During our study of Jonah Navigating a Life Interrupted, author Priscilla Shirer asked us at the end of each chapter to write a short list of navigation skills. I really enjoyed this aspect of the lesson and the tiny space she gave us to write each summary. It helps us to “shorten” our language into a few words and sentences for navigating a life interrupted. Below are the navigation skills I learned while participating in this six-week online bible study. Your navigation skills may be different than mine.

My Navigation Tools from Week 1

• Prepare to be interrupted.
• Partner with God
• Accept the Divine Intervention 100%
• Be a manager, not an owner
• Do not listen to feelings, listen to the heart

My Navigation Tools from Week 2

• Do not delay obedience.
• Do not run when God calls.
• Do not give in to temptation.
• Do not ignore God.
• Always expect God’s goodness, even in my rebellion.

My Navigation Tools from Week 3

• Look for signs from God that I’m headed in the wrong direction.
• Look for and accept God’s discipline.
• Align myself with God, always.
• Go with God’s will, not mine.
• Depend on scripture verses for desperate prayers.

My Navigation Tools from Week 4

• God allows second chances.
• Allow God to find me, don’t hide.
• Take the long road to God’s will, shortcuts not acceptable.
• Move forward without dependence on perfection.
• Act on his will. Sacrifice on His command.

My Navigation Tools from Week 5

• Speak in Love (His name)
• I’m never outmatched with God inside my heart.
• God sets the course before the game.
• Obedience equals results.
• Place hope in a compassionate God.

My Navigation Tools from Week 6

• Accept the will of God without complaint.
• Walking by the Spirit does not permit anger at God.
• Align my priorities with God.
• Divine Discipline is an act of God’s love.
• See the world from God’s perspective.

Look back through your six-week bible study and read the navigation skills you wrote down. Find a few of your favorites and share them here with the group.

Navigating my way with God beside me,



We’re proud of you for completing the study of Jonah, Navigating a Life Interrupted! Congratulations on your hard work and commitment to study and learn scripture. Many thanks to Shannon Barr for leading this group study. You’ll want to celebrate your achievement with something memorable, such as:

• Spend time with a family member or friend
• Dinner date
• Manicure/pedicure
• Box of chocolates
• Favorite coffee or tea drink
• Buy a Webkinz whale!
• Enjoy candlelight bath with whale music
• Cut some flowers from your garden
• Whatever you choose…do it to celebrate the completion of your Jonah study

Below is our WALL OF CELEBRATION. If you have finished the Jonah study, then simply post your name… and let’s celebrate our achievement!

In the sixth and final week of Jonah: Navigating a Life Interrupted by Priscilla Shirer we are hit with possibly the hardest idea for a Christian to absorb, and that is our behavior when things do not go as we had hoped or planned. As Priscilla noted, we plan things out and just ask God for His blessing on it. We feel that what we want to do for God should be good enough. One of the main reasons for this is personal comfort. We do not like to do things that make us uncomfortable, so we seek out things that are within that realm, even though they may not be what God has called us to do. When things do not go our way, we get angry and throw a fit.   God often likes to get us out of our box because then, His glory can really be seen. When we do things that are beyond us, it is not us; it’s God. We need to stop throwing fits and be happy that He has chosen lowly, sinful to use in this world for His plan and His glory.

Things are going to happen in life that we do not like. We may hurt, or we may feel like we are missing out. We may never know this side of Heaven as to why God allows some of these things to occur. We can only cry out to Him and trust that He has our best interests at heart, because He really does. God loves you, and wants you to be happy. The thing is, He is the one that knows what will truly be best for us in the end. We just need to trust His divine plan. No matter what happens, God is still on the throne. He always has been, and always will be. I loved this quote from Priscilla concerning the ending of her prayers, “Do what I’ve asked you to do, or do something better.” I pray that becomes your heart and prayer as well. Trust God in all things, not just the things you want. He will work all things for His good (Romans 8:28). He will do grand things with a woman yielded to God.

