It makes me realize once again that anything I can do is not because of myself but because of God's abilities and giftings and I am nothing without Him.

Q1. In what way do our prayers of praise "bless" God? What do we mere humans have that God desires in a blessing? What are prayers like, that don't include blessing God? Our prayers "bless" God through our fellowship with Him and our recognition of His wonderful love and majesty. God desires to have relationship with us and that we show love and adoration for Him. If we do not bless God in our prayers it is like going to our parents and continually asking for things but never developing a relationship with them or showing thankfulness or recognition of what wonderful people we think they are and how much we love them. It is selfish and must grieve God terribly.

Q4. What does it mean to have a broken heart and spirit? Why is this essential in the prayer for pardon? In what sense is this a "sacrifice"? Why do we tend to resist a "broken and contrite heart" in ourselves? To have a broken heart and spirit is to recognize the seriousness of and consequences of our sins and recognize the price that Jesus paid to set us free! We need to acknowledge that we have hurt and offended God with our actions and repent. This is a sacrifice in a sense because we have to face our shortcomings and selfishness and to rely on God's amazing mercy and grace. We tend to want to avoid unpleasant things such as acknowledging our errors and the ugliness of our sin, and have to swallow our pride in order to walk in God's forgiveness. Thank you God for your unending love and for your patience!

Q3. Is it possible to have a pure heart? How does God bring about a pure heart? What is our part in this? Yes, I believe it is possible, through the cleansing blood of Jesus Christ whereby we become a new creation in Christ Jesus. God gives us a new heart of flesh instead of a heart of stone. Our part is to walk in our new life in love and in fellowship with God and to repent when we sin.

Q2. In his prayer does David seek to minimize his sins? To maximize them? Why does an authentic prayer for pardon require clear, unvarnished acknowledgement of sin to be effective? I think David was frank about his sins and the severity of the offense against God and His righteousness. He had hurt others but his main offense was against God. God knows exactly what we have done when we sin and if we try to gloss over our sins with God, it is an added offense since He knows the truth anyways and also shows that we may not be truly sorry if we are trying to minimize what we have done.

Q1. In what way does a prayer for pardon require faith? What is that faith based on? How does a person gain the faith to pray this prayer in confidence? A prayer for pardon requires faith that one is able to be forgiven, cleansed and pardoned by the One you are praying to. That faith is based on knowing the character of God and being confident in His mercy and lovingkindness and the promise of forgiveness in the Word. Faith is built through hearing the Word of God and studying the Bible.

Q4. In what way does Abraham show persistence? Why is persistence necessary in prayer? Have you ever experienced "praying through"? What was it like? Abraham continued asking God to reduce the number of righteous people required. Sometimes answers to prayer don't come easily andspiritual warfare through prayer is needed for a breakthrough. I have experienced praying through in praying for my father-in-law to come to have a personal relationship with Jesus and it took quite some time praying before peace and release came and then the answer came a number of months later. It was exciting to see the result!

Q3. Do you think Abraham's boldness pleased God? Why or why not? What might cause God to take delight in your prayers to him? Yes, it showed Abraham's faith in God and his confidence in God's love for him. It also showed that Abraham was in tune with God's heart because he asked for God to show mercy if ten righteous people were found in Sodom. God delights in prayers that show our faith and trust in Him, and that are in line with His great love for people.

Q2. How did Abraham demonstrate his humility before God? Why must boldness be tempered with humility? Abraham recognized and stated that he was only dust and ashes and not significant in himself. He also asked that God not be angry at his requests. It is important to remember that we are not important in ourselves but it is by the grace and great love of God that he sees us as important. It is because of who He is and what He has done for us that we are able to approach God boldly and we need to remember that.

Q1. What is the basis of Abraham's argument that God should spare Sodom? How does it relate to God's character? The basis for his argument is that God will not treat the righteous and the unrighteous the same. God is a righteous God and also a merciful God and shows grace towards those who have a heart for him. Even for the wicked, he has an amazing patience, tolerating their activities until the wickedness reaches its fulness and judgment must be administered. What an amazing and loving God we serve! How wonderful it is that Abraham is called the friend of God!

Q4. How can prayer change God's mind without conflicting with the doctrine of the Immutability of God? Can God answer a prayer for something outside of the scope of his will? God's character is unchangeable but this does not mean that He can't decide to change His course of action in a particular situation and pour out His mercy instead of His judgment which is deserved. His action will still be in line with His character. I believe God has a perfect will and a permissive will. Sometimes when we persist in asking God for something that is outside His perfect will, He will allow us to have it through His permissive will, even though it may not be the best route for us. I don't believe He will answer a prayer outside of His perfect or permissive wills though.

