1. What does 1 Thessalonians 5:17 mean to you?

“Pray continually” (NIV)—or as it is sometimes translated, “Pray without ceasing” (NASB).

2. What would that look like at any given moment in the day?

3. Put it in its immediate context. Does it color your interpretation of 5:17 when you read verses 16-18?

“Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances…” (5:16-18)

4. Paul instructed his son in the faith, Timothy, to “train yourself to be godly” (1 Timothy 4:7).

What does it mean to you to train yourself to be godly?

Do you see this in general terms, or are there specific “training exercises” that we would undergo for this kind of training?

5. Paul went on to say, “For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come” (1 Timothy 4:8).

Paul is comparing spiritual training with physical training. What parallels can you draw between the two?

How can physical training be instructive to us when it comes to training for godliness?

6. What comes to your mind when you hear the term, “spiritual disciplines”?

Is that a positive term or a negative term to you? Why?

7. What is the purpose of spiritual disciplines?

8. What is most difficult about spiritual disciplines?

9. What is most rewarding?

1. Consider this statement: God is uniquely present in our suffering.

What does that mean to you?

Share any experiences you have had that relate to that statement.

2. Of course, God is always present. So what we’re saying is that we are aware of His presence in a unique way in times of suffering.

Do you think that we experience God during our suffering in ways that we don’t usually experience His presence?

Are there things we can know and experience about God that can only be learned during times of suffering?

3. Unlike the religions of this world, Christianity believes in a God who suffered on our behalf.

How does it impact our view of suffering that we serve the “man of sorrows” who was “familiar with suffering” (Isaiah 53:3)?

4. What are the most important things you have learned and experienced during times of suffering?

5. Have you learned from the suffering of others?

Were these people you observed first hand?

What have been the greatest lessons you’ve learned from others who were suffering?

6. Obviously, not everyone experiences a sense of God’s presence during suffering. What do you think we need to do to open ourselves to Him during these times?

7. There is always an ebb and flow to life. When a believer goes through prolonged suffering he or she will have times when God feels close and times when He seems distant.

What empowers us during the times when God seems far away?