Prayer Requests

We’re updating the prayer wall for the next study. Feel welcome to post a prayer request at any time, just contact us.

Priscilla Shirer Quotes

• You can’t play games with God and expect to win.
• The only way we can be slow to anger is if God’s Spirit is compelling us in that direction.
• Be willing to agree with God about what you find hiding in your heart.
• Like the eye of a storm, peace prevails in God’s presence, even when chaos ensues all around.

This Week’s Scripture Verses-NASB

If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. Galatians 5:25

Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways! Romans 11:33

Final Lesson

• Listen to the Session Seven Audio (optional)
• Listen to the Session Seven Video (optional)

Group Discussion- Answer one question or as many as you like

1. What marks the difference between having head knowledge of God and heart knowledge of God? (page 136)
2. If you were sharing your own Jonah story of your life, what represents the plant God placed in your life? (page 139) Has God ever taken away something you enjoyed in your life? (page 143)
3. Why is it important to see our own needs in the lives of those we are helping? (page 141)
4. Why do you think the enemy tries to disguise hardship as a punishment from God? (page 144)
5. Share your favorite lesson learned from this study.

Laying Down My Life,

Shannon

Week five of Jonah: Navigating a Life Interrupted by Priscilla Shirer is certainly one that makes us think. It should make us prayerfully take a look at our own lives to see if we are obeying God, even in the seemingly small things. As I watched the video and worked through the material, I felt God pressing on me the urgency of this message. God does not look for perfect people that can handle things on their own. If that was the case, we would all be in big trouble. God looks for people who are willing to be obedient in both the large and small things. When God has someone who is obedient, He works supernaturally to do great miracles! It is God’s grace and power that should be seen in a situation, not ours.

God allows us to be in seemingly impossible circumstances facing impossible challenges. Not because He wants to hurt us or watch us fail. It is the opposite. He wants to use our weakness and our messes for His glory! Isn’t that an incredible thought? That Divine Interruption you are facing; God will use it. His power is made perfect in our weakness (2 Cor. 12:9). All He asks is that you are obedient. When other people see God’s power in us and through us, it is an amazing testimony of God. I pray this week that you will seek God and ask for His help so that His power will be made perfect in your weakness. Let your life be a living testimony!

Note: These Carol Kent books, mentioned by Priscilla Shirer in the audio/video session, are highly recommended:

A New Kind of Normal (currently on sale $8.00 at Amazon!)

When I Lay My Issac Down

Prayer Requests

We welcome any prayer needs from the group and ask that you will print a copy of the prayers, place them, in your workbook and pray for these women. If you have a prayer request for our prayer wall, please click here.

Priscilla Shirer Quotes

• Evangelism is not something we do, it is a way to live.
• I’ve become used to God’s allowing me to be outmatched. It seems that this is His way: putting regular people in circumstances that are beyond their own capabilities.
• Your Father has enough GRACE to sustain, keep and use you.
• He paves a pathway to victory as long as we simply walk in obedience.
• My insecurities don’t absolve me of responsibility.
  

This Week’s Scripture Verses-NASB

Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Matt 28:19 (The Great Commission)

And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness ” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. 2 Cor 12:9

The LORD is the one who goes ahead of you; He will be with you He will not fail you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.” Deut 31:8

and he said, “Listen, all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and King Jehoshaphat: thus says the LORD to you, ‘Do not fear or be dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours but God’s. 2 Chron 20:15

For Next Week

• Read Week Six, pages 129-150 in the workbook
• Listen to the Session Six Audio (optional)
• OR…Listen to the Session Six Video (optional)

Group Discussion- Answer one question or as many as you like

1. On page 107, you listed some ways you can make disciples as you go about your daily routine. What can you intentionally do during the day to make disciples?
2. As you consider your own group of Ninevites, what challenges or difficulties do you face? (page 110)
3. What are your concerns about sharing God’s word with others? (page 119)
4. On page 120, Priscilla created a list of scripture verses for ministering to others. What verses do you use in similar situations?

