NextLevel Online: Pray Yet: A Study of Habakkuk

Cartwheels of Joy

We come to this final lesson in Habakkuk and might want to ask, “Will Habakkuk get anything resolved?” Well, he will. We find in chapter three of Habakkuk a prayer. Isn’t that where we often get things resolved—it’s really not in argument or complaint or debate with God. It’s in listening and responding to his word. That’s what we have in this chapter. And it is a great resolution. This is the “whoa dude” part of the book. We literally see the “praying yet.
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Cartwheels of Joy

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The vision of Ozark Christian College is to glorify God by evangelizing the lost and edifying Christians worldwide. The mission of Ozark Christian College is to train men and women for Christian service as a degree-granting institution of biblical higher education.

Classroom Instructions

Lesson
17:32Session 5 VideoSession 5 Video

  • We come to this final lesson in Habakkuk and might want to ask, “Will Habakkuk get anything resolved?” Well, he will. We find in chapter three of Habakkuk a prayer. Isn’t that where we often get things resolved—it’s really not in argument or complaint or debate with God. It’s in listening and responding to his word. That’s what we have in this chapter. And it is a great resolution. This is the “whoa dude” part of the book. We literally see the “praying yet.”

  • 3:1 makes this abundantly clear. A prayer according to Shigionoth (Shee-gee—onat) = sung with great emotion.

  • Habakkuk calls upon God’s faithfulness in the past to help him get through (2-3a). He calls it the “midst of the years.” Remember mercy. Come from the high places (heavens) to help us. Habakkuk recalls the following high water marks of biblical history:

    • Creation (3b-4).
    • Exodus (5-10).
    • Conquest (11-15).

  • These aren’t hermeneutically or homiletically tight. There is an intermeshing of several events in biblical history and then some powerful imagery and metaphoric expressions to get at his power.

  • Then we come to the climax of the book in 3:16 (one of the famous ones).

    • Coming judgment is still scary. He “heard” of coming judgment.
    • Body and soul live so close to each other that they catch each other’s diseases.
    • He is “all shook up.”
    • Six beautiful lines in 3 couplets. But they line up with Lev. 26 and Deut. 28 as terms of the covenant. So, what is he saying? “Even if God stripped away everything that he said he would give, yet…”

  • Yet…God is his strength. He is turning cartwheels of joy” (Message).

  • Learn to pray yet and you can put that to music.

Discussion Questions:

  • Can you give other examples from the Bible where someone resolved things in their lives by prayer?
  • How is that God’s faithfulness in the past can be an encouragement for us in the present?
  • What has God promised you that, if he stripped it away, you would still serve him?
  • Can you turn cartwheels of joy when you encounter various trials (Cf. Js. 1:2)? What is the key to doing so?

Cartwheels of Joy Instructions

Lesson
17:32Session 5 VideoSession 5 Video

  • We come to this final lesson in Habakkuk and might want to ask, “Will Habakkuk get anything resolved?” Well, he will. We find in chapter three of Habakkuk a prayer. Isn’t that where we often get things resolved—it’s really not in argument or complaint or debate with God. It’s in listening and responding to his word. That’s what we have in this chapter. And it is a great resolution. This is the “whoa dude” part of the book. We literally see the “praying yet.”

  • 3:1 makes this abundantly clear. A prayer according to Shigionoth (Shee-gee—onat) = sung with great emotion.

  • Habakkuk calls upon God’s faithfulness in the past to help him get through (2-3a). He calls it the “midst of the years.” Remember mercy. Come from the high places (heavens) to help us. Habakkuk recalls the following high water marks of biblical history:

    • Creation (3b-4).
    • Exodus (5-10).
    • Conquest (11-15).

  • These aren’t hermeneutically or homiletically tight. There is an intermeshing of several events in biblical history and then some powerful imagery and metaphoric expressions to get at his power.

  • Then we come to the climax of the book in 3:16 (one of the famous ones).

    • Coming judgment is still scary. He “heard” of coming judgment.
    • Body and soul live so close to each other that they catch each other’s diseases.
    • He is “all shook up.”
    • Six beautiful lines in 3 couplets. But they line up with Lev. 26 and Deut. 28 as terms of the covenant. So, what is he saying? “Even if God stripped away everything that he said he would give, yet…”

  • Yet…God is his strength. He is turning cartwheels of joy” (Message).

  • Learn to pray yet and you can put that to music.

Discussion Questions:

  • Can you give other examples from the Bible where someone resolved things in their lives by prayer?
  • How is that God’s faithfulness in the past can be an encouragement for us in the present?
  • What has God promised you that, if he stripped it away, you would still serve him?
  • Can you turn cartwheels of joy when you encounter various trials (Cf. Js. 1:2)? What is the key to doing so?