Thursday Bible Study

  Psalms [Praying our praise]   Psalm 150_     All prayer finally, in one way or another, becomes praise.   No matter how much we suffer, no matter our doubts – everything finds its way into praise, the final consummating prayer. This is not to say that other prayers are inferior to praise, only that all prayer pursued far enough becomes praise...     [Group starter activity] Write or draw the things that you are thankful for. Have fun! Include the everyday joys of life as well as the big answers to prayer.     Psalm 150 is deliberately placed as the concluding prayer of the church’s book of prayers (as well as the last track on our ‘mixtape’).   [Read Psalm 150]     How many times is the word praise used in the Psalm?     What does that suggest about the psalmist’s mood when this Psalm was written?     When have you felt compelled to express your praise to God in a similar way ?       Verse 1...

  Psalms [Praying our doubt]   Psalm 73_     Doubt isn’t the opposite of faith. Doubt isn’t a sin.   It is an essential element of faith. We see contradictions between what we believe and what we experience. Why? What’s going on here?   Why aren’t things turning out the way we expected?   No mature faith avoids or denies doubt. Doubt forces faith to bedrock.     [Group discussion starter] What doubts have you had or do you have about the Christian life?   Do you feel guilty about expressing such doubts? Why?       The writer of Psalm 73 is full of doubt...     [Read Psalm 73]       How would you paraphrase the doubt expressed in verses 2-12?       The questions the psalmist asks are very relevant to us.   What individuals or groups of people cause you to ask these kinds of questions?       Self-pity is like a deadly virus. How would you express, in terms of y...