Recently, God led me to teach on “Prayer & Perseverance: Holding onto the Promises of God.” Last Saturday, He led me to also teach about “Prayer and Perseverance.”

This is the Bible lesson from the outreach with the children and youth last Saturday:

We began with prayer and worship: this song (in English): The River of Love.

Faith lesson: Last time (1/14/2012): Luke 8:26-39 “The Healing of a Demon-Possessed Man.”

  • Jesus set a man free from many demons. He changed the man’s life from crazy and controlled by demons, to a clear thinking mind with a desire to follow Jesus. He wanted to go with Jesus, but Jesus told him to go home and share his testimony of what God had done for him. There is power and freedom in the name of Jesus. Jesus is the one who sets people free, who heals, protects and provides. And our God never changes; He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. 

Lesson from 1/28/2012:  Luke 8:40-56 (click to see the verses):  “Prayer and Perseverance: The Healing of the Dead Girl and Sick Woman.”

  • Read Luke 8:40-42. Then read this: Mark 5:25-29: “And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse. When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, because she thought, “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.” Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering.” Read Luke 8:43-48. Notice that in verses 41 and 47, both Jairus and the woman humbled themselves before Jesus, falling at His feet. James 4:10 says “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.”  
  • Read Hebrews 4:14-16 “Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” Read Matthew 17:20: “He replied, “Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”  
  • Read Luke 8:49-52 People were telling Jairus not to bother Jesus anymore. Some people were crying, and expecting the girl to stay dead. Jesus told them to stop crying. Even though there was a temptation to give up, Jesus said not to be afraid, to just believe. God wants us to trust Him in everything. Nothing is impossible for Him. 

Read verses 53-56. In verse 54, at Jesus’ command, the girl’s life was restored- brought back.

Not only did she come back to life, but she stood up (even walked around which you can see in Mark 5). In the song, “Our God,” it says that our God is greater, stronger, He is our healer, He is awesome in power, and higher than any other. He is even higher than death. He raised Jesus from the dead, and created the earth. There is nothing that God cannot do.

You are chosen by God. He brought you here, brought you through many difficult things, but He will also bring you through every difficult thing now and in the future. Some things that we can see in this lesson are: humility before God, faith, and perseverance – not giving up, no matter what happens.

What is faith? Read Hebrews 11:1-3 “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. 2 This is what the ancients were commended for. By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.” Read James 5:10-11,13-16: “Brothers, as an example of patience in the face of suffering, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. As you know, we consider blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.” God allowed Satan to take away from Job. Satan made Job sick, took his family, and many things that he owned. Many people blamed Job, but in the end, God showed the truth. He gave Job twice as much (two times) what He had before. Even if we are having difficulty, or we do not see the result, we must pray and persevere. See verses 13-16 “Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise. Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.”

If we don’t know what to pray, we can ask God, we can ask His Holy Spirit. Read Romans 8:26-28: “In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.  And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will. And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” Matthew 7:7-12 ““Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. “Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.” God may say to us, “Yes, no, or wait.” But He only says no when He has something better for us. If we give something up for God –surrender, He will give us better in His perfect time.

We may not see the result right away, but we can trust that it is in God’s hands, for “We live by faith, not by sight.”

 (2 Corinthians 5:7.” We also do not need to do everything by our own strength, but we can depend on God for strength. In Zechariah 4:6, God said to Zechariah:  ““This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the LORD Almighty.”  When we have a relationship with Jesus Christ, we can trust that He will direct us by His Holy Spirit, and we can ask for His Holy Spirit, and He will give His Spirit to us (see Luke 11:13).

 Proverbs 15:33 “The fear of the LORD teaches a man wisdom, and humility comes before honor.

 Questions:

1)     What are you learning today? What is God teaching you?

2)     Why should we persevere and continue to pray and trust God when we don’t see a result?

 Further reading recommendations: Matthew 6:33, Mark 5, Hebrews 11, Job 42, Jeremiah 29:11-13, Romans 4:14-24, Hebrews 10:23, Psalm 27:14, Psalm 18:16-19,27-28, James 1:2-4, 1 Peter 5:6