Unit 2, Day 5: God Speaks With a Purpose

God develops character to match the assignment

We are so oriented to quick response that we abandon the word from God long before he has a chance to develop our character.

God has a right to interrupt your life. His is Lord. When you accepted Him as Lord, you gave Him the right to help Himself to your life anytime He wants.

1. What kind of assignments have you wanted the Lord to give you? Have you been frustrated or disappointed in this area of your life?
   Big ones, important tasks and responsibilities. Yes.
   
2. Can you think of a time when God probably wanted to use you in an assignment and you chose not to follow His leading? if so, briefly describe the situation.
   Not really.
   
3. Is the Holy Spirit saying anything to you right now about your character? If so, what is He saying?
   Be patient, I'm not done yet.
   
4. Do your actions acknowledge Christ as Lord of your life? If not, what response do you want to make His claims on your life right now?
   Most of the time - I hope.
   

What was the most meaningful statement or Scripture you read today?
When you accepted Him as Lord, you gave Him the right to help Himself to your life anytime He wants

Reword the statement or Scripture into a prayer of response to God.
Dear Jesus, You are my Lord, interrupt my life anytime You want to - after all, it is not my life - but Yours.

What does God want you to do in response to today's study?
Accept His interruptions as openings and opportunities.

Scripture Memory Verse:
Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God. Ps 20.7

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Summary Statements

• The moment God speaks to me is the very moment God wants me to respond to Him.
• The moment God speaks to me is God's timing.
• God develops my character to match the assignment He has for me.
• He has a right to interrupt my life. He is Lord. When I accepted Him as Lord, I gave Him the right to help Himself to my life anytime He wants.

Unit 2, Day 4: God Speaks to His People

God has not changed. He still speaks to His People.

1. In the Old Testament how did God speak and through whom?
   Through the prophets (Hebrews 1.1)
   
2. In New Testament times how did God speak?
   Audibly, Jesus, Disciples
   
3. In John 14.26 whom did Jesus promise the Father would send in His name?
   The Paraclete, Advocate: Holy Spirit
   
4. What is the work of the Holy Spirit described in John 14.26 and 16.13-14?
   Teach all things, remind everything that Jesus had told them, guide in truth, speak what He hears, tell you what is to come, bring glory to Jesus.
   
5. Who is the one who hears what God says?
   The one who belongs to God
   
6. What does John 8.47 have to say about a person who does not hear what God says?
   That person does not belong to God.
   

Write a summary of what the Scriptures say about God's speaking.
God spoke, and does speak - now using his word and the Holy Spirit.

God speaks by the Holy Spirit through the Bible, prayer, circumstances, and the church to reveal Himself, His purposes, and His ways.
1. c
2. God speaks by the Holy Spirit through the Bible, prayer, circumstances and the church
3. He reveals Himself, His purposes, and His ways.

God, I pray that I will come to such a relationship with You that when you speak, I will hear and respond.

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What was the most meaningful statement or Scripture you read today?
The relationship is the key to knowing God's voice, to hearing when God speaks.

Reword the statement or Scripture into a prayer of response to God.
Dear Jesus, I pray that I will come to such a relationship with You that when you speak, I will hear and respond.

What does God want you to do in response to today's study?
Spend time in God's presence.

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Summary Statements

• God has not changed. He still speaks to His people.
• If I have trouble hearing God speak, I am in trouble at the very heart of my Christian experience.
• God speaks by the Holy Spirit through the Bible, prayer, circumstances, and the church to reveal Himself, His purposes, and His ways.
• Knowing God's voice comes from an intimate love relationship with God.

Unit 2, Day 3: God Takes the Initiative

1. Who takes the initiative in your knowing and doing the will of God?
b. God does. He invites me to join Him in what He is about to do.

2. Which of the following are ways God may reveal his plan or purpose to you?
all of the options

In every situation God demands that you depend on Him, not a method.

What helped George Mueller know God's will?
honesty of heart, uprightness before God, patiently waiting on God.

What led to mistakes in knowing God's will?
preferring the counsel of people to the word of God.

1. I seek at the beginning to bet my heart into such a state that it has no will of its own in regard to a given matter. Nine-tenths of the trouble with people generally is just here. Nine-tenths of the difficulties are overcome when our hearts are ready to do the knowledge of what His will is.
2. Having done this, I do not leave the result to feeling or simple impression. If so, I make myself liable to great delusions.
3. I seek the Will of the Spirit of God through, or in connection with, the Word of God. The Spirit and the Word must be combined. If I look to the Spirit alone without the Word, I lay myself open to great delusions also. If the Holy Ghost guides us at all, He will do it according to the Scriptures and never contrary to them.
4. Next I take into account providential circumstances. These often plainly indicate God's will in connection with His Word and Spirit.
5. I ask God in prayer to reveal his Will to me aright.
6. Thus, (1) through prayer to God, (2) the study of the Word, and (3) reflection, I come to a deliberate judgment according to the best of my ability and knowledge, and if my mind is thus at peace, and continues so after two or three more petitions, I proceed accordingly.

1. D
2. D
3. B
4. D

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What was the most meaningful statement or Scripture you read today?
In every situation God demands that you depend on Him, not a method

Reword the statement or Scripture into a prayer of response to God.
Dear Jesus, help me to desire to seek you more than a specific method - that I would know you and your ways rather than people's ways

What does God want you to do in response to today's study?
Continue to read his word and pray diligently.

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Summary Statements

• God's revelation of His activity is an invitation for me to adjust my life to Him and join in His work.
• "I seek at the beginning to get my heart into such a state that it has no will of its own in regard to a given matter."
• "I do not leave the result to feeling or simple impression."
• "I seek the will of the Spirit of God through, or in connection with, the Word of God."

Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God. Psalm 20.7

I am the vine, you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit - apart from me you can do nothing. John 15.5

Unit 2, Day 2: God's Plans Versus Our Plans

10 I am the LORD your God,
who brought you up out of Egypt.
Open wide your mouth and I will fill it.

11 "But my people would not listen to me;
Israel would not submit to me.

12 So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts
to follow their own devices.

1. What had God already done for Israel?
Brought them out of Egypt

2. What did God promise to His people?
Feed/provide for them

3. How did the people respond?
They would not submit

4. What did God do?
He turned them over to their own devices

13 "If my people would only listen to me,
if Israel would only follow my ways,

14 how quickly I would subdue their enemies
and turn my hand against their foes!

5. What could have been true had Israel listened to and followed God?
They wouldn't have had to fight - God would have fought for them.

7 So, as the Holy Spirit says:
"Today, if you hear his voice,

8 do not harden your hearts
as you did in the rebellion,
during the time of testing in the wilderness,

9 where your ancestors tested and tried me,
though for forty years they saw what I did.

10 That is why I was angry with that generation;
I said, 'Their hearts are always going astray,
and they have not known my ways.'

11 So I declared on oath in my anger,
'They shall never enter my rest.' "

12 See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. 13 But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called "Today," so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness. 14 We have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold firmly till the end our original conviction. 15 As has just been said:
"Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts
as you did in the rebellion."

16 Who were they who heard and rebelled? Were they not all those Moses led out of Egypt? 17 And with whom was he angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies perished in the wilderness? 18 And to whom did God swear that they would never enter his rest if not to those who disobeyed? 19 So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief.

6. According to Hebrews 3.7-19, why were the children of Israel denied entrance to the promised land?
They hardened their hearts and rebelled against God.

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1. Has God changed in the way that He works with people to carry out His plans and purposes?
No. I doubt it (although He could).

2. Would you rather follow your own plans and wander around in a spiritual wilderness or follow God's ways and quickly enter a spiritual promised land?
Um... let me see. Of course, I'd prefer the spiritual promised land.

How close do you think your country is to the judgment of God?
3. I cannot understand why God has waited this long. I believe we are on the verge of a major judgment from God.
or
4. I believe we are alrady expereiencing a disciplinary judment like that described in Isaiah 5.1-7

What evidence can you list to support your answer?
9/11, declining relevance of the Church, loss of sanctity of life.
What effect does your belief have on the way you live your life?
Honestly, little.

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What was the most meaningful statement or Scripture you read today?
Would you rather follow your own plans and wander around in a spiritual wilderness...?

Reword the statement or Scripture into a prayer of response to God.
Precious Lord, I want to enter the 'promised land' you have for me; help me to not be so self0centered that I would rather follow my own plans and wander around in a spiritual wilderness...?

What does God want you to do in response to today's study?
Spend time asking for God's guidance on how I should respond to Him.

Summary Statements

• Do things God's way.
• God will accomplish more in six months through a people tielded to Him than we could do in 60 years without Him.
• I am God's servant. I adjust my life to what He is about to do.
• Understanding what God is about to do where I am is more important than telling God what I want to do for Him.
  

