Discussion Questions

  1. Have you ever made a request to God in prayer that, looking back, probably wasn’t a good thing to ask for? (Example: God, please make me Spiderman!)
  2. Has there ever been a time in your life where it was hard to trust God? What made it difficult?
  3. How does the mindset of “not my will, but your will be done” change how we pray?

READ MARK 5:25-34, THEN ANSWER THE QUESTIONS BELOW

  1. What does this passage tell me about God and about people?
  2. If I believe today's teaching is from God and that He loved me so much He sent Jesus to die for me, what is the appropriate way to respond in my everyday life?
  3. Who can I talk to more about this or share this with?

Spend time sharing prayer requests as a group, and close your time in prayer together.

This week, Pastor Ryan talked about how Christians are marked by faith. In Mark 5:21-43, the bleeding woman exemplified this type of faith, a faith that both takes action and a faith that persists by not losing trust in God through suffering. One of the challenges in faith is fully trusting God no matter what, as our human nature inclines us to want to seize control for ourselves rather than surrendering control to God. Mature faith recognizes that as Christians we need to allow God to shape and mold us, recognizing that His way is far better than our way. A mature Christian still brings their requests, needs, and desires before God, but remembers that a core piece of faith is always being ready to say “not my will, but your will be done.”

Quote of the Week

“The power for your prayers to be answered is called the power of surrender. It’s called emptying yourself, like Jesus did. It is saying to God "not my will, but your will be done." One Christian author said “The goal of prayer is not to change God’s mind about what you want. The goal of prayer is to change your own heart to want what He wants, to the glory of God.” So I have a challenge for you: Every time you pray this week, be sure to start with praising God and thanksgiving - which is an essential part of prayer… - and when you make requests of God, begin every sentence by saying “God, if it is your will…”. And end your prayer by saying “not my will, but your will be done.” - Pastor Ryan

Scripture

Mark 5:21-43 (NLT): Jesus got into the boat again and went back to the other side of the lake, where a large crowd gathered around him on the shore. 22 Then a leader of the local synagogue, whose name was Jairus, arrived. When he saw Jesus, he fell at his feet, 23 pleading fervently with him. “My little daughter is dying,” he said. “Please come and lay your hands on her; heal her so she can live.” 24 Jesus went with him, and all the people followed, crowding around him.
 25 A woman in the crowd had suffered for twelve years with constant bleeding. 26 She had suffered a great deal from many doctors, and over the years she had spent everything she had to pay them, but she had gotten no better. In fact, she had gotten worse. 27 She had heard about Jesus, so she came up behind him through the crowd and touched his robe. 28 For she thought to herself, “If I can just touch his robe, I will be healed.” 29 Immediately the bleeding stopped, and she could feel in her body that she had been healed of her terrible condition. 30 Jesus realized at once that healing power had gone out from him, so he turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my robe?” 31 His disciples said to him, “Look at this crowd pressing around you. How can you ask, ‘Who touched me?’” 32 But he kept on looking around to see who had done it. 33 Then the frightened woman, trembling at the realization of what had happened to her, came and fell to her knees in front of him and told him what she had done. 34 And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace. Your suffering is over.”
35 While he was still speaking to her, messengers arrived from the home of Jairus, the leader of the synagogue. They told him, “Your daughter is dead. There’s no use troubling the Teacher now.” 36 But Jesus overheard them and said to Jairus, “Don’t be afraid. Just have faith.” 37 Then Jesus stopped the crowd and wouldn’t let anyone go with him except Peter, James, and John (the brother of James). 38 When they came to the home of the synagogue leader, Jesus saw much commotion and weeping and wailing. 39 He went inside and asked, “Why all this commotion and weeping? The child isn’t dead; she’s only asleep.” 40 The crowd laughed at him. But he made them all leave, and he took the girl’s father and mother and his three disciples into the room where the girl was lying. 41 Holding her hand, he said to her, “Talitha koum,” which means “Little girl, get up!” 42 And the girl, who was twelve years old, immediately stood up and walked around! They were overwhelmed and totally amazed. 43 Jesus gave them strict orders not to tell anyone what had happened, and then he told them to give her something to eat.