DEIRDRE INAMDAR

Q2. (19:15) How do the first two sentences of Hezekiah's prayer (verse 15) correspond to the first sentence of the Lord's Prayer? How are they important to faith? How are they important to God answering the prayer? Both The Lords Prayer and Hezekiah's prayer begin with salutation to the Most High God.They acknowledge Him as Sovereign Almighty and Majestic,and so He is. It is important to acknowledge God for who He says He is and what He does.It is a faith booster when we know we are talking to the God of the Universe ,and when we know that He is in control of everything. When we seek God diligently,knowing He has the answer to all our problems He will reward us.

Q1. (19:14) What is the significance of Hezekiah spreading out the enemy's message before the Lord? What is the underlying principle illustrated here? How can we apply this principle to our own lives? What happens when we don't apply this principle? Hezekiah knows that his enemy is God's enemy and so before reacting to the letter He takes it to the Lord.He knows the battle is the Lords.Hezekiah appeasls to God to intervene and win the battle. I do believe that if God is for us who can be against us,God has promised nevert o leave us or forsake us ,and therefore before reacting to anything we need to go to God. He has promised to uphold us with His Righteous Right Hand..The battle is the Lords. We need to take all our battles to the Lord and let Him fight them for us.Trust in Him and lean not on our own understanding in all our ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct our paths. We will land up fighting God's battles and the result----Disaster.

Q4. Why is a person's attitude with regard to giving related to that person's attitude towards praise? Why does an attitude of possessiveness with regards to giving get in the way of worship? In what sense do all your possessions belong to God? What then should be your relationship to your possessions? How will these truths re-energize your giving? Your praise? All that we have comes from God we can boast of nothing.I have a personal testimony I in my wildest dreams could not have dreamt of earning the amount I am giving to God's work today and this is pure grace and I give Him all the praise for trusting me. When we are possessive of what we have we tend to forget that it is not ours in the first place .All that we have belongs to God and we are but stewards. Our possessions become our idols and this comes in the way of our worship. Everything we have belongs to God.We have been bought with a price so we are not our own ,our children are not our own our wealth has been given to us by God as He gives us the power to get the wealth.It is all His. We need to hold on to our possessions very lightly,and use them wisely asking God for guidance being good stewards When we become aware of these truths I believe it is a load off us.We will be secure with the fact that God will continue to provide for us, we will be wise and cheerful givers knowing that God is committed to make us rich in every way so that we can be generous on every occassion,and it will result in praise and thaksgiving to our God. DONT WE SERVE AN AWESOME GOD?

Q3. Verses 11 and 12 both attribute various characteristics to God, such as glory, honor, and might. How might you begin to mention God's greatness in your own prayers? Where is this kind of praise found by example in the Lord's Prayer? What are your favorite songs that point to God's greatness? I normally sing Praise to God about His greatness,there are so many hymns that express the greatness of God.I also quote the Psalms which have so much to say about the greatness of God. I think the whole prayer is about God's greatness ad power.He is the King of the Kingdom, it is His will that we want done on Earth.We also express our dependancy on Him not for bread forgiveness and security. Our God Is An Awesome God Holy Holy Holy Lord God Almighty Rock Of Ages There Is No Rock All Hail King Jesus Salvation Belongs ToOur God. --------and many more

Q2. In what way does praise exalt God? Why should we exalt God? What does this exaltation do in us? What does it say about us? God is not exalted because of our praise rather because He is the only exalted one that iswhy we need to praise Him. We should exalt God because He is worthy of our praise. All creation praises Godand so as a covenant people we need to exalt Him for the Bible says that God inhabits the praises of His people. It humbles us ,our sinfulness is apparent in His holiness.our fickleness in His faithfulness and our guilt in His grace. When we exalt God we are the sheep of His pasture and that gives me great peace.

Q1. In what way do our prayers of praise "bless" God? What do we mere humans have that God desires in a blessing? What are prayers like, that don't include blessing God? When we pray we bless God because we acknowledge Himrecognising our own sinfulness and our dependence on Him. God desires for us humans to worship Him in spirit and in truth,He desires our obedience to His commands and that we give our lives to Himand what is so beautiful is that He desires all this from us only to have a relationship with us so He can bless us. I do believe that they are dry selfish and manipulative.

Q4. What does it mean to have a broken heart and spirit? Why is this essential in the prayer for pardon? In what sense is this a "sacrifice"? Why do we tend to resist a "broken and contrite heart" in ourselves? To have a broken and contrite heart is to have Godly sorrow and deep anguish when we offend God. It is essential for a prayer of pardon as God looks at our heart and only a broken heart and spirit leads to repentence and change. It is a sacrifice as any change is difficult and involves a dying to self. We tend to resist a broken heart and spirit if we want to continue in our sin or if we are rebellious.If we repent and change it is difficult and painful.