Unit 2, Day 1: Looking to God

Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God. - Psalm 20.7


Self-centered living is where I am the deciding factor in all that happens around me.
God-centered living acknowledges that God is the ultimate source and agent in all that happens around me.

S G
S G
G S

1. What was GOD about to do when He came to Noah and asked him to build and ark? (Gen. 6.5-14)
God was going to end the human race
2. What was GOD about to do to Sodom and Gomorrah when He came to Abraham? (Gen. 18.61-21; 19.13)
Destroy the cities
3. What was GOD about to do when He came to Gideon? (Judg. 6.11-16)
Defeat the Midianites and restore Israel
4. What was GOD about to do when He came to Saul on the road to Damascus? (Acts 9.1-16)
Reach the entire world with the Gospel

submit
wait
watch
join

What was the most meaningful Scripture or statement you read today?
submit * wait * watch * join
Reword the statement or Scripture into a prayer of response to God.
Dear Jesus, help me to move from self-centered living by submitting, waiting, watching, and joining what you are already doing.
What does God want you to do in response to today's study?
wait & watch
Write your Scripture memory verse for this week:
Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God Ps 20.7
Review your memory verse from last week:
I am the vine, you are the branches If you remain in me and I in you you will bear fruit. Apart from me you can do nothing. Jn 15.5

Summary Statements

• To know and do the will of God, I must deny self and return to a God-centered life.
• I must reorient my life to God.
• I must focus y life on God's purposes not my own plans.
• I must seek to see from God's perspective rather than from my own distorted human perspective.
• I must wait until God shows me what He is about to do through me
• I will watch to see what God is doing around me and join Him.

Unit 1: Day 4 & 5 May 03, 2007

God Works Through His Servants (Parts 1 & 2)

1. God is always at work around you.
2. God pursues a continuing love relationship with you that is real and personal.
3. God invites you to become involved with Him in His work.
4. God speaks by the Holy Spirit through the Bible, prayer, circumstances, and the church to reveal Himself, His purposes, and His ways.
5. God's invitation for you to work with Him always leads you to a crisis of belief that requires faith and action.
6. You must make major adjustments in your life to join God in what He is doing.
7. You come to know God by experience as you obey Him and He accomplishes His work through you.

From Memory
1. God is always at work
2. God pursues a relationship with me
3. God invites me to be active in what He is doing.
4. God reveals Himself and His activities to me by way of the Holy Spirit
5. God's invitation brings me to a crossroads where I choose between my will or His
6. I choose God's will
7. I experience God working through me.

Answer the following questions about the three preceding statements.

1. Related to Israel, what was God already doing?
   God was hearing their cries, remembered His covenant with them.
   
2. What evidence do you see that proves God wanted a personal and real relationship with Moses?
   God could have written the 10 Commandments without Moses there, but he invited Moses up on the mountain for the process - for the relationship.
   
3. How did God want to involve Moses in the work he was already doing?
   God had decided what He was going to do, and he wanted to send Moses to Pharaoh to accomplish it.
4. What did God reveal about Himself, His purposes, and His ways?
   God revealed that He was personal, and had a name; that he cared about the Israelites, and that He would use people to accomplish His tasks.
   
5. What did Moses have trouble believing about God?
   Moses didn't want to believe that God would use him - he wasn't eloquent, no one would listen to him, etc.
   How would you summarize Moses' faith as it is described in Hebrews 11?
   Moses' faith was incremental: it started small and then grew according to (or through) his circumstances and experiences.
   
6. What adjustment(s) did Moses have to make?
   Moses went back to Egypt, the land that he had fled, taking his entire family with him.
   
7. How do you think Moses must have felt when God delivered the Israelites through him?
   Moses must have been amazed, humbled, and exhausted.

Could God work in extraordinary ways through your life to accomplish significant things for His kingdom? Yes

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What was the most meaningful statement or Scripture you read today?

Surely the Sovereign LORD does nothing
without revealing his plan
to his servants the prophets.

Reword the statement or Scripture into a prayer of response to God.

God, I want to be used by you - to be your servant. Please reveal to me what you are doing so that I may join you there.

What does God want you to do in response to today's study?

Spend time listening.

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Summary Statements

• God reveals what He is about to do.
• The revelation becomes an invitation to join Him.
• I can't stay the way I am and go with God.
• He is able to do anything He pleases with one ordinary person fully consecrated to Him.
• God's standards of excellence are different from man's.

