Interactive Teaching/Learning Guide s5

INTERACTIVE TEACHING/LEARNING GUIDE

Until He Comes – Week 21

Session Title: Pray for Steadfastness

Focal Passage: 2 Thessalonians 3:1-5

Central Teaching/Learning Aim: Today learners will discover ways they can pray for one another.

I. Hook

A. Praying for Others

Location - https://vimeo.com/119733355

Start: 19:49

Stop: 20:51

State – Recently Pastor Steve Stroope preached a sermon entitled “Praying for Others.” In his message he said, “We pray about things we want and not about things that glorify God.”

Ask – What do you pray about? Is it about things you want or things that will glorify God?

State – Today we will be looking at another one of those passages in which Paul says, “Pray for us that the message of the Lord may spread rapidly and be honored.”

B. Optional Method – The Life You’ve Always Wanted

Share the following excerpt from The Life You’ve Always Wanted, by John Ortberg.

There is only one play I can think of in football with an overtly religious name. I saw it recently at a Chicago Bears game. The Bears were a touchdown behind, the clock was ticking off the final few seconds, and the goal line was many yards away. So the Bears ran all their receivers to one corner of the end zone, and their quarterback heaved a desperate toss against impossible odds. The ball bounced off a few people and fell into the hands of James Allen, a diving running back, and the Bears won the game. This particular kind of play picked up a name – originating with Doug Flutie’s last minute touchdown against Miami in 1984 – that is used by Protestants, Catholics and atheists alike: the hail Mary pass. The rationale is that a pass thrown under such desperate circumstance could only be completed with the help of divine intervention. People sometimes say a quarterback in that situation “threw up a prayer.”

Why is only that one play named after prayer? There are no “hail Mary kick-off returns” to start games or, to use a more common evangelical prayer, no “Lord, I just want to ask you …” draw plays in the first quarter.

I believe that Mary is brought in for the last play of the game because prayer is something we generally associate with desperation. The idea behind this terminology is that for the majority of the game I can rely on my own resources. I will depend on my game plan and my personnel. However, at a moment of crisis and desperation when I’ve run out of time and opportunity, when human cleverness and mortal strength have failed me, and when all other options are gone, that’s the time to throw up a prayer.

John Ortberg, The Life You’ve Always Wanted, (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2002), 91092.

Ask – Is John Ortberg right? Do we just pray at times of desperation? I know the “Sunday School answer” but what about your personal prayers?

State – In today’s lesson Paul asks the Thessalonians to pray for him. It is not a prayer of desperation but a prayer of hope.

C. Optional Method – “I’m a Pastor. Here’s Why I Don’t Want You to Pray for Me”

Share the following excerpts from The Washington Post:

I’m a Pastor. Here’s Why I Don’t Want You to Pray for Me

When my daughter was 7 months old, I took her to the local aquatic center. She loved the splash zone so much that she lunged for the water when I finally carried her out.

We proceeded to the locker room to put on our dry clothes. I set her down on a bench and reached for her diaper bag. In that split second, she rolled over and flopped onto the concrete floor. I heard her skin smack and saw her cheek hit as I speedily scooped her up and pressed her to my chest.

She cried hard and stress hormones flooded through my body. I raced out of the locker room with a naked, crying baby in my arms and shouted for my husband. I was panicked, and I’m sure I looked a fright.

Three well-intentioned people stopped to offer assistance. Two of them would not have passed my introductory pastoral care class. The first woman, as she walked by me on the way out of the locker room, rambled advice about putting a rice pack on Eleanor’s cheek. I couldn’t take in her story, and I couldn’t wait for her to stop talking.

A second woman calmly introduced herself to me as a doctor, looked at Eleanor’s face and skin, and explained the signs of concussion. This helped somewhat. My daughter didn’t have a brain injury! By the time she finished connecting with me (and “connecting” is the key word here), Eleanor was no longer crying.

As I waited for my husband to appear from the men’s locker room, a man approached and eagerly asked if he could pray for us. I blurted out, “No! I’m a pastor.”

Theresa Latini, “I’m A Pastor. Here’s Why I Don’t Want You to Pray for Me,” The Washington Post, May 7, 2015.

Ask – Why might this pastor have refused prayer for this baby? What do you think?

State – In our study today Paul asks the believers in Thessalonica to pray for him. Let’s discover why he asked for their prayers.

II. Book

A. Write the following outline on the marker board:

1. Paul says, “Pray for me.” (2 Thessalonians 3:1-2)

2. Paul says, “I’ll pray for you.” (2 Thessalonians 3:3-5)

B. Utilize the discussion guide to examine the Scripture passages.

III. Look

A. Provide copies of the “Prayers in 1 and 2 Thessalonians” handout. Work through it with your class.

IV. Took

A. Praying for Others

Remind your class of the video clip that they saw at the beginning of the session.

State – Now let’s see what Pastor Stroope says about our first prayer priority.

Location: https://vimeo.com/119733355

Start: 21:30

Stop: 22:45

Ask – So, what should be our prayer priority? What will you do this week to practice this priority?

Close in prayer, asking that God remind us daily to pray that the gospel spread rapidly and be honored.

