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{Prayers of the New Testament} ~1

 A PRAYER OF MARY – praising the Mighty One_ 

 
What does praise look and feel like for you? It tends to be associated with music. Praise and worship songs, sometimes alone but usually as a congregation. Hymns, Psalms, and spiritual songs can lift our hearts to God in a wonderful way. Music can play a big part in filling our hearts with God’s goodness and love. Another thing that can evoke praise is a good story, particularly a story about God’s unexpected and powerful intervention in someone’s life. Sometimes those stories are local and close: a friend describing an answer to prayer, someone telling a story in church about God’s faithfulness over their life. Other times those stories come from far away: how a Christian charity you support, makes a difference in one person’s life in a town in Ghana, or an online video from Open Doors talks about how God has miraculously worked among a group of Christians in an underground church in China. 
Very different examples, but the result is the same... PRAISE! 

 

[Group discussion starter] In what settings do you find yourself praising God? What form does praise usually take for you? 

 

Mary, the mother of Jesus, praises God for His mighty power in her life and among people in need. Her song of praise encompasses the local and the global throughout all time and is a favourite New Testament prayer for many Christians...


[Read Luke 1:39-56] 

 

List the extraordinary events described in these verses. 

 

 

 

The word "blessed" is used four times in this passage. 
Who is called “blessed”? 
 

 

What do you think the word "blessed" means? 

 

In the first few lines of Mary's prayer, she focuses on God's work in her own life. Notice the names and characteristics of God that Mary uses in verses 47-49. Why do you think she uses these particular names and characteristics of God? 

 

 

What names and characteristics of God have you especially noticed lately? 

 

 

In verse 50, Mary's focus shifts to include "those who fear Him / from generation to generation." What do you think it means to fear God? 

 

 

Why would fearing God be connected to God's mercy? 

 

 

What reversal of roles / statuses does Mary attribute to God in verses 51-53? 

 

Have you seen reversals like these in your life or in the lives of others you know? 
If so, describe the circumstances. 

 

Re-read verse 45. In what ways do Mary and her prayer give an example of the description, in this verse, of a blessed person? 

 

Mary's prayer expresses her conviction that God is powerful and also willing to intervene in the lives of people who need help. How does this combination of attributes make you feel towards God? 

 

In what ways do you (or how can you start to) express your belief in both God's power and God's willingness to intervene in our lives? 

 

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