Kay Arthur - Breaking Free from Fear: A 6-Week, No-Homework Bible Study

B REAKING F REE FROM F EAR
P UBLISHED BY W ATER B ROOK P RESS
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All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the New American Standard Bible. Copyright The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995, and Mark 4:40 from 1997. Used by permission. (www.Lockman.org) Scripture quotations marked ( ESV ) are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Italics in Scripture quotations reflect the authors added emphasis.

ISBN 978-0-307-72985-9
eISBN: 978-0-307-72986-6

Copyright 2012 by Precept Ministries International

Cover design by Kristopher K. Orr

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Published in the United States by WaterBrook Multnomah, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House LLC, New York.

W ATER B ROOK and its deer colophon are registered trademarks of Penguin Random House LLC.

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This small-group study is for people who are interested in learning for themselves more about what the Bible says on various subjects, but who have only limited time to meet together. Its ideal, for example, for a lunch group at work, an early morning mens group, a young mothers group meeting in a home, a Sunday-school class, or even family devotions. (Its also ideal for small groups that typically have longer meeting timessuch as evening groups or Saturday morning groupsbut want to devote only a portion of their time together to actual study, while reserving the rest for prayer, fellowship, or other activities.)

This book is designed so that all the groups participants will complete each lessons study activities at the same time. Discussing your insights drawn from what God says about the subject reveals exciting, life-impacting truths.

Although its a group study, youll need a facilitator to lead the study and keep the discussion moving. (This persons function is not that of a lecturer or teacher. However, when this book is used in a Sunday-school class or similar setting, the teacher should feel free to lead more directly and to bring in other insights in addition to those provided in each weeks lesson.)

If you are your groups facilitator, the leader, here are some helpful points for making your job easier:

Go through the lesson and mark the text before you lead the group. This will give you increased familiarity with the material and will enable you to facilitate the group with greater ease. It may be easier for you to lead the group through the instructions for marking if you, as a leader, choose a specific color for each symbol you mark.

As you lead the group, start at the beginning of the text and simply read it aloud in the order it appears in the lesson, including the insight boxes, which appear throughout. Work through the lesson together, observing and discussing what you learn. As you read the Scripture verses, have the group say aloud the word they are marking in the text.

The discussion questions are there simply to help you cover the material. As the class moves into the discussion, many times you will find that they will cover the questions on their own. Remember, the discussion questions are there to guide the group through the topic, not to squelch discussion.

Remember how important it is for people to verbalize their answers and discoveries. This greatly strengthens their personal understanding of each weeks lesson. Try to ensure that everyone has plenty of opportunity to contribute to each weeks discussions.

Keep the discussion moving. This may mean spending more time on some parts of the study than on others. If necessary, you should feel free to spread out a lesson over more than one session. However, remember that you dont want to slow the pace too much. Its much better to leave everyone wanting more than to have people dropping out because of declining interest.

If the validity or accuracy of some of the answers seems questionable, you can gently and cheerfully remind the group to stay focused on the truth of the Scriptures. Your object is to learn what the Bible says, not to engage in human philosophy. Simply stick with the Scriptures and give God the opportunity to speak. His Word is truth (John 17:17)!

L ife is filled with all sorts of fears, isnt it? Fears of terrorism and natural disasters. Fears about the economy, the safety of loved ones, dreaded diagnoses. Fears of losing a job, a home, a relationship, our savings, our dreams, our independence, our health, our lives. We can find so many reasons to be fearful.

And in these days of instant news, we seem to hear continually about the latest disasters, calamities, and tragedies striking our worlda world that seems to be shrinking, bringing each dangerous development closer and closer to us.

How do we free ourselves from the grip of fear and the accompanying stress that takes a toll on our lives physically, emotionally, mentally? In this study youll discover the answeran answer that will enable you to walk in faith and freedom, no matter what circumstances loom in your life.

God has promised us that nothing would ever overtake us that we could not handle (1 Corinthians 10:13). Therefore He has a way of escapeand when you see it for yourself and, in faith, order your life accordingly, youll find yourself able to break free from fears bondage.

As you begin this study, why dont you take just a moment to tell God you are ready to hear what He says and ask Him to speak to you through His Word, the Bible.

Fear can be paralyzing, confusing, wreaking havoc in our body and mind. When it hits, the best thing you can do is ask the question Jesus asked of His disciples: Why are you afraid? That question is also a good place to begin our study.

Lets look at the occasion that prompted the question. This event took place near the end of Jesus second year of public ministry. By this time, Jesus disciples had seen Him perform all sorts of miracles, from healing the sick to raising the dead to feeding the multitude with a few loaves and fishes.