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Daniel 4

Key s to Liv i ng a S uc c es s ful Chris ti a n Li fe i n a P a ga n Worl d 4. Be in Communion with God

Bible Passage: Daniel 6: 10 Bible ruth: Daniel had intimate, daily communion with God. Lesson !b"ective: That students commit to having daily intimate communion with God What you need: salt, cups and water slips o! paper with verses handout, "# want to know you$ !#ening$ %&plain that you are going to read a de!inition and ask the students what comes to their mind.
A chemical compound formed by replacing all or part of the hydrogen ions of an acid with one or more metallic ions, also an element that gives flavor or zest.

Get a !ew responses then put a'out 1(4 teaspoon o! salt in each person)s hand and ask them to lick it. Then have them descri'e the salt. *ead the second de!inition and ask what they think it is: A sensation of dryness in the mouth resulting from a condition that arrests the secretion of the pharyngeal mucous membrane.+ow ask them to descri'e thirst. ,nd !inally: A clear, colorless, nearly odorless and tasteless liquid. ,!ter they respond give cups o! water to everyone to -uench their thirst !rom the salt. ,!ter they have drunk their water ask them to descri'e water.

How was hearing the definition different than experiencing the thing? How did experiencing salt, thirst and water help you describe it? Let s apply what we ve !ust learned, to our spiritual life. "s there a difference between #nowing about $od and #nowing $od? How are they similar? How are they different?

%nteractive Learning: ,sk the students to pair up with one o! the people in the room that they know the least, telling them that they are going to spend two minutes getting to know each other. .nce they have !ormed partners e&plain that during this time they may not talk, write notes, touch each other or communicate in any other way. /ake sure the !ull two minutes pass 'e!ore you 'reak the awkward silence and, while they remain with their partners, ask the group:

How much did you learn about each other? "s it possible to get to #now someone and build a relationship with him or her without communication? " want you to thin# about the person you most en!oy, it could be a friend, boyfriend, girlfriend, or parent. %hat would your relationship with them be li#e if you didn t spend any time together?

&bviously the point we re getting at is that !ust li#e it s important to spend time with a friend or boyfriend to have a good relationship, we need to spend time with $od if we want to have a good relationship with him.

Bible &##lication: ,sk them to turn in their 'i'les to Daniel 6:10 and read it out loud together.
Here we find out next #ey to living a successful 'hristian life in a pagan world( )aniel prayed three times a day *as was his custom since early days.* "n )aniel chapters + and , we can read some of )aniel s prayers and we see that these prayers weren t !ust a routine li#e our prayers before meals often are. )aniel poured his heart out to $od. )aniel lived in communion with $od . 0write as a heading on the 'oard, 12e in

3ommunion with God14 Then have them return to their partner and !ind out !ive things a'out them that they didn)t know 'e!ore.

-ince !ust sitting next to them didn t help much, what did help you get to #now your partner better? 5write
on the 'oard their answers, things like talking, listening, time6

%e also need those things to develop intimacy in our relationship with $od. How do we tal# with $od? 5pray, sing6 How do we listen to $od? 5read the 2i'le, 'e sensitive to the 7oly 8pirit, listen to pastors or other 3hristians6

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Daniel 4

"t is really amazing that the $od who created everything that exists loves us, is involved in the details of our lives, and wants to have an intimate, personal relationship with us. He wants that so much that he has preserved for us in the .ible lots of ideas for how to have communion with him.

2e!ore class write the re!erences written on pieces o! paper and give each pair o! students a verse. They should read the verse together and decide what advice it gives us a'out how to deepen our relationship with God through reading the 2i'le or prayer. 5note: 9eaders should ahead o! time read through the verses to have a
general idea o! what they are saying, then write out on strips o! paper the appro&imate num'er o! verses you will need. *emem'er each pair o! students gets one verse. During the study try to hand out appro&imately the same num'er o! verses dealing with scripture and with prayer6 Studying Scri#ture: :ames 1:;;<;= 5don)t >ust hear it, do it6 ; Tim ;:1= 5don)t misuse or misapply the 2i'le6 ?s 11@:11 5memoriAe scripture6 ?s 11@:1= 5don)t >ust read it -uickly, meditate on it6 ?s 11@:BB,B= 5ask God to help you understand6 Prayer: 1 Thes. =: 16<1C 5re>oice, pray, and give thanks continually6' /t. 6:D 5pray !rom the heart, not some !ormula6 /t 6:16<1D 5do !ast sometimes, 'ut not !or show6 1 Tim ;:1,; 5include thanksgiving and petitions !or rulers in your prayers6 1 :n =: 14, 1= 5God hears us and will give us what we ask according to his will6 :ames =:1B 5trou'leE ?ray. 7appyE 8ing to God6

Fhen the students have !inished ask each group to e&plain what their passage says that can help us in our prayer and 2i'le study 0!eel !ree to have them read their verses as well i! you have time4 and then 0you4 write their summary on the 'oard. Then ask,

Has anyone thought of other passages that have other helpful advice in these areas? /hin#ing about your devotional life, have any of these 0pointing to list o! responses written on the 'oard4 been helpful to you? %hat habits or hints have helped you in your relationship with $od? Are there any that you haven t done, but you would li#e to?

"t is normal to see someone feeding a baby. .ut what would you thin# if you went into a restaurant and saw a woman feeding her husband every bite of his dinner? 0ou would probably thin# that there was something wrong with him. &ne of the signs of maturity is being able to do things for yourself. .ut all too often we are content to be spiritual babies. %e only get *fed* spiritually when we come to church and someone else feeds us. )aniel was in a foreign land far from the temple of $od in 1erusalem. /he .ible doesn t tell us about anyone who came to teach him about $od. He had to *feed* himself spiritually, and he did. He spent time with $od every day. " want to challenge you today to *grow up* in your faith. )on t be content to be a baby. /he most important step you can ta#e towards growing up is to spend time with $od, reading His word and tal#ing with him every day.

Commitment$

How many of you read the .ible outside of church? How many of you would li#e to read the .ible more than you do? %hat are the things that ma#e reading the .ible hard for you?

$od, who is perfectly wise, gave us in the .ible what he #new we need to #now. /rue, some parts are easier to understand, and some parts harder, so start with the easy parts. And you can t expect to understand what $od is trying to tell you if you read a section quic#ly, close your .ible, and don t thin# about it again. Here we have a wor#sheet that can help you understand the .ible better when you read it.

?ass out the handout, e&plaining it has the title, 1God # want to get to know you 'etter1 'ecause we should always remem'er that the 2i'le is like a letter !rom God to us. .! course it contains all kinds o! literature !orms like history, poetry, and prophecy, 'ut it)s all there 'ecause God has something he wants us to learn !rom it. 8o we should always 'egin 'y praying and asking God to help us understand what 7e wants us to learn. Then tell the students that !or the ne&t !ew minutes they should read Daniel 6:10<;4 and answer the -uestions on the handout. ,!ter the ma>ority has !inished, discuss as a group what they wrote !or each -uestion.

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Daniel 4

Closing: %&plain that the other three sections on the handout are to help them get in the ha'it o! having intimate communion with God 'y doing one section each week !or the ne&t three weeks. %ncourage them to put the sheet in their 2i'le and to take time 'e!ore the ne&t meeting to read Daniel 4:1<;D and to answer the -uestions. 3lose with prayer asking !or God)s help in the li!e o! each person to develop deeper communion with him.

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Daniel 4

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