Jeff Sanders

Colossians 4:3-4

1. Am I devoted to prayer (time with the Father)? What am I devoted to?

2. Would I characterize my prayer posture as watchful? Am I taking my spiritual life seriously and recognizing the battle I’m actually fighting? Am I depending upon the Father?

3. How thankful and grateful am I really? Is that a quality others would see in me?

4. What might happen if we as a church began earnestly praying for God to “open doors for the word”?

5. How can we move our daily conversations with people toward Christ?

6. In what ways must we “walk in wisdom toward outsiders and make the best use of time”?

7. What steps or actions should I take regarding this passage and this prayer of Paul’s?

Steve Stratos

Colossians 1:9-14

1. What areas of your life should you be praying about concerning being pleasing to the Lord?

2. How can you pray for believers you’ve never met?

3. What is the correlation between joyful thanksgiving and faithful endurance in prayer?

4. What do you feel you have been rescued from and brought into?

5. What does bearing fruit mean to you and how would you express it?

Ryan Moffat

Ephesians 3:17; Philippians 1:9

Steve Stratos

1 Peter 1:1-9

1. Name something you put your hope in that didn't deliver? (Proverbs 13:12)

2. How is a living hope different?

3. How does a living hope function in our lives?

4. What is the purpose in the divine economy of hope?

5. How can suffering grow our hope?

Steve Stratos

Luke 19:28-40

Psalm 118:26-29

1. What are some things you have given control to in your life? How have you served them? What were the results?

2. What are the things you have tried to control in your life? What were the results—emotionally, mentally, spiritually?

3. How would you explain the difference between controlling and serving? How do they overlap?

4. Explain a time when the results of something you were involved with were better than expected. How did you get started? How did the process work? What percentage did serving and/or controlling play?

5. What captures your imagination? How does that shape your life?

Ryan Moffat

Ephesians 1:19-23

1. What did the Spirit say to you today from the teaching?

2. Have you ever experienced a lack of spiritual power? Explain that—what happened, what were the outcomes from that experience?

3. Paul prays that the Church would have Spiritual power to the Church in Ephesus (the “magic/demonic” capital of the world). Do we have a good grasp on the Biblical paradigm of Spiritual warfare? How do our strategies change when we know who we’re fighting? (See 2 Corinthians 10:3-5.)

4. Where in your life do you need this power? Will you ask God, and ask others to pray, to help you receive Spiritual Power where you need it most?

Ryan Moffat

Ephesians 1:17-18; Romans 15:13

1. What did the Spirit say to you through the teaching?

2. Where do you need hope in your family or in our world?

3. How motivated are you to know, experience, and live from this posture of hope?

4. Who else do you know that needs access to this hope? How will you help them know the hope you and I have in the gospel through Jesus Christ?

5. Read Romans 15:13 out loud together.... What stands out to you?

Ryan Moffat, Jonathan Martin

Paul's Letters

1. When you see these examples of greetings and prayers from Paul how does this strike you? What does it communicate about Paul, about how he prayed, and we ought pray?

2. What forces are at play in our lives, our world, our jobs, and our homes that would cause us to see people as annoyances, as inconveniences, as disappointments? How do these attitudes translate to our interactions with others?

3. How do you think your relationships would change if you were thankful for them instead of annoyed by them? What happens when you’re annoyed with people in your heart?

4. What do we do if we don’t feel, sense, and experience genuine gratitude and enjoyment of our fellow church members?

Steve Stratos Ephesians 3:14-21 1. What would your prayer for God’s presence look like? What would you seek for? 2. Jews typically prayed standing. How does Paul express his burden to pray. What does longing look like for you? What does it stir up? Pray about it! 3. Pick out the 3 main petitions of Paul’s prayer. Which one would you long for the most? 4. How would you measure the Love of God so you could tell someone else? 5. Why does Paul say “together with all the saints"? 6. Sit down and re-write this prayer in your own language!

Ephesians 1:17-18; Colossians 1:9

1. Write down your definition of wisdom and share your definitions with each other. Come up with a “best definition,” working together as a group, using the best of what you each have.

2. Why does the author of the Proverbs call it "supreme," or the most important thing to get?

3. Jesus (greatest commandment), Paul (1 Corinthians 13) and the OT remind us that love is the highest virtue. So what is the relationship between love and wisdom? How do they work together? Is it possible to have one without the other? Why or why not?

4. Who is the wisest person you have ever known throughout the course of your life? Describe them and the way they live life — and why exactly do you call them wise?

5. Read James 1:2-8. What is the context here for seeking wisdom? Here it says to pray and ask for wisdom for yourself.

6. Read Ephesians 1:17 and Colossians 1:9. Why do you think Paul is praying this for them? And what does it look like when God answers such prayers?

7. Why is praying this way for others central to the advancement of the Kingdom on this Earth? (Thy Kingdom come – Thy will be done)

8. Spend some time praying for those closest to your heart and that you are most concerned about – don’t pray for circumstances to change but use Paul’s prayers for wisdom as a model.