Prayer, Week 4, Prove the Will of God

I pray each of you finds at least one thing in the following word/Word study that renews your mind.

Prove/dokimazō (1381)

• to test, examine, prove, scrutinise (to see whether a thing is genuine or not), as metals
• to recognise as genuine after examination, to approve, deem worthy

Uses of prove/dokimazō (1381):

Miscellaneous uses:

• This word can be translated as discern in Luke 12:56.
• In Luke 14:19, a man wanted to prove (1381) his oxen-- in other words, to test or examine them and deem them worthy after examination.

How God proves:

Prayer, Week 4, Prayer Affects Our Soul

Topic 1:  Prayer affects our soul:  will, emotions, mind. 

The Scriptures we studied this week show us how to cooperate with God through relationship, which is prayer.  Our part in this relationship is to believe and seek God with all our heart; God's part is to hear and answer.  I believe He always answers, but He does not always give us what we pray for; rather, He gives us what we need to grow. 

This prayerful relationship touches our soul:

First, our will is conformed to His will because we pray.

• Our part is to abide and ask according to His will (more on this in the next post related to Topic 2, proving the will of God).

• Our service is to be the sacrifice, just as Jesus was the ultimate Sacrifice.  Being a sacrifice means I choose by an act of my will to let God use me as He chooses.  God chose to use Jesus as the Sacrifice for sin, and Jesus chose by an act of His will to cooperate (Luke 22:42).  When I am a willing sacrifice, I will be satisfied with however God chooses to use me to further His kingdom. 

Just a little FYI.  In sign language, there are two different signs for the word "use."  One sign has a negative connotation; the other, positive.  When God "uses" us to further His kingdom, of course, He is not using us in the negative way but in a positive way for our benefit and His glory.

Second, our emotions won't rule us because we pray.

Prayer, Week 3, Silversmith

In my last post, I noted that Truth is the essence of a matter, and that the essence of any matter is in Jesus.  I hope this little story that I read some time ago helps to bring home this point:

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Some time ago, a few ladies met in a certain city to read the scriptures and make them the subject of conversation.  While reading Malachi 3:3, they came upon a remarkable expression: "And He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver." One lady's opinion was that it was intended to convey the view of the pure, sanctifying influence of the grace of Christ.  Then she proposed to visit a silversmith so that she could report to them what he said on the subject.  She went there accordingly and, without telling the object of her errand, begged to know the process of refining silver, which he fully described to her.

"But, sir, "she said, "Do you sit while the work of refining is going on?"

Prayer, Week 3, Day 4

Book The Essentials of Effective Prayer

Week 3, Day 4, page 41

Scripture: 2 Timothy 2:15; Matthew 4:4

What did you learn from marking references to the Word of God in these verses?  How would you describe its importance in the life of a believer?

I found the 2 Timothy 2:15 word/Word study so appropriate for this list's name:  TruthHimself. In this verse, I noticed that we are to handle accurately the word of truth (emphasis mine). Before this study,  I remembered this verse as reading "accurately handling the Word of God," which I believed to mean accurately handling the Bible as the Word of God.  But as I looked up truth/alētheia (225) I found Jesus, Truth Himself!

• Truth/alētheia (225) is the essence of a matter.  Think about that.

• "In philosophy, essence is the attribute or set of attributes that make an entity or substance what it fundamentally is, and which it has by necessity, and without which it loses its identity." -wikipedia

And the essence of any matter is in Jesus (Ephesians 4:21), Truth Himself.

From the BlueLetterBible:

• "The truth as taught in the Christian religion, respecting God and the execution of his purposes through Christ (emphasis mine), and respecting the duties of man, opposing alike to the superstitions of the Gentiles and the inventions of the Jews, and the corrupt opinions and precepts of false teachers even among Christians."

What does "the essence of any matter is in Jesus" mean really?  

Prayer, Week 3, Day 3

Book The Essentials of Effective Prayer

Week 3, Day 3, pages 40-41

Scripture: Philippians 3:20; Matthew 6:33

The Heavenly Citizen's Riches

My citizenship is in heaven; I am an ambassador here on earth representing my heavenly country. 

My heart is with the Leader of that country; my goal is to represent the riches of that country-- riches freely given to all who are citizens  (Ephesians 1:18)--  in a way that draws others to the Leader. 

Since I have all the riches associated with my heavenly citizenship available to me, I don't need to be seeking things that aren't necessary to live as a Christian.  That's part of what Matthew 6 is all about:  Don't seek things you don't need because you already have all you need in Christ.  The kingdom of God is within you (Luke 17:21).

Prayer, Week 3, Day 2

Book The Essentials of Effective Prayer
Week 3, Day 2, pages 37-39
Scripture: Philippians 4:4-6; Psalm 100:1-4, Psalm 118:1-9




What did you learn about the Lord and our relationship to him from these passages?  What are we to do?


Word study for Philippians 3:20

Rejoice	No new discoveries on this word study.
Lord.kyrios (2962)	Having power or authority, translated as master, owner, sir,
Anxious/merimnaō (3309)	"to draw in different directions, distract"  That which causes a care,
Prayer/proseuchē (4335)	Always used of prayer to God
Supplication/deēsis (1162)	Primarily a wanting, a need; an asking, entreaty, supplication.  Always addressed to God
Thanksgiving/eucharistia (2169(	To give freely, gratitude
Gentle spirit/epieikēs (1933)	Not insisting on the letter of the law; it expresses that considerateness that looks humanely and reasonably at the facts of a case in contrast to contentiousness

Prayer, Week 3, Day 1

Book The Essentials of Effective Prayer

Week 3, Day 1, page 36

Scripture: Daniel 2:19-23

What characteristics of God did Daniel highlight in these verses?

Wisdom and power belong to Him

He changes the times and the epochs

He removes kings and establishes kings

He gives wisdom to wise men and knowledge to men of understanding.

He reveals the profound and hidden things

He knows what is in the darkness

Light dwells with Him

Discuss how you see worship being manifested in this passage.

Prayer Week 2, Day 9

Book The Essentials of Effective Prayer

Week 2, Day 9, pages 29-30

Scripture: Exodus 15:26; Psalm 107:17-21

Who does God say He is in Exodus 15:26?

Rapha, the Healer.

From Vine's:  To heal may be described as restoring to normal.  Not only are human diseases healed but also

• bad water is restored to normal or healed (2 Kings 2:22),
• salt water is healed or made fresh (Ezek 47:8),
• even pottery is healed or restored (Jer. 19:11).

A large number of the uses of rapha express the healing of a nation-- such healing not only involves God's grace and forgiveness but also the nation's repentance.