Laying Down My Life,

Shannon

In our fifth week of study with Priscilla Shirer, you’ll see that the second day of this week’s study on Jonah you’re asked to translate Jonah 3:3 into different bible versions. Using BibleGateway.com we’re included some of these translations for you to print and study.

Jonah 3:3 Translations

Jonah obeyed the word of the LORD and went to Nineveh. Now Nineveh was a very important city—a visit required three days. NIV

So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh according to the word of the LORD. Now Nineveh was ^[a]an ^(A)exceedingly great city, a three days’ walk. NASB

This time Jonah started off straight for Nineveh, obeying God’s orders to the letter. Nineveh was a big city, very big—it took three days to walk across it. Message

So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city of three days’ journey [sixty miles in circumference]. Amplified

This time Jonah obeyed the Lord’s command and went to Nineveh, a city so large that it took three days to see it all. New Living Translation

So Jonah arose, and went unto Nineveh, according to the word of the LORD. Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city of three days’ journey. King James Version

So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the LORD. Now^(A) Nineveh was an exceedingly great city,^[a] three days’ journey in breadth. ESV

and Jonah riseth, and he goeth unto Nineveh, according to the word of Jehovah. And Nineveh hath been a great city before God, a journey of three days. Youngs Literal Translation

Jonah obeyed the Lord. He went to Nineveh. It was a very important city. In fact, it took about three days to see all of it. NIRV

Keywords from Strongs Concordance

remember you should research keywords using Strongs Confordanceto see the Greek and Hebrew meaning of what you are reading. Here is a sample from Jonah 3:3 using the NIV translation:

obeyed

• answer (1), became obedient (1), becoming obedient (1), heed (1), obedient (2), obey (12), obeyed (3).
• From hupo and akouo; to hear under (as a subordinate), i.e. To listen attentively; by implication, to heed or conform to a command or authority — hearken, be obedient to, obey.

important -

• exceeding, great, large
• abundant (1), all the more (1), arrogant (1), big (2), completely* (1), fierce (2), great (115), great men (2), great things (2), greater (30), greater things (1), greatest (10), greatly* (1), grown* (1), high (2), huge (1), large (8), larger (2), larger ones (1), long time (1), loud (42), mighty (1), more important (2), older (1), one greater (1), perfectly (2), severe (2), stricter (1), strong (1), surprising (1), terribly (1), too much (1), very much (1), wide (1).
• (including the prolonged forms, feminine megale, plural megaloi, etc.; compare also megistos, meizon); big (literally or figuratively, in a very wide application) — (+ fear) exceedingly, great(-est), high, large, loud, mighty, + (be) sore (afraid), strong, X to years.

Week four in Jonah: Navigating a Life Interrupted by Priscilla Shirer, closely follows on the heels of last week’s study where we looked at the messes we make when we stray from God’s plan, and how He can use it for His glory. While God loves us no matter what, His desire for us is obedience. Sometimes that means doing something we do not want to do, other times it means waiting for His timing. Neither is easy, and we often seek to take matters into our own hands, much like Jonah did. We often end up with the same result. While we may not be swallowed by a fish, we end up in situations that are not good for us, and God rescues us. He still wants us to be obedient and do what He has called us to do. Before we can do that though, our hearts must be transformed and we must be willing to obey. Once we are, God will send us out on the path He has called us to. We will not be going alone, but with the Holy Spirit. Nothing we face is too great or difficult because He is empowering us. We should never do things on our own, but through the power of the Holy Spirit so God alone gets the glory. I do not want people looking at what I have done. I want them to stand back from something and say, “Wow! Look what God has done! ” He alone!

