Darius' Dark Night of the Soul

Jim Leffel

Daniel 5:31-6:27

When Darius involuntarily takes part in a trap to kill Daniel in a lion's den, he feels immense guilty, angry, and provoked at the fact that he had condemned a man with distinguished character. Daniel refused to give up the work of prayer as an act of rebellion, trusting that God is powerful and thanking Him. When Daniel was saved by God, his provocative faith caused Darius to come to terms with God and encouraged the exiles.

A Servant's Heart

Jim Leffel

Acts 17:25-26

Paul calls us to pray for other people, this is a major way we can love and serve other people through God's power. While praying for others we can also develop a deeper love and understanding of them as God shares His perspective of them with us. God has done all the work to initiate a relationship with us, and all we have to do is accept His free gift of salvation. As Christians God empowers us to share this incredibly important message.

Lessons on Prayer

Dennis McCallum

Acts 12:1-23

Peter is thrown into jail by King Herod, where he encounters the Angel of the Lord. The Angel of the Lord aids Peter in his escape from prison, allows Peter to return the house of Mary, where many had gathered and were praying earnestly to God about Peter's situation. From this miraculous event, there are five key lessons that can be learned about prayer: 1) there is no promise to answer any and all prayers; 2) it's important to be persistent in prayer; 3) corporate prayer is vital; 4) It's not the quantity of their faith that is important to God; and 5) remembering when God answers prayers.

The Gospel and Prayer

Jim Leffel

Mark 11:12-14

When Jesus curses the fig tree, he shows that prayer is not mind power or magic words, but faith verbalized. His teaching shows a variety of principles about prayer: 1) expect an answer; 2) the impossible is possible; 3) root prayers in grace; and 4) you are relating to the Father.

Teaching Kids How to Pray

Kathy Steinman

Mark 11:12-14

Jesus loved children and valued their faith immensely. We should, therefore, be proactive about teaching kids to pray to the Lord, despite several of our culture's common misconceptions about kids. First, children's spiritual capacity is not as limited as we are tempted to think, for which there are both Biblical and extra-Biblical examples. Second, it is incorrect to say that only adults do the real spiritual work, because many children posses a natural eagerness for the Lord that draws them to follow Him. Teaching kids how to pray starts with us, how we react to our children's questions about God, how we exemplify our own growing relationship with God, and how we live our lives. We must also remember amidst teaching prayer that God has a role that is active and unique apart from our role.

The Power of the Tongue

Dennis McCallum

Matthew 10:20

James talks about the power of our words and how they can bring real good in the lives of others or when handled poorly can tear others down and cause discord. How often do we think of what we are going to say before we say it? When it comes speaking a timely word in a fellow Christians life, or speaking the Gospel to a friend for the first time, we should be in prayer with God so that he may direct our words. Doing this regularly and being immersed in scripture will prepare us to be ready with the Word of God at hand.

God vs. Baal

Dennis McCallum

1 Kings 18:1-46

Elijah challenges the Baal prophets to demonstrate the power of their deity versus the living God. While the Baal prophets struggle and wail to provoke their deity to action, Elijah prays relationally with God. Elijah acknowledged His will and calls on Him to demonstrate His power to the people of Isreal. We can learn from this that we can not provoke God to act like the Baal prophets tried to with their deity.

Moutaintop Showdown

Scott Risley

1 Kings 18

The prophet Elijah and King Ahab put their gods to the test. Elijah erects an altar for the Lord, while Ahab's prophets create one for Baal. Both parties place a cut bull as sacrifice, but neither lights their altar on fire, instead, they decide that whoever's god ignites their own altar is the true God. The prophets appeal to Baal for hours, but nothing happens. Elijah prays to God and the Lord's altar is immediately ablaze, incinerating everything on it. God's power is proven and immense, while Baal is revealed to be a mere idol. Elijah executes the prophets of Baal.

Elijah Gets Ready

Dennis McCallum

Matthew 6:33

God's followers are being persecuted and killed in the northern tribes of Israel. Elijah is called upon to go down to a secluded area where he meets a woman and her child. He stays with them and all three are provided for by God. Elijah is called upon to take a step in his faith greater than any other he had been through before. God demonstrates to the woman that He is the one true "living God". Elijah sees that through perseverance and faith God can do extensive work through us as well.