Q3. Is it possible to have a pure heart? How does God bring about a pure heart? What is our part in this? Yes it is possible to have a pure heart. In order for God to bring about a pure heart in us , we must first recognise that our hearts are not pure.We should then be desperate to have a pure heart,only then will we go to God and earnestly seek the cleansing that only He can provide.If we are sincere then God will create in us a pure heart. I do believe it is a process,the attitude of our heart reveals itself in our walking in the flesh.our part is to be open to the Holy Spirit and recognise our sin confess it and then we need to put off the old man and out on the new. I do believe God wants us to cooperate with Him,as He creates in us a pure heart.

Q2. In his prayer does David seek to minimize his sins? To maximize them? Why does an authentic prayer for pardon require clear, unvarnished acknowledgement of sin to be effective? David does not minimize or maximize his sin.He acknowledges his sin and realises that he has offended God. To receive forgiveness and be restored into a right relationship with God we need to call sin sin.God forgives a truly repentant heart,as His word says in 1John1:9 He is faithful and just to forgive us our sin and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.God forgives sin and not excuses.Excuses are made to justify our sin,and so we cannot gloss over sin and hope to be forgiven.

Q1. In what way does a prayer for pardon require faith? What is that faith based on? How does a person gain the faith to pray this prayer in confidence? A prayer of pardon requires faith as we need to believe that God is a compassionate God and have the faith that He will forgive those who go to Him seeking for forgiveness. Faith always has an object something or someone and when we ask for pardon our faith is not in the prayer we make but on our God who we make it to. We gain the faith in the Person we pray to.When we know God and have a relationship with Him,we will develope the faith and the confidence to pray the prayer of pardon.We also know that if we have a repentant heart God will forgive us.

Q4. In what way does Abraham show persistence? Why is persistence necessary in prayer? Have you ever experienced "praying through"? What was it like? Abraham shows persistence by going back to God over and over again with the same problem.It showed God that He alone had the answers.It is important to persist in prayer we are taught that in the scriptures.Jesus is our example He is seated at the right hand of the Father interceeding for us all the time. Yes I have experienced praying through. I suffered 6 miscarriages and the doctors gave up on me I went to many doctors I was advised to adopt a child and while I dont have a problem with that I said I would not give up.I went to God and I would weep my heart out. It was in the quiet times with the Lord that my trust in Him grew,and that enabled me to go to him persistently, in prayer and He blessed with with my son and later with a daughter. It is impossible to explain what the feeling is one needs to experience a breakthrough in prayer to really know.Our God is Faithfull and His mercies are new everymorning.

Q3. Do you think Abraham's boldness pleased God? Why or why not? What might cause God to take delight in your prayers to him? Yes I do think Abraham's boldness pleased God, Abraham had a close relationship with God, and in a relationship with a personal God one can express one'sneed or desires. I have a personal relationship with God . He is my Father, and I do believe because He loves me ,and is concerned even about the little details of my life, He would take delight in my prayers.

Q2. How did Abraham demonstrate his humility before God? Why must boldness be tempered with humility? Abraham demonstrated his humility before God by acknowledging who he was.He approached God with boldness because he knew he was clothed in the righteousness of God ,but he did not take his relationship with God for granted because he was covered in the fear Of the Lord which is the begining of wisdom.He knew God,and I think this settles the issue when we know who God is we cannot but be humble. Boldness must be tempered with humility.Humility keeps a check on who we are,and keeps pride away.As believers in the Lord Jesus Christ we need to develope a humble attitude towards God and think soberly of ourselves at all times,Our boast should be in the Lord.

Q1. What is the basis of Abraham's argument that God should spare Sodom? How does it relate to God's character? I am amazed at the faith and trust Abraham had in God.Abraham knew God and had a deep relationship with Him. I presume Abraham also had a deep love for his people and he was willing to stand in the gap and plead with the God of the Universe for the people he loved.The basis of his argument was that how could the righteous suffer for the deeds of the unrighteous. God willing to give in to Abraham's request reveals His mercy and love,as also His willing to listen to our requests.Our God works in partnership with His people,and I stand in awe of Him.

Q4. How can prayer change God's mind without conflicting with the doctrine of the Immutability of God? Can God answer a prayer for something outside of the scope of his will? Prayer does change God's mind ,that is why we are asked to pray constantly,to watch and pray.We have an awesome God whose character.desire and purpose will never change,as we have learnt that these are the boundaries within which change takes place and it is prayer that makes it possible.We can change the destiny of men and nations with prayer so let us not give up praying. God's will is good .perfect and acceptable and thank God He will not answer any prayer outside the scope of His will.

Q3. How can a wrong understanding of determinism and predestination keep us from the kind of gutsy prayer that Moses prayed? What do you call a belief that our prayers make no difference to God's response? I think it is important for us to know that we are Kingdom people and not puppets.We have a relationship with the God of the universe,and He trusts us with the Gospel and with the spreading of His Kingdom,He listens to us He desires that we stand in the gap.We see it throughout the Scriptures from Genesis onwards.We need to pray gusty prayers and wrestle with God in prayer to see His Kingdom come and His will be done. Insipid,limp what else! I beliebe that God hears us and responds to our prayers,so lets not give up.Instead let us thank and praise God for having such a rich relationship with us.

Q2. What aspects of Moses' prayer of intercession should we emulate in our own prayers? Upon what logical grounds does Moses offer this bold appeal to God? What do you think it means to "pray the promises of God"? How does knowing the Bible help you get your prayers answered? How does this help our prayers be within God's will? Moses had joined hands with God to bring the Israelites to the Promised Land.He knew that God loved His people and I do believe that Moses loved them too.Moses knew God His Justice and His Mercy.and he blodly stood in the gap for the cause of his people. Moses had logical grounds to pray for his people He told God that the Isralites were His people,and that God,s reputation was at stake if He destroyed His people for the Egyptians would ridicule God.Moses stood on Gods promises that He would make the descendents of Abraham a mighty nation.He knew God well and He knew that God would relent and have mercy. Our God is a God of His word.He has promised us that Heaven and Earth will pass away but His Word will remain and when we pray we can remind God of His promises and He will always fulfill His Word. Knowing God's Word will help us know God and His promises for us so we can claim those promises and remain in His will.

Read Exodus 32:1-14. What had the people done that was so bad? How can a loving God be angry? Is God's sentence to destroy Israel and raise up a new nation through Moses justified? God had just delivered the people of Israel from slavery and was bringing them to the promised land.They had tasted the goodness of God,and God had revealed Himself to them as their protector and their provider.Inspite of all this they did not remember the goodness of God ,they were impatient and rebelled against God and committed spiritual adultery and sinned against God. God is a loving God that is true however He is also a Just and a Holy God and when the children of Israel rebelled against Him,He was angry and rightly so,for God is never wrong. Yes it was justified.Israel had sinned against God.They had chosen to create idols and worship themThey were not giving Almighty God who had brought them out of bondage and was going to make them His people a thought.I believe God is a Righteous God and His sentence to destroy Israel and raise a new nation through Moses was justified.

Q4. Why should we continually ask forgiveness? How can unforgiveness on our part block God's blessing? How can unforgiveness block God's forgiveness? We should ask God to forgive us our sins.Once we are Born Again we are a new creation however we have a sin nature and we need to have an ongoing scantification.1John1-9says it all "If we claim to be without sin,we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.If we confess our sins He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.If we claim we have not sinned we make Him out to be a liar and His word has no place in our lives. Unforgiveness is sin and all sin is an offence against God and our sin can be a block to our blessing. Gods word is clear when He says that He will forgive us our sin as we forgive others their sin against us.

Q3. Why do we seek to be independent of asking anyone for help? Why do we seek to be independent of God? Why should we ask God to "give" us daily bread so long as we can earn a living for ourselves? I believe that most people like to feel secure and independent.We dont like to worry people with our needs because everybody has their own needs to care for.It is also a good feeling to be independent. Generally most people dont consciously seek to be independent of God.Any one who does not believe in God obviously wont depend on Him.However some one who believes in God may not go to Him with mundane requests thinking that they can manage. We should ask God for our daily bread because then we remind ourselves that we are really dependent on God for all we need,and it is He who provides whether we acknowledge it or not.The very breath of our nostrils is provided by Him,besides our talents abilities health strength favor I can go on and on .We need to be aware of this and go to to Him in humility and thanksgiving and ask for our daily bread.I believe God loves us connecting with Him and we should consider it a privilege.

Q2. In what sense are we asking that the Father's kingdom should come? Why are we asking for the Father's will to be done here on earth? How should this prayer affect our living? When we pray and ask that the Father's Kingdom come we are identifying with the Father.and His Kingdom.We know that when the Kingdom of God comes Christ will be the King and we will have have all that He can give us.The Kingdom of God will come in its totality when Jesus returns to the earth with the saints but it starts when the Kingdom of God comes now into the hearts of those wh make Jesus Lord and Saviour. We ask for Gods will to be done on earth because we know that His will is perfect.and we are here fullfilling HIs purposes In the times that we live we should look forward to His coming and live lives worthy of His calling.

What about our lives and words "hallows" the name of our Father When as Belivers in the Lord Jesus Christ we live lives of total surrender and obedience trusting Our Father to carry us through life. What desecrates and besmirches it? When we profess to be believers and dont obey,have no fear of God and choose to walk by the flesh and not by the Spirit How should we" hallow" the Father when we begin to pray. We should enter His courts with Praise and thanksgiving and praise God for who He is and what He has done. We should stand in awe of Him giving Him glory and honor.

Hi I am Deirdre Inamdar and I live in Bangalore India.This is the first time I am doing a Bible study on line and am very excited.I am married to a very busy husband who travels alot and I have two children Aaron studying at the University Of Georgia at Athens Georgiaa Atlanta and my daughter Rumela who has anothe two years at school here in India before she decide what she would like to do.