When we choose to meander on our own paths, and seek out our own ways, God is not finished with us. He will be there waiting when we are ready to come back and do what He has asked. He will offer his never-ending grace and forgiveness. Just be ready to be obedient, as that is what He truly wants. Instead of writing more for you to read, I really feel the Lord is asking us to spend some extra time searching our hearts for areas of disobedience. If you find some, go to Him in prayer. He is waiting to take you in His arms, clean up the scrapes and bruises, and set you back on the journey He has called you to. If you know He is calling you to something, spend time in prayer and commit to it. He loves you unconditionally and more than you can imagine. Go to Him, and embrace your Divine Intervention.

In audio session four, Priscilla recommends reading the book by Iris Blue. The book is called Iris: Trophy of Grace.

Prayer Requests

Please pray for clarity on how to reach the Ninevites, the people God wants you to serve. We welcome any prayer needs from the group and ask that you will print a copy of the prayers, place them, in your workbook and pray for these women. If you have a prayer request for our prayer wall, please click here.

Priscilla Shirer Quotes

• Only after we’ve been squeezed by God can we be poured out. (from audio session four)
• The bible bulges with account after merciful account of individuals who’d blown it and yet were offered the clemency that only a compassionate God like ours could give.
• Our second chance brings us full circle to the place where we have to chose full obedience.
• God gave the Spirit to the disciples as an internal compass to help them find their way.
• Obedience necessitates self-denial.

This Week’s Scripture Verses-NASB

But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you. John 16:7

No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you. John 15:15

For Next Week

• Read Week Five, pages 105-125 in the workbook
• Listen to the Session Five Audio (optional)
• OR…Listen to the Session Five Video (optional)

Group Discussion- Answer one question or as many as you like

1. Do you see God actively searching for you, or hiding from you? Why? (page 89)
2. What keeps you from moving forward in obedience to God? (page 92)
3. Are you currently at Joppa, the place of decision and the crossroad of obedience? (page 93)
4. Have you ever tried to compensate for your rebellion with God? What did you do to make amends? (page 99-100)

On page 89 Priscilla asks you to write a letter of your second chance story. If you’d like to share it here with the group, email us and we’ll post it for you.

Laying Down My Life,

Shannon

We’re halfway through our Jonah bible study and at the halfway point of finding our own Nineveh. On page 73 in the workbook,Priscilla Shirer instructs you to “raise your hands to Him in submission and surrender and commit to go where He is leading.”

Where do your find God leading you? If you know the answer, please share your response below. If you’re uncertain, continue to pray and spend time with God through the remaining three weeks and listen to His quiet whisper.

In our third week of Jonah: Navigating a Life Interrupted by Priscilla Shirer, we look at what happens when one disobeys God, and allows her life to get off track. Jonah did not want to go to Nineveh. Even worse, he did not want the Ninevites to experience God’s redeeming love and grace. He judged them, and declared them guilty with no means for restitution. God saw them through a different light, and knew they would repent and radically change their lives in order to serve Him. Jonah wanted no part of it, so he ran away not giving a thought to God’s plan or what he may encounter. I doubt Jonah would have counted on being tossed overboard on a ship during a storm and being swallowed by a fish. That is what is so amazing about God. Often, when He moves, it is in such a way that one cannot doubt that it is Him.

That is what happened to Jonah. When the storm raged, he knew it was because of his disobedience to God, and told the sailors to throw him overboard in order to calm the seas. They did just that, but instead of drowning, he was swallowed by a fish. Clearly, God moved in this situation in order to save His servant. Jonah still suffered consequences for his actions, but God saved him. Seeing that, he immediately prayed to the Lord. At that moment, he submitted to God and His plan, even though he did not like it.

We do the same thing as Jonah. We mess up. We seek out our own path because it looks good, feels good, or it seems easier. Sometimes, we think we are doing it for God. In those moments, it is entirely possible for us to be so busy trying to work for God that we forget to seek Him to join Him on what He was planned. We do our work and ask for His blessing instead of asking Him to bless us with His work. Life just works better when we are on the path that God has called us to, doing the tasks that He has told us to.