Unit 1: Day 3 May 03, 2007

Learning to Be a Servant of God


Based on these Scriptures and others you may be familiar with, do you believe you should be God's servant? yes
Have you ever given your very best effort in trying to serve God and felt frustrated when nothing lasting resulted from your work? yes
What is a servant? In your own words write a definition of a servant:
A servant is one who performs an action for another. The master tells the servant what to do, the servant completes the task and then waits for further instructions. Also, servants may have assigned tasks that are understood and don't take constant reminding or repeated instruction.

Answer the following questions about being a servant.
1. How much work can a servant do by himself or herself?
While working for the master - nothing.
2. When God works through a servant, how much can that servant do?
Anything that God requests or commands
3. What are two things that a servant must do to be used by God?
A servant must be trained, and must remain connected to the master

Read 1 Kings 18.15-39 and answer the following questions:

15 Elijah said, "As the LORD Almighty lives, whom I serve, I will surely present myself to Ahab today."

Elijah on Mount Carmel

16 So Obadiah went to meet Ahab and told him, and Ahab went to meet Elijah. 17 When he saw Elijah, he said to him, "Is that you, you troubler of Israel?"

18 "I have not made trouble for Israel," Elijah replied. "But you and your father's family have. You have abandoned the LORD's commands and have followed the Baals. 19 Now summon the people from all over Israel to meet me on Mount Carmel. And bring the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal and the four hundred prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel's table."

20 So Ahab sent word throughout all Israel and assembled the prophets on Mount Carmel. 21
But the people said nothing. Elijah went before the people and said, "How long will you waver between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him."

22 Then Elijah said to them, "I am the only one of the LORD's prophets left, but Baal has four hundred and fifty prophets. 23 Get two bulls for us. Let Baal's prophets choose one for themselves, and let them cut it into pieces and put it on the wood but not set fire to it. I will prepare the other bull and put it on the wood but not set fire to it. 24 Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the LORD. The god who answers by fire—he is God."
Then all the people said, "What you say is good."

25 Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, "Choose one of the bulls and prepare it first, since there are so many of you. Call on the name of your god, but do not light the fire." 26 So they took the bull given them and prepared it.
Then they called on the name of Baal from morning till noon. "Baal, answer us!" they shouted. But there was no response; no one answered. And they danced around the altar they had made.

27 At noon Elijah began to taunt them. "Shout louder!" he said. "Surely he is a god! Perhaps he is deep in thought, or busy, or traveling. Maybe he is sleeping and must be awakened." 28 So they shouted louder and slashed themselves with swords and spears, as was their custom, until their blood flowed. 29 Midday passed, and they continued their frantic prophesying until the time for the evening sacrifice. But there was no response, no one answered, no one paid attention.

30 Then Elijah said to all the people, "Come here to me." They came to him, and he repaired the altar of the LORD, which had been torn down. 31 Elijah took twelve stones, one for each of the tribes descended from Jacob, to whom the word of the LORD had come, saying, "Your name shall be Israel." 32 With the stones he built an altar in the name of the LORD, and he dug a trench around it large enough to hold two seahs ^[a] of seed. 33 He arranged the wood, cut the bull into pieces and laid it on the wood. Then he said to them, "Fill four large jars with water and pour it on the offering and on the wood."

34 "Do it again," he said, and they did it again.

"Do it a third time," he ordered, and they did it the third time. 35 The water ran down around the altar and even filled the trench.

36 At the time of sacrifice, the prophet Elijah stepped forward and prayed: "LORD, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command. 37 Answer me, LORD, answer me, so these people will know that you, LORD, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again."

38 Then the fire of the LORD fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench.

39 When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, "The LORD—he is God! The LORD—he is God!"

Footnotes:

1. 1 Kings 18:32 That is, probably about 24 pounds or about 11 kilograms

1. Elijah was God's servant. How many prophets of other gods did he face in this stand-off at Mount Carmel?
   850
2. What was the test Elijah proposed to prove whose was the One True God?
   The god who sends fire is God.
3. What did Elijah do to the altar of the Lord?
   He doused it with water three times.
   
4. At whose initiative did Elijah offer this challenge? His own or God's?
   It looks like it is on his own initiative.
   
5. What did he plan to prove through this experience?
   He proved that Baal was not God, that he was impotent.
6. How did all the people respond?
   They fell down and worshiped God.
   
7. What was God's work in this event?
   First, it was God who had called Elijah; it was also God who heard and responded to Elijah's call - and sent fire.
   
8. What was Elijah's work in this event?
   Elijah stood up boldly for God

God is always at work around me

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What was the most meaningful statement or Scripture you read today?

Just like a cup cannot do anything on its own, you do not have to any ability to do the command of the Lord except to be where he wants you to be.