Q3. How can a wrong understanding of determinism and predestination keep us from the kind of gutsy prayer that Moses prayed? What do you call a belief that our prayers make no difference to God's response? If people believe that events are already set and unchangeable then what is the point of prayer? I think there is a big difference between God already knowing what will happen throughout history and the idea that everything is predetermined according to a set outcome. We are commanded many times in the Bible to pray and I don't believe God would have us do a pointless exercise that makes no difference. Scripture tells us that our prayers do in fact have a great impact.

Q2. What aspects of Moses' prayer of intercession should we emulate in our own prayers? Upon what logical grounds does Moses offer this bold appeal to God? What do you think it means to "pray the promises of God"? How does knowing the Bible help you get your prayers answered? How does this help our prayers be within God's will? Moses appealed to God's great love and mercy, to His character and to His reputation among the nations. He was bold and in line with God's character because God's compassion for people is so amazing. Praying the promises of God ensures that we are praying in accordance with God's will and purposes because we are praying in agreement with His Word and our prayers are based then on Scripture. Knowing the Bible helps you to pray in accordance with the Word because you often know what is unscriptural and can recognize when prayer is offered according to God's character and purposes in the earth.

What had the people done that was so bad? -While Moses was with God receiving the 10 commandments, the Israelites were already breaking the first one. How can a loving God be angry? God is Holy and He has a righteous anger that burns against sin and unholiness. God can still be loving while being angry at unrighteous acts. Is God's sentence to destroy Israel and raise up a new nation through Moses justified? It was justified because the Israelites defied God and were trying to replace the One true God who had just brought them out of Egypt, with something that was made with human hands and give the idol the credit for all the wondrous things God had done! God still would have fulfilled His promise to Abraham, just through another route.

Q2. In what sense are we asking that the Father's kingdom should come? I believe we are asking that the Father's kingdom should come through the return of Jesus to rule and reign on the earth, but also that the kingdom should be shown to others throughout the world through us. After all, through Jesus living in us, we have the kingdom of God living in us to show to others through love and through His glory and grace. Why are we asking for the Father's will to be done here on earth? The Father's will is perfect and good and we know if His will is done here on earth then amazing things will happen. Our will is definitely not always in tune with His will so we need to pray for His will on the earth! How should this prayer affect our living? We should live with an awareness of His kingdom and His will and what our part is in bringing His kingdom to others around us. If I were to constantly meditate on God and His kingdom how differently I would live day by day!

Q3. Why do we seek to be independent of asking anyone for help? I think pride is mainly at the root of this, although sometimes there might be a fear of rejection or hurt if you do ask someone for help and they treat you like a bother or say that they aren't able to help you. Why do we seek to be independent of God? I think in these days there is such an emphasis on being independent and doing things yourself. Sometimes it is unintentional and we just get wrapped up in doing our own thing without involving God. He longs to be included in every part of our lives but we go on selfishly and full of pride sometimes. Why should we ask God to "give" us daily bread so long as we can earn a living for ourselves? It is important to recognize that God is ultimately our Source for everything. He is the One that implanted our giftings and abilities and who has helped us directly or indirectly in being able to earn a living.

Q4. Why should we continually ask forgiveness? How can unforgiveness on our part block God's blessing? How can unforgiveness block God's forgiveness? We continue to sin and continually are in need of forgiveness. If we ask for forgiveness regularly we are set free from the burden of our sin and washed clean again. There are also consequences to sin and sometimes through forgiveness from the Father He also averts those consequences, but other times the consequences are unavoidable. Unforgiveness on our part blocks God's blessing because it is difficult to hear from the Father and to understand clearly what He is saying in His Word when our hearts have sin and bitterness taking up space . The Lord's prayer does ask for us to be forgiven AS WE forgive others, so if we are unwilling to forgive others how can we expect to be forgiven? Unforgiveness also goes against the command of loving our neighbour, which is the second greatest command in the Bible, after loving God with all of our hearts, minds and soul.

Showing the love of the Father to others brings honor to Him, as He said others will know us by our love. It is important to recognize His Glory and Holiness and to follow His commands. Using His Name in a common or disrespectful way dishonours God and not following His commands, especially the command of love is not honouring to God. I think it is important to remember to praise God and remember His great attributes when I am praying, but confess I do not do that enough. I think I pray more about asking for things rather than focussing on who God is and how great He is.

Hi everyone! My name is Lisa and I live just outside of Vancouver, B.C. Canada. This is my first online Bible study and I am really looking forward to it! I am a nurse but am currently on maternity leave with my first child Samuel who was born August 15 God bless you all as we study and learn together!