When we fail to follow God’s plan, things can become a mess. We screw up and hit rock bottom thinking that there is no way that God can use us now. It is in those times that God sometimes uses us the most. Priscilla said this in the video, “God can take the biggest mess and turn it into the greatest miracle.” It is when people see His hand that He gets the glory. God gives us this promise:

My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. (2 Corinthians 12:9)

Our mess becomes His miracle. I am a walking testimony to that. I got so busy doing things for God that I did not even stop to consider what He wanted. After a series of events that tore all of my security out from under me, He was the only one I could turn to, and I cried out to Him. The days I lived in darkness before coming to Him were some of the worst days of my life. While I would never want to go through them again, I can see how God has used it for His glory. He has restored my heart, and has given me a clear vision for ministry. The hurts I faced in those days are being used to minister to other women who are walking the same path. God will make good from what was meant as evil.

Are you currently walking down a path that you chose in order to get away from God’s call? Have you recently experienced a Divine Interruption? If you have, it is not too late. Cry out to God in prayer. Ask Him to help you turn from your ways and align yourself with His. No matter how far in the depths you feel, God can and will redeem you. There may be discipline, but it is for your good and His glory. Walk with Him. It is the sweetest walk you can take.

Prayer Requests

If you have a prayer request for our prayer wall, please click here. Please print a copy of the prayers and pray for the women participating in this study.

Priscilla Shirer Quotes

• The goal is to revive so that He can realign.
• True repentance requires a change in direction.
• Purposeful prayer must engage our mind, will and emotion.

This Week’s Scripture Verses-NASB

Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth; For I am God, and there is no other. Isaiah 45:22

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9

But I will sacrifice to You with the voice of thanksgiving; That which I have vowed I will pay; Salvation is from the LORD.” Jonah 2:9

For Next Week

• Read Week Four, pages 81-101 in the workbook
• Listen to the Session Four Audio (optional)
• OR…Listen to the Session Four Video (optional)

Group Discussion- Answer one question or as many as you like

1. How do you act when you are going in the wrong direction in life?What spiritual signs can you look for to reveal you are headed in the wrong direction? (page 59-60)
2. Is the Lord allowing divine discipline in your life right now and if so, do you yield or fight? (page 64)
3. Is any comfort or sin keeping you from yielding to God’s divine intervention? Why is this hard for you to let go? (page 66)
4. On the bottom of page 69 you prayed in four key areas. Which of these areas are satisfactory or challenging for you: grace, repentance, obedience or loving Ninevites?

Laying Down My Life,

Shannon

We’re on the second week of study as we read Jonah: Navigating a Life Interrupted by Priscilla Shirer. When learned this week that when God gave a command to Jonah, he covered his ears and ran! He did not want to receive further instruction from the Lord, so he skipped town and turned away from prayer. Jonah clearly was not willing to obey the Lord. During the week we had an opportunity to examine our own lives and chances to obey or disobey when called by God. We examined our lives for personal allegiance and purpose.

We easily fall into a downward spiral of disobedience as we run from God like Jonah did and become “sleepers.” On page 49 Shirer brings up the discussion of how a pagan man can wake up a believer to pray. I recall an experience from my own life when my husband was in critical care and my neighbors continued to say “I’ll pray for you.” At the time, I believed God yet I was not in prayer or intimacy with Him. I knew my neighbors were not Christian and yet they were praying. It made me wonder why I was not praying myself, what was I hiding from. My neighbors began mowing the lawn and taking out the trash cans to the curb for me, because I was pregnant and my husband was in ICU with a rare blood disease. As a family we were overwhelmed by the outpouring and we knew our lives would never be the same. When my husband recovered, we found a relationship with God that had not existed in our lives because we were hiding in rebellion.

Prayer Requests

We welcome any prayer needs from the group and ask that you will print a copy of the prayers, place them, in your workbook and pray for these women. If you have a prayer request for our prayer wall, please click here.

