BIBLE STUDY  PRAYING THE NAMES OF JESUS

Our study is based on the book, A Daily Guide: Praying the Names of Jesus by Ann Spangler, Zondervan, 2006.

We will be using the book, All the Divine Names and Titles in the Bible by Herbert Lockyer, Zondervan, 1975  as a resources as well

Week Three – Child

Read the following Scriptures this week and reflect upon how they help us to understand why God allowed His Son to be born in a humble way and placed in a manger.

Key verses for the name are:  Luke 2: 1-12   Isaiah 9:6-7   Luke 1: 26-45

Pray the ACTS Prayer:

Adoration: Praise God for the promises He has kept for you.

Confession: Confess to God those times you have relied upon yourself rather than connecting with God.

Thanksgiving: Thank God for understanding your needs and providing for you in ways that bring peace.

Supplication: Ask God.to give you the strength to depend upon Him as a child depends upon his/her parents.

o  Discus our images of a child.

o  What do you think prompted God to let His Son be born,  live and die like we do?

Read Matthew 18: 2-4

o  What do you feel it means to become like a child.

o  Why do you believe that Jesus lived the way the He asked His disciples to live?

o  What are the key words that describe the life Jesus portrays for us? For example: humility, trust…

Read Matthew 2: 13-16 (Herod’s decree that connects with Isaiah’s story of long ago)

  Luke 2: 34-35 (Simeon’s comment)

Pray the ACTS Prayer:

A  - Adoration – Lift up to God adoration for  not abandoning His great plan to bring us salvation. 

C -  Confession – Confess to God what you are wanting to hide from God, those things that have separated you from God.

T  - Thanksgiving – Thank God for Jesus sharing His life, even His suffering with us so that we understand how  we should live.

S -  Supplication – Ask God to help you understand more fully the gospel and how to apply it to your life.

o  The Child Jesus is the cause of great turbulence in the world. His existence required  a response. Does it still today?

o  What is our reaction?

o  What are others’ reaction?  love-hate, accept-squash it

o  As we accept the image of Christ within us, are we prepared for the reaction of others to us?

o  Will others accept  and welcome the child, Jesus they see in us.

o  Let us look at the nativity and place ourselves in the scene, in the presence of God.

See the baby laying in the manger (feeding trough). It is a meager existence He enters but is there more to it. A feeding trough, what does it symbolize for us?

o  Spangler says in her book: That Jesus would become a source of nourishment for His people, feeding and sustaining us throughout our lives.” p. 49

Other Scriptures to read and reflect upon this week:  Isaiah 7:14

Scriptures to read, pray and memorize to pray this week:  Isaiah 9: 6-7  Matthew 18: 2-4  Luke 9: 48