B. Optional Method – Tony Campolo Meets Charlie Stoltzfus

Share the following story from The Life You’ve Always Wanted, by John Ortberg. Ortberg says:

One of my favorite stories about intercessory prayer comes from Tony Campolo. A prayer meeting was held for him just before he spoke at a Pentecostal college chapel service. Eight men took Tony to a back room of the chapel, had him kneel, laid their hands on his head, and began to pray. That’s a good thing, Tony wrote, except that they prayed a long time, and the longer they prayed, the more tired they got, and the more tired they got, the more they leaned on his head. “I want to tell you that when eight guys are leaning on your head, it doesn’t feel so good.”

To make matters worse, one of the men was not even praying for Tony. He went on and on praying for somebody named Charlie Stoltzfus: “Dear Lord, you know Charlie Stoltzfus. He lives in that silver trailer down the road a mile. You know the trailer, Lord, just down the road on the right-hand side.” (Tony said he wanted to inform the pray-er that it was not necessary to furnish God with the directional material.) “Lord, Charlie told me this morning he’s going to leave his wife and three kids. Step in and do something, God. Bring that family back together.”

Tony writes that he finally got the Pentecostal preachers off his head, delivered his message, and got in his car to drive home. As he drove onto the Pennsylvania Turnpike, he noticed a hitchhiker. I’ll let him tell it from there:

We drove a few minutes and I said: “Hi, my name’s Tony Campolo. What’s yours?” He said, “My name is Charlie Stoltzfus.” I couldn’t believe it!

I got off the turnpike at the next exit and headed back. He got a bit uneasy with that and after a few minutes he said, “Hey minster, where are you taking me?” I said, “I’m taking you home.” He narrowed his eyes and asked, “Why?”

I said, “Because you just left your wife and three kids, right?” That blew him away. “Yeah! Yeah, that’s right.” With shock written all over his face, he plastered himself against the car door and never took his eyes off me.

Then I really did him in as I drove right to his silver trailer. When I pulled up, his eyes seemed to bulge as he asked, “How did you know that I lived here?” I said, “God told me.” (I believe God did tell me.)…

When he opened the trailer door his wife exclaimed, “You’re back! You’re back!” He whispered in her ear and the more he talked, the bigger her eyes got.

Then I said with real authority, “The two of you sit down. I’m going to talk and you two are going to listen!” Man, did they listen! That afternoon I led those two young people to Jesus Christ.

John Ortberg, The Life You’ve Always Wanted, (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2002), 104-105.

State – These guys prayed for Tony Campolo and, just like with Paul, the message of the Lord spread and was honored.

Ask – What do we need to pray about this week? Who do we need to pray for this week?

Close in prayer, asking God to remind us to pray for others.

C. Optional Method – Praying for Others

State – This week consider being more intentional in praying for others. Choose a few individuals or groups for whom you will pray. Plan to include church leaders in your list. Establish a schedule for your prayer time and include these specific items in your prayer:

1. Pray that God would use church leaders and others that the message of the Lord might spread rapidly and be honored.

2. Pray for deliverance from wicked and evil men.

3. Pray for protection from Satan.

4. Pray that the folks on your list would continue to follow biblical instruction.

5. Pray for steadfastness and perseverance.

During your prayer time listen for God’s guidance concerning how to best pray for these people. Ask God to deepen your sensitivity to the folks for whom you pray. Meditate on the truths from 2 Thessalonians that you want to be implanted in their lives. Celebrate when you see God at work.

Close in prayer, asking that God remind us daily to pray for others.

DISCUSSION GUIDE

Teacher Copy

1. What two prayer requests did Paul share with the Thessalonian believers? (2 Thessalonians 3:1-2)

Paul asked the believers to pray:

a. That the message of the Lord might spread rapidly and be honored

b. That he would be delivered from wicked and evil men who would obstruct the spread of the gospel

2. When you ask someone to pray for you, what are your usual prayer requests? How might our world change if we asked others to pray that we might be successful as we shared the message of the Lord?

3. How would you feel if someone that you considered to be a “spiritual giant” asked you to pray for him/her? How would you respond?

4. How did Paul describe God? (2 Thessalonians 3:3)

[Paul says that God is faithful.]

5. What will God do for those who are threatened by the evil one? (2 Thessalonians 3:3)

[Paul says that if we ask, God will provide strength and protection from the evil one.]

6. What confidence did Paul have in the believers in Thessalonica? (2 Thessalonians 3:4)

[Paul said that he was confident that the believers were doing and would continue to do the things that Paul had taught them.]

7. What are some of the things that Paul taught the Thessalonian believers? Are these teachings true for us today? Could Paul have the same confidence in us as he had in the Thessalonian Christians?

8. What was Paul’s desire for the believers? (2 Thessalonians 3:5)

[Paul wanted the Lord to direct their hearts into God’s love and Christ’s perseverance.]

9. What do you think Paul meant when he said that it was his desire that the Lord direct their hearts into God’s love?

10. To what might “Christ’s perseverance” refer?

11. How might meditating on God’s love and Christ’s perseverance change us?

DISCUSSION GUIDE

Student Copy

1. What two prayer requests did Paul share with the Thessalonian believers? (2 Thessalonians 3:1-2)

Paul asked the believers to pray: