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Courage Crossing Homework/Study Sheet

THE DECISION OF INDECISION

James 1:5-8

GETTING TO KNOW YOU…
1. Summer Time is fast approaching… Which traditionally is a time when people ‘get away.’ Do you have any specific ‘get away’ time planned? What is your favorite type of ‘get away’?
2. This Morning, Pastor Dave gave 7 Reasons Why We Make Decisions for Indecision:

1. Perfectionism 2. Fear of Failure
3. We Begin to Kid Ourselves 4. Messages From the Past
5. Irrational Process 6. Not Enough Data/Information
7. Too Much Information

a. Do you find yourself being Indecisive at times?
b. Which of the above reasons is/are the culprit? Are there other reasons? What are they?

DIGGING DEEPER
‘If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.’ James 1:5-8

One of the Great Problems we face is that of Indecisiveness, or not being able to ‘make up our mind’. Understand, life is full of decisions and is basically a series of choices we make every day. However, as we have already discussed, making choices can be hard. The quality of our life will be determined by the wisdom or foolishness of our decisions…
Frank Borham said, ‘We make our decisions and then our decisions make us.’

A young businessman went to an executive one day and asked for his wisdom, ‘What is the secret of business success?’ The man said, ‘Wise decisions.’ ‘How can I learn to make wise decisions?’ ‘Experience.’ ‘How do you get experience?’ ‘Dumb decisions!’

The fact is, because we are human we all have a great possibility for error. We wait too long, we pay too much, we say the wrong thing. Some of us are making difficult decisions right now in our lives. Some of us don’t know it yet, but we’ll have a major decision to make tomorrow. Life is full of choices.

In James 1:5-8, James talks about how to make decisions. How do you make up your mind? In these verses, James gives us The Problem; The Prescription; and, the Promise From God…

I. THE PROBLEM: INDECISION

v.8; ‘A double minded man is unstable in all of his ways..’

a. In Greek, the word ‘double minded’ literally means ‘two souled’—pulled apart in different directions… by divided loyalties or priorities…. At times, when making a decision, we’ve all felt pulled in opposite directions… *What are some of the things that you have been indecisive about at times?

b. Indecision, ‘Double Mindedness’, Results in Instability According to Scripture. This morning, Dave listed 3 Results of Indecision:

1. Emotional Instability 2. Unstable Relationships… 3. Spiritual Instability

a. Which of these, if any, have you been plagued with because of your indecisiveness?

II. THE PRESCRIPTION: GET WISDOM

‘If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. Jas.1:5-6A
*James Gives us 3 Practical Steps…

STEP ONE: Admit Your Need… ‘If any man lack wisdom…’

1. What Are Some Ways You Can Admit You Need?
2. How Can We Help Each Other With This?
*NOTE: Proverbs 11:2; When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom…’

STEP TWO: Ask For Wisdom… ‘let him ask of God…’
Prov.2:6; ‘It is the Lord who gives wisdom; from Him comes knowledge and understanding..’ (GN)

1. Do You Do this? Do You find this Hard? Why?
2. What change could you make to help you with this step in your life?

STEP THREE: Anticipate It/Expect It.. ‘But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering…’
‘And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.’ Hebrews 11:6

1. Do you believe God Can/Will do as He has promised?
2. When was a recent time when you passed/did not pass the test of faith in believing God at His word?
I. THE PROMISE: GOD WILL GIVE IT! ‘..let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him..’
1. Right Now, Tonight… What is it in your life that you need to claim God’s Wisdom for… If You can… please share it with the group and ask them to pray for you….

TAKING IT HOME
Do you sense that God is asking you to become more decisive in your decision making? Will you claim James 1:5-8 and begin to do this!!

PRAYER TIME
Prayer is an important part of the Christian life, which is why we always want to take time during Courage Crossing to make prayer a priority. Good group prayer often takes effort, so here are some guidelines to help make your Courage Crossing Prayer Time more effective:

WE PRAY FOR ONE TOPIC AT A TIME- Anyone in the group is free to introduce a prayer request either before prayer begins or during the prayer time. Once a topic is introduced, the group focuses on that request alone. Once it’s covered, the group moves on to the next topic

EACH PERSON PRAYS MORE THAN ONCE. Because the group is focused on one topic at a time, each person is encouraged to pray several times during the prayer time for those topics they feel most led to pray about.

WE KEEP OUR PRAYERS SHORT AND SIMPLE- Group prayer goes better when members keep their prayers short and to the point. When someone prays for a long time, it’s hard for the other members to stay focused and long prayers tend to intimidate those who are just learning to pray out loud in the group.