Priscilla Shirer Quotes

• A way to determine where our allegiance lies is to consider how we respond to a divine intervention.
• Most disobedience involves just that- a simple choice to stay put.
• Jonah was on a run from God not only with his feet but with his heart as well.
• The world with its pagan thoughts and ideals, shouldn’t have to rouse us back to intimacy with the one true God.

This Week’s Scripture Verses-NASB

Who knows, God may turn and relent and withdraw His burning anger so that we will not perish. When God saw their deeds, that they turned from their wicked way, then God relented concerning the calamity which He had declared He would bring upon them. And He did not do it. Jonah 3:9-10

And the LORD said to him: “I have heard your prayer and your supplication that you have made before Me; I have consecrated this house which you have built to put My name there forever, and My eyes and My heart will be there perpetually.”  1 Kings 9:3 NKJV

But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death. James 1:14-15

Don’t let anyone under pressure to give in to evil say, “God is trying to trip me up.” God is impervious to evil, and puts evil in no one’s way. The temptation to give in to evil comes from us and only us. We have no one to blame but the leering, seducing flare-up of our own lust. Lust gets pregnant, and has a baby: sin! Sin grows up to adulthood, and becomes a real killer. James 1:13-15 Message

For Next Week

• Read Week Three, pages 57-77  in the workbook
• Listen to the Session Three Audio (optional)
• OR…Listen to the Session Three Video (optional)

Group Discussion- Answer one question or as many as you like

1. Have you ever felt justified in choosing not to obey God? (page 38)
2. If you were Jonah, what would you have done when God called, and why?(page 39)
3. Are you comforted or discomforted by God’s presence right now? Why? (page 42)
4. Have you had a time like Jonah when you didn’t want to sense God’s presence? If you are comfortable, please share your story of your downward spiral listed on page 43.

Each time we start a new study, I like to post some information about our online small group. In the study of Jonah, we currently have almost 60 women participating. One of the most exciting things in this group is that we’re having a BABY! Not me, of course….Nicki from Memphis is having a baby girl due on August 20th. She has a 2-year old boy and if Nicki had another son, we’d absolutely insist she name her baby Jonah! Congratulations and please keep us updated on the baby’s arrival.

For fun, we asked you to post your navigation stories and rate your navigation skills. We found sixteen women in the group who can get from “here to there” and claim good navigation skills. Wendy from Texas wins hands down for our group navigator- she was in the Navy for eight years and married a Navy seal. Susan from Virginia sounds much like me, saying she is “directionally challenged” and her family claims she’ll get lost pulling out of the driveway! I’ll admit, we went on a family boating trip in July and I let the kids navigate…I was so lost!

You’ll notice Shannon Barr is writing the blog posts for the Jonah study and I’m writing the discussion questions and accessories (favorite quotes and scripture verses). Some of you remember Shannon from our Breaking Free study when she wrote updates once a week for ten weeks at the Womens Bible Cafe. If you are new to the group, Shannon is  a seminary student and involved in Women’s Ministry.

Three of the women participating in this study-Joanie, Kim and Michelle- will be leading Jonah small groups at their church. It is imortant that you post comments about the study, because this will enable these church leaders to learn from our study and take some of your ideas to their church small groups. So don’t be shy…speak up!

Did I mention we’re having a baby….with my youngest daughter turning nine next month, I miss those days of sleeping infants. Sigh.

Last Updated: August 10, 2010

Women Participating in the Study = 57

Where We Are From

• Alabama-1
• Arkansas-2
• California-6
• Connecticut-1
• Florida-4
• Georgia-1
• Idaho-1
• Illinois-1
• Indiana-1
• Kentucky-2
• Louisiana-3
• Maryland-1
• Michigan-1
• Minnesota-1
• Missouri-1
• New York-1
• North Carolina-1
• Oregon-1
• Rhode Island-1
• South Carolina-4
• Tennessee-2
• Texas-5
• Virginia-1
• Wisconsin-1
• Washington DC-1
• Not stated-12

Gifted in Navigation = 16

Directionally Challenged = 19

Did not answer = 17