Skip to main content

{Prayers of the New Testament} ~5

 A PRAYER OF PETER - 

Discussion with God_ 

 
[Group activity starter] On a piece of paper, write down those areas of your life where you would love to hear God speak. Try completing this sentence, “If I could hear one thing from God, I wish it would be _______________.” 
Describe to the group one of the things you wrote on your paper. 

 

 

 

 
Peter learns an important truth as he dialogues with God in prayer, revealing how much can be learned when we speak and listen in our own times of prayer... 

 
[Read Acts 10:1-33] 

 

If this passage were a short story in an anthology, what title would you give to it? 

 

In verses 1-8, what do we learn about Cornelius? 

 

What adjectives would you use to describe Cornelius’ response to the angel (in verses 4, 7, 8)? 

 

If an angel appeared to you and asked you to do something totally unexpected, what do you imagine your response would be? 
 

 

Describe Peter’s reactions during his vision and immediately after it. 

 

Why do you think Peter reacts the ways he does? 

 

In verses 13-16, the dialogue between God and Peter is repeated three times. What does God’s dialogue with Peter reveal about God? 

 

Over the course of the actions (in verses 19-29), Peter comes to understand that the vision from God that he received was not really about food at all. What key truth does Peter eventually realise about God and humans? 

 

Go back over the whole story, looking for the role of prayer in this sequence of events. 
Can you picture this event happening without Cornelius’ and Peter’s prayers? 
Why or why not? 
 

 

Identify the places in this passage where Cornelius and Peter choose to be obedient. 
How much do they know about each situation when they choose to obey? 

 
What is still unknown to them when they choose to obey? 

 
 

 

In your life or in other people’s lives, how have you seen a regular practice or prayer make someone ready to hear God’s voice and more likely to obey? 

 

 

Have you experienced, or seen someone else experience, an argument with God? 
In what ways is an argument with God the sign of a healthy relationship with God? 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Disciple: Judas

  {Disciples} JUDAS ISCARIOT_   Turning away     The most notorious of al the disciples – and the one universally scorned – is Judas Iscariot, the betrayer of Jesus. His name appears in every list of the disciples (except in Acts 1), and it always appears last.   The other eleven are an encouragement to us because they show how common people can be used by God, even with all their faults and failures, to do remarkable things.   Judas, on the other hand, stands as a warning about the power of spiritual carelessness and pride, which can drag us away from loyalty to Christ.   Judas lived in close proximity to Jesus for three years.   He heard every teaching; he saw every miracle.   But in all that time his heart only grew harder.   The other disciples were being transformed, by Jesus, into passionate followers; Judas was being changed too...     [Group discussion starter] Have you ever had a friend or colleague that appeared to b...
Post a Comment
Read more

Ephesians 5:21 - 6:9

  [Grace and Peace] EPHESIANS_   [Activity] Spend some time exploring the logical flow of Ephesians 5:21-6:9…   [Read Ephesians 5:21]   Paul addresses different relationship types (marriage, family, co-workers) when he writes to the Ephesians. Before he gets specific in his instructions, he gives a general one. What attitude are we supposed to have towards others?     What should submission look like in daily life?     [Read Ephesians 5:22-33]   In verses 22-24, why does Paul tell wives to submit to their husbands?     How does remembering that a wife is really submitting to the Lord affect submission to a husband?     In verses 25-33, how are husbands, in turn, to treat their wives?     How does comparing a husband’s love for his wife to how the Messiah loves the church remove any danger of the husband abusing the wife’s submission?       What ...
Post a Comment
Read more

{SEVEN CHURCHES} #3

  {SEVEN LETTERS}    The Attractiveness of Suffering_   Revelation 2:8-11     In the year AD 177 persecution broke out against the Christians living in what is today the French city of Lyon. Christianity had raised the suspicions and hatred of the Roman  bureaucrats who governed the city. The vicious persecution that raged, touched Christians at every level of society. After the persecuti on subsided, church father Irenaeus, arranged for a letter to be written to Christians in other parts of the Roman Empire describing the faithfulness of the  martyrs...   We  can’t  even begin to put into words, much less describe in detail, the  magnitude  of the persecution here: how the pagans raged so terribly against the saints, and how the ble ssed martyrs endured so patiently... To begin with, they nobly endured all the abuse the whole mob collectively piled on: screaming  at them, punching them, dragging them through the stre...
Post a Comment
Read more