Main Character Moment- Week 6
Begin the group with prayer. You might pray for hearts to be sensitive to God’s leading or for strongholds that are present in your lives. Use your discernment.
Overview
Obadiah was a man who followed God but found himself trapped between two masters. He was pulled in one direction by his belief in God and drawn in the other direction by his master, King Ahab, and his wife Queen Jezebel. To tolerate a person like Jezebel or her underlying principles will require Obadiah and us to be complacent about sin or strongholds, to comply with false teaching, and to coddle divisive voices.
This Jezebel spirit will divide families and churches from God’s mission. The good news is that God gives us the authority and strength to demonic aggression wherever it occurs. God calls us to lay aside cultural strongholds when we are confronted with a clash between those strongholds and our faith.
Discussion Questions
- Are there areas of your life where you have become complacent?
- Where have you seen God bring victory when your faith has clashed
with cultural strongholds?
Practice
Ephesians 6 13 Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle, you will still be standing firm. 14 Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness. 15 For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared. 16 In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil. 17 Put on
salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18 Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere.
Name each part of God’s armor and discuss what it looks like in your life. Belt of truth. Body armor (or breastplate) of God’s righteousness. Shoes of peace from the Good News. Shield of faith. Helmet of salvation. Sword of the Spirit, the word of God. Which one is easy for you to practice or put on? Which ones are harder?
Directly after the armor of God is a command to pray. Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere. Why do you think this is Paul’s next statement? How should this passage, in its entirety, guide your prayers? Pray over each person one at a time if time allows, focusing on the places they are tempted to be complacent or to compromise. Write down these requests and ask everyone to continue praying throughout the week.
Allow each person to name a practical step they can take this week related to what the Spirit revealed to them through your time together. Pray before ending.