Reword the statement or Scripture into a prayer of response to God.

Precious Lord and Master, I want to be your servant - help me to do nothing on my own... to await your commands and then to be exactly where you want me to be.

What does God want you to do in response to today's study?

Don't just do something - stand there!

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Summary Statements

• To be a servant of God I must be moldable and I must remain in the Master's hand.
• Apart from God, I can do nothing.
• With God working through me, I can do anything God can do.
• When I find out where the Master is, then I know that is where I need to be.
• I come to know God by experience as I obey Him and He accomplishes His work through me.

Unit 1: Day 2 May 01, 2007

To see if you have grasped this idea, mark the following statements true or false

F 1. Human interpretations of my experiences are an effective way to know and follow God.

2. I should always evaluate my experiences based on the truths I find in the Word of God.

T 3. I may get a distorted understanding of God if I do not check my experiences against the truths of Scripture.

4. I can trust God to work in my life in similar ways that I see Him working throughout the Scriptures.

Read the following Scriptures about God's (Jesus') call for people to follow Him. Write the names of those who were called to follow without being given much detail about what the future would hold for them.

^18As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen.

^19"Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will send you out to fish for people." ^20At once they left their nets and followed him.

1. Simon Peter & Andrew
   

^21Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, ^22and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.

1. James & John

^9As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector's booth. "Follow me," he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him.

1. Matthew
   

9 Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord's disciples. He went to the high priest

^2and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. ^3As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him.

^4He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?"

^5"Who are you, Lord?" Saul asked.

"I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting," he replied. ^6"Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do."

^7The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone. ^8Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing. So they led him by the hand into Damascus. ^9For three days he was blind, and did not eat or drink anything.

^10In Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. The Lord called to him in a vision, "Ananias!"

"Yes, Lord," he answered.

^11The Lord told him, "Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying. ^12In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands on him to restore his sight."

^13"Lord," Ananias answered, "I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your people in Jerusalem. ^14And he has come here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name."

^15But the Lord said to Ananias, "Go! This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel. ^16I will show him how much he must suffer for my name."

^17Then Ananias went to the house and entered it. Placing his hands on Saul, he said, "Brother Saul, the Lord—Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here—has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit." ^18Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul's eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized, ^19and after taking some food, he regained his strength.

Saul in Damascus and Jerusalem

Saul spent several days with the disciples in Damascus. ^20At once he began to preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God.

1. Saul (The Apostle Paul)

^17In his defense Jesus said to them, "My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working." …

^19Jesus gave them this answer: "Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. ^20For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, and he will show him even greater works than these, so that you will be amazed.

1. Who is always working? God the Father and Jesus, too.
   
2. How much can the Son do by Himself? Nothing.
   
3. What does the Son do? Only what he sees the Father doing, and He does whatever the Father is doing.
   
4. Why does the Father show the Son what He is doing? Because the Father loves the Son.
   

Jesus' Example:

• The Father has been working right up to now
  

• Now God has Me working.
  
• I do nothing on My own initiative.
  
• I watch to see what the Father is doing.
  
• I do what I see the Father is already doing.
  
• You see, the Father loves Me.
  
• He shows Me everything that He, Himself, is doing.

1. God is always at work around you.
2. God pursues a continuing love relationship with you that is real and personal.
3. God invites you to become involved with Him in His work.
4. God speaks by the Holy Spirit through the Bible, prayer, circumstances, and the church to reveal Himself, His purposes, and His ways.
5. God's invitation for you to work with Him always leads you to a crisis of belief that requires faith and action.
6. You must make major adjustments in your life to join God in what He is doing.
7. You come to know God by experience as you obey Him and He accomplishes His work through you.

God is always at work around me.

What was the most meaningful statement or Scripture you read today?

What is God's will for my life? is not the right question. I think the right question is what is God's will? … The focus needs to be on God, not my life.

Reword the statement or Scripture into a prayer of response to God.

Dear Lord, help me to ask the right question. Help my focus to be on You and Your will rather than on me. I know that in doing this I will find my life's truest and deepest meaning!

What does God want you to do in response to today's study?

Pray the above prayer regularly; focus on what God is doing rather than on what I am working on and where I want to work.

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Summary Statements

• I will look to see what God says and how He works in the Scriptures. I will make my decisions and evaluate my experiences based on biblical principles.
• The Bible is my guide for faith and practice.
• The right question is, What is God's will?
• Watch to see where God is working and join Him.
• God is always at work around me.