Recently, I was looking for the next great thing to study with the ladies Bible study group at my church, Faith Baptist Church in Cheboygan, MI. I wanted to find something to take the ladies at church to the next level in their knowledge of God. Several years ago in my personal devotions, I read through Praying the Names of God and Praying the Names of Jesus by Ann Spangler and absolutely loved them. When I was looking for Bible studies about the names of God and saw she had written one, I knew I had found the right study.
I just needed to figure out how to use The Names of God in a small group Bible study setting. Most of the Bible studies my group does together are 8, 10 or maybe 13 weeks long, but Ann’s study on The Names of God is so comprehensive; she teaches on 26 names of God and 26 names of Jesus, so I had to find a way to get through it in a shorter time period without overwhelming my ladies with too much of a time commitment.
For my group, I adapted it into a thirteen-week study by dividing the Names of God so that we studied four names of God each week, my ladies absolutely loved it!
Each name of God is split into three sections:
• The teaching section – two to three pages of teaching about a name of God
• Passages for continued study
• Questions that encourage thought and discussion
Each lady in our study group committed to reading the teaching section for each of the four names of God each week. I encouraged them to read as many of the passages for continued study that time in their life allowed before answering the questions.
The Names of God encourages the participant to truly study the Bible for themselves, without any “right answers” from the author. The emphasis on Scripture focuses the student on who God is as expressed by His names in His word, yet the questions probe how that Scripture applies to our everyday lives. It is Bible study at its finest, with prayer prompts interwoven throughout to encourage focused prayer.
If the participants are only able to read the teaching, they can still participate in the group discussions of the questions. But if they read the teaching and study the additional passages before answering the questions, there is so much more they can discern about who God is.
So, we pray these lyrics together before our discussion time each week:
“Lord, we want to know You,
Live our lives to show You
All the love we owe You.
We’re seekers of Your heart.”
Tunney/Tunney/Darnall
Denise Ackerman
Ladies’ Bible Study Teacher
Faith Baptist Church
http://faithbaptistupnorth.org/
Cheboygan, Michigan
–Looking for something that tastes a little different? Check out Margaret Feinberg’s article on her Bible Study–
