Heroes of the Faith, Part 4Sample

God Answers Prayer

Bible Story: Ehud - Judges 3:12-30

Theme Verse: Philippians 4:6

After the Israelites took the Promised Land under Joshua, they made homes, planted fields, and lived in the land for a long time. During that time, the people forgot about God and worshiped other things that were not the true God! You and I are sinners, too, and even though we do our best, we often do what’s wrong. To discipline them, God brought a neighboring people, the Moabites to take over Israel and oppress them for 18 years! That’s a long time. Sometimes it takes a long time for us to recognize God’s discipline in our lives.

When we accept Jesus Christ, we enter God’s family and become sons and daughters of God, and nothing can ever change that. Like any good father, God will discipline us and teach us how to obey Him. There are also consequences for every decision we make in our lives. When the Israelites realized that they were in trouble because of their own actions, they prayed to God to save them.

We can ask God for help in difficult situations, too. Then we need to trust that God will help us but not always in the way we expect. The Israelites were probably hoping that God would raise up some warrior who would gather the Israelites together and form a big army to attack the nation that was oppressing them. God didn’t do that. Instead, He sent a man named Ehud who pretended to have a secret message for the king of Moab. Then Ehud killed the king in his own palace! After that, he called the Israelites together and fought against the Moabites.

Just like God saved Israel with just one man named Ehud in a very unexpected way, God saved the whole world with His son Jesus in a very unexpected way. The Israelites expected a king would swoop in and save the day, but Jesus came gently and died on our behalf then rose again so anyone who believes in Him could be saved. Ask God for help and watch for the unexpected way He helps you.

In difficult times, I will pray and ask God for help!

Questions:

1. If God asks me to do something brave like Ehud, what if I'm scared? Is it okay to be afraid?

2. What punishments have you received that were your fault?

3. Are wars good?

Application to life:

The homework for this week is to pray for some uncomfortable situation that you are going through. You do not have to close your eyes, nor say anything out loud because God can hear your thoughts and your heart. Pray for something practical and specific so that you see God’s response.