January 2022 Wednesday Study Questions

January 5: Praise Prayers

1. How do you begin your prayers?  Do you pray differently when you have a particular need?  Why or why not?
2. When do you expect an immediate answer to your prayers?  How do you avoid transactional prayer?  What helps you to accept God’s timing and appreciate the blessings you have right now?
3. Is it easier for you to thank God for what you have or to ask God for things?  Why?  What helps you remain grateful and content with what God has already given you?
4. When you or a loved one has an urgent need, how do you stay mindful of God’s goodness and generosity?  When answers do not come as you hoped or within the time frame that you hoped, what spiritual practices help you to remain at peace?
5. What would happen if you began expressing gratitude first and asking for something last in situations or relationships in your life?  In what ways could it make a positive difference?

January 12: A New Name

1. What labels have you been given?  Do you find yourself living into the labels others give you, or do labels not affect you much? Why?
2. Who sees the potential in you?  How does their perspective of you change the way you view yourself?  How does it change the way others view you?
3. Describe a time you have experienced or witnessed a transformation from God.  What positive changes occurred?  How do you know the transformation came from God?
4. What does it mean to you that you are called and redeemed by God?  How does knowing you are a child of God change the way you think about yourself?
5. How can you be more intentional about seeing good in others?  In what ways can you encourage others to embrace their identity in Christ and to see their potential?

January 19: Generosity

1. When you find yourself frustrated with others, what helps you remember to look at them with patience and love?  How do you avoid dwelling on your frustration?
2. Do you ever find yourself becoming irritated when people do things differently from the way you would do them?  What scriptures and prayers help you to manage your irritation in such situations?
3. How does your outlook change when you focus on God’s love for us all?  Who or what helps you to remain focused on God’s love and forgiveness?  In what ways do you actively seek to extend God’s love and forgiveness to others?
4. What does it mean to you to have a generous heart toward others?  Who in scripture best exemplifies having a generous heart?
5. Why is it sometimes easier to focus on the speck in another person’s eye instead of the plank in our own? When have you seen a wonderful example of love and forgiveness? What makes it so memorable?

January 26: Past, Present, and Future

1. What scripture passages encourage you when you are living through painful situations?  What comfort do these passages give you?
2. Name a time when you prayed fervently for healing but did not receive the answer you wanted.  Why do you think you received a different answer?  Describe what effect, if any, this had on your relationship with God.
3. How have you found yourself changed and comforted by prayer?  In what ways does it encourage you to think about prayer as not just about the future but as something that can change you in the present?
4. What scripture passages do you wrestle with?  Why?  How does your understanding of the passages change the more you dwell on them?  How is it beneficial to study scripture this way?
5. How does reminding yourself of God’s past faithfulness help you to accept your current experiences?  What spiritual practices encourage you to place your confidence in God’s love?