FAITH BIBLE READINGS & PRAYER POINTS March 24 April 6, 2014

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1 FAITH BIBLE READINGS & PRAYER POINTS March 24 April 6, 2014 Our plan is to offer each day two reading options: to read one section of Scripture, with Think About It questions and prayer pointers, or to, in addition, read 4 portions which will enable reading through the Bible in a year. The One Year Bible is our approach, and we recommend the ESV. You can buy a paper version to do your reading, a digital version for your electronic reader, or simply use your own Bible and these Scripture references. Jot down your thoughts, and bring them to Faith Group with you. Or talk over your reading with a friend! Grace to you! We recommend you have a notebook and pen for answering questions and recording your thoughts and insights. Bring this notebook with you to Faith Group for discussions and prayer times. Select a quiet place and consistent time to read and pray. We also recommend you pray for a moment before you read God s word and ask for his illumination by the power of the Holy Spirit as you read. Abbreviations: TAI Think About It PP Prayer Points MONDAY, MARCH 24 Read Deuteronomy 2:1-3:29 TAI: As the history is recounted, what memories are offered which would give reassurance to God s people? Which would give hope to God s people? What did God do to build up Joshua s confidence in entering the Promised Land, and the people s confidence? Why did the Lord once again forbid Moses to enter the new land? PP: What has God done in your life to inspire your confidence in his goodness and grace? Remember, and then pray a prayer of thanksgiving for his loving provision. What guarantee do we have that the promises of God will be completely fulfilled? Rejoice, and express your hope to God in a prayer of praise. Please pray every day this week for the upcoming Men s weekend, CLARITY. Additional readings: Luke 6:12-38, Psalm 67:1-7, Proverbs 11:27 TUESDAY, MARCH 25 Read Deuteronomy 4:1-49 TAI: What constitutes a wise and understanding people (v. 6)? What is the danger faced by every generation (v. 9)? Why is God s jealousy a good thing? How does this paragraph (25-31) explain repentance? What is our part in repentance, and what is God s part? As contemporary readers, what hope does this chapter give us? PP: Ask God to move mightily in our nation, to turn it to his ways, and to make us a wise and understanding people. Tell God that you honor him alone and will not worship idols. Confess any sinful tendencies toward idolatry in your heart. Repent, and ask God to restore you to love and serve him faithfully and fully. Rejoice in hope! Additional readings: Luke 6:39-7:10, Psalm 68:1-18, Proverbs 11:28 WEDNESDAY, MARCH 26

2 Read Deuteronomy 5:1-6:25 TAI: Write down each of the Ten Commandments. Reflect on your life in response to each one. How does the fear of the Lord and obedience to the commands go together? Is that contrary to grace? 6:4 is the shema, which is the Hebrew word for hear. Notice the emphasis on generations; what responsibility does that give you? PP: Pray through each of the commandments, responding as the Spirit directs you to each one, confessing sin or making requests. Pray also through 6:1-12, pledging your love to God, the true and living God, and then praying for the generations in your family. Ask the Lord to help you remember, and never forget, his compassionate lovingkindness toward you. Keep praying for CLARITY! Additional Readings: Luke 7:11-35, Psalm 68:19-35, Proverbs 11:29-31 THURSDAY, MARCH 27 Read Deuteronomy 7:1-8:20 TAI: Why does the Lord order the complete defeat of those peoples currently dwelling in the Promised Land? Is it because God is an egomaniac? (Be careful to answer the first question from the text of the passage itself!) What kinds of things ensnare us today? 8:3 is stated in the NT; when and by whom? Compare 8:5 with Heb. 12:5-11. The remember/forget motif continues; how do you fight forgetting? PP: Thank God for his loving discipline. Ask him to help us live in the light of his word, keeping free of worldly things that might easily ensnare us. Pray for the gospel of Jesus Christ to be preached to every unreached people group in the world, and for churches in every people group. Thank God for our missionaries. [CLARITY!] Additional Readings: Luke 7:36-8:3, Psalm 69:1-18, Proverbs 12:1 FRIDAY, MARCH 28 Read Deuteronomy 9:1-10:22 TAI: Why is 9:4-5 such an important distinction? Is there a parallel to our life today? Why do people today ignore the fact that God can be angry with hot displeasure? Moses is a powerful example of intercessory prayer! What is intercessory prayer? Are you an intercessor? Memorize 10:12-13! How does one circumcise the heart? How does love the sojourner apply to us today? PP: Pray line- by- line, verse- by- verse through 10: What a powerful prayer outline this is! There is much for praise, thanksgiving, and intercession/supplication in these verses. The men s CLARITY weekend opens tonight; please pray! Additional Readings: Luke8:4-21, Psalm 69:19-36, Proverbs 12:2-3 SATURDAY, MARCH 29

3 Read Deuteronomy 11:1-12:32 TAI: How do love and obedience fit together? What can we learn from Moses use of history to motivate God s people? Why does he warn them so often about idolatry? What great weapon does God promise to use in Israel s favor? What can you learn about giving from this passage? About blood? PP: Express your love to God. Make a list, and tell him at least a dozen ways he has shown his faithfulness to you. Tell God that you do not want to live in fear, but rather in freedom through Christ. Ask God to help you give joyfully. Thank him that because Jesus died on the cross for us, sacrifices of the animal kind are no longer necessary. Pray for fruit to come from the CLARITY weekend. Pray for Pastor Dana as he leaves in the early hours tomorrow for the Philippines. Additional Readings: Luke 8:22-39, Psalm 70:1-5, Proverbs 12:4 SUNDAY, MARCH 30 Read Deuteronomy 13:1-15:23 TAI: Since we live in a pluralistic society, we cannot put to death those who entice Christians to follow other gods. But what can we do? Does this seem harsh to you? Why did Moses instruct the people this way? Why would God give his people such a distinctive diet? What in these food laws stands out to you? What in the giving instructions stands out to you? What in the Sabbatical and slavery laws? PP: Pray that God would help us at Faith Baptist Fellowship to be a generous, kind, holy, and distinctive people. Pray that we will remain true in our worship, teaching, and life of love together. Thank God for today s message, delivered by CLARITY weekend speaker Marty Everding of Lincoln, NE. Pray for Pastor Dana, traveling to the Philippines. Additional Readings: Luke 8:40-9:6, Psalm 71:1-24, Proverbs 12:5-7 MONDAY, MARCH 31 Read Deuteronomy 16:1-17:20 TAI: Three great feasts are mentioned in this passage, what are they? What do they represent or what do they remind the Israelites of? How often were they to be celebrated and who was to participate? The Feast of Weeks was known by another name, what was it? (See Acts 2). Moses also lays out principles/guidelines for judges, officials and kings. Ultimately what were the leaders responsible for? PP: The festivals were opportunities for worship to acknowledge the Lord as their Deliverer and Provider. It involved much joy and sharing of His blessings with each other. The responsibilities of the judges, officials and kings was to protect the worship to maintain justice that people would continue to live in the land and enjoy God s blessing. Pray for our leaders, at all levels of government, that they would not pervert justice nor show partiality but fear God (Deut 17:19-20). Additional readings: Luke 9:7-27, Psalm 72:1-20, Proverbs 12:8-9 TUESDAY, APRIL 1

4 Read Deuteronomy 18:1-20:20 TAI: In chapter 18 Moses continues to detail responsibilities of religious leaders Priests, Levites and Prophets. What is their primary focus? Chapter 19 deals with Cities of Refuge and criminal law. Chapter 20 deals with Israel s foreign policy and laws concerning warfare. Do you see that each chapter has a different focus? Do you see a progression? PP: Chapter 18 deals primarily with Israel s relationship with God and his representatives. Chapter 19 focuses on Israel s relationship with its fellow citizens and how to treat your neighbor. Chapter 20 relates to how Israel is to treat their enemies. God desires our worship of Him to be pure and undefiled; our treatment of our fellow man to be merciful; and our treatment of our enemies to offer peace first. Pray in these areas as God leads. Additional readings: Luke 9:28-50, Psalm 73:1-28, Proverbs 12:10 WEDNESDAY, APRIL 2 Read Deuteronomy 21:1-22:30 TAI: As you read through these passages, ask yourself the following questions: - What do I learn about God? - What do I learn about the human condition? (Mankind s sinfulness) - Where do I see Christ represented? - How should I then live? PP: God highly values life. He values fidelity and purity in marriage, children obeying their parents, loving your neighbor as yourself. Mankind sheds innocent blood, is immoral, disobedient and dishonors God and each other. Christ is the sacrifice, the curse who hung on a tree to free us from the curse. How will you respond? Pray! Pray for that young woman who has an unplanned pregnancy and is contemplating abortion. Pray for our marriage relationships- that they be God honoring. Pray for our children- that they would be obedient and parent honoring. Additional Readings: Luke 9:51-10:12, Psalm 74:1-23, Proverbs 12:11 THURSDAY, APRIL 3 Read Deuteronomy 23:1-25:19 TAI: Moses continues recording laws regarding the purity of their worship of God and their relations with each other. Many times we tend to think of laws as restrictive, eliminating our freedoms and fun. Do you think that was the case here? When asked what the greatest commandment was, Jesus said: to love the Lord God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength; and your neighbor as yourself (Mark 12:30). Do you see that reflected in these passages? PP: All of our Five Loves and Commitments are reflected in these passages: Loving God, His Word and Prayer, loving one another, loving our neighbor and the Gospel. Pray for our church, that we

5 would be faithful to love God with our whole heart and our neighbor as ourselves. Pray for your Sacred Seven. Additional Readings: Luke 10:13-37, Psalm 75:1-10, Proverbs 12:12-14 FRIDAY, APRIL 4 Read Deuteronomy 26:1-27:26 TAI: Chapter 26 describes bringing an offering of firstfruits and tithes from the land to the Priest. What was the purpose of this? Chapter 27 begins Moses third speech and describes plans for a grand ceremony announcing blessings and curses. When was this ceremony to take place? Can you imagine how large of a ceremony this would be? Six tribes on the side of one mountain, six tribes on the side of another mountain facing each other. The priests and an altar in the valley in between. Lifelight times twelve! What was the purpose of this ceremony? PP: The purpose of the offering of firstfruits and tithes was to praise God for His faithfulness in providing for his people. The purpose of the altar between the twelve tribes on the mountains was to remind them of the words of the Law. Giving our tithes/offerings and hearing God s word preached/taught are key elements of our own worship service. Pray that Faith Baptist Fellowship would continue to be faithful in proclaiming God s word and in leading people in God honoring worship and praise. Additional Readings: Luke 10:38-11:13, Psalm 76:1-12, Proverbs 12:15-17 SATURDAY, APRIL 5 Read Deuteronomy 28:1-68 TAI: Moses sets before the people the blessings and curses of the covenant they had agreed to at Mount Sinai. What are the blessings dependent upon? What are the curses a result of? The blessings were evidences of God s rich grace He shares with His people. What ultimately is the purpose of the curses? How is God s grace revealed even in these? PP: We tend to think of all curses as expressions of condemnation and final judgment, from which there is no escape and no hope. But that is not the case. In 2 Chronicles 7:13-14 God tells Solomon that when these things (curses) come, if people humble themselves and repent, God will hear, forgive and heal. If we refuse to humble ourselves and repent, we will bear the ultimate curse of eternal separation from God which the Bible describes as hell. Pray as God leads. Additional Readings: Luke 11:14-36, Psalm 77:1-20, Proverbs 12:18 SUNDAY, APRIL 6

6 Read Deuteronomy 29:1-30:20 TAI: Moses begins his fourth address to the people of Israel. It s a review of what God has done for the Israelite people since Egypt, but he makes an amazing statement in 29:4. What is it? Ponder that. Moses is also reviewing what God will do when the people chose to disobey God. In light of chapter 29, why is chapter 30 so important? What hope does it give? PP: Keep in mind this is Moses last address to the people. They are going in to the Promised Land soon but he will die soon, before they go. If we summarized his thoughts they might look like this: God has been faithful in all His ways; the people don t see it and will continue to disobey; God will continue to be faithful and offer forgiveness when there is repentance. Praise God that He is faithful even when we are not. Pray that God will give us eyes to see and hearts to understand what He has done for us. Pray for God to open the eyes of someone close to you who does not believe in Him. Additional Readings: Luke 11:37-12:7, Psalm 78:1-31, Proverbs 12:19-20