Each meeting covers one lesson. The passage, questions and notes are all on the lesson page, and group members can print their own copy.
Leaders need only this guide: first the flow that is the same every time, then the focus points and tips for each lesson.
A lesson takes about an hour. Meet weekly or every other week — whatever fits your group.
Each Meetingabout 55 min
Snacks and catching up
10 min
Read together
10 min
Discussion
25 min
This week
5 min
Close (prayer optional)
5 min
Opening: Start with last time’s ‘This week’: ‘Did you do it? How did it go?’ For the first lesson, ask everyone to say in one sentence why they want to read about this person. The leader goes first.
Read together: Take turns reading the passage, a few verses each. The leader reads the short notes between sections.
Discussion: You don’t need to discuss every question in ‘Think It Through.’ Pick one or two from each group, add this lesson’s focus points, and that is plenty.
This week: Read it together, and ask each person to decide on the one small thing they will do this week.
Close: You can pray using a verse from the lesson. If some aren’t used to praying aloud, a minute of silence together is fine too.
Focus 1 (v. 1): Before Ahab, Elijah swore, “As the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, before whom I stand” (v. 1). Ask the group: in their own situation, what makes it hard to say ‘this is the God I serve’?
Focus 2 (vv. 4–7): God commanded the ravens, yet the brook dried up. Ask the group what questions come up as they read verse 7 — no need to answer yet; the next lesson reads on.
Focus 3 (This week): Everyone writes down one ‘brook’ that is running low and one way God provided in the past. Next time, those who are willing can share.
Leader tip: This lesson is easily taught as ‘obey, and God will always provide on time,’ or ‘the brook dried up because you did something wrong.’ The passage says neither: Elijah went according to God’s word, and the brook still dried up. Some in the group may be out of work or have lost an income or a relationship; don’t press on question 8, and let people share only if they want to. Don’t describe Baal beyond what Scripture says. Set Jas 5:17 side by side only; don’t discuss in the group how the years in James compare with 1 Kgs 18:1.
Focus 1 (vv. 12–16): Down to a handful of meal, and asked to bake a little cake first. Ask the group: reading “The jar of meal didn’t run out” (v. 16), what do they feel?
Focus 2 (vv. 18–20): The widow said, “to bring my sin to memory, and to kill my son” (v. 18); Elijah asked, “have you also brought evil on the widow…?” (v. 20). Ask the group whether they too might ask like this in hard times.
Focus 3 (This week): Everyone writes down one question they have not dared to ask God. Next time, those who are willing can share: once it was said aloud, what was different?
Leader tip: This lesson is easily taught as ‘give to God first and you will never lack,’ or ‘pray earnestly and the dead will rise.’ The passage records how the LORD’s word came true and how the LORD listened; it does not make a rule of it. In v. 18 the widow connects her son’s death with her own sin; the passage does not say she was right, so don’t draw a conclusion for it — and never tell anyone in the group ‘your child is sick because of your sin.’ Some in the group may be running out of food or out of work, or have a child seriously ill or lost; don’t press on question 10, and let people share only if they want to.
Focus 1 (v. 21): “How long will you waver between the two sides?” and “The people didn’t say a word” (v. 21). Ask the group: in what part of their lives have they also not answered this question?
Focus 2 (vv. 36–38): Elijah asked “that this people may know that you, LORD, are God” (v. 37), and the fire was the LORD’s. Ask the group to notice: in this chapter, who is the main actor?
Focus 3 (vv. 42–44): The servant looked seven times before he saw a cloud “like a man’s hand” (v. 44). Ask the group what has helped them keep waiting while they wait.
Leader tip: This lesson is most easily taught as ‘follow Elijah’s steps and you can call down fire’ — the water, the twelve stones, the wording of the prayer all treated as a method. The passage records what the LORD did; it is not a method, so don’t teach it that way. Read Elijah’s mocking of the prophets of Baal (v. 27) as written; don’t turn it into ‘it’s fine to mock other people’s faith.’ Read the killing of the prophets of Baal (v. 40) as written; don’t soften it, and don’t present it as a model to follow today. Leave “I, even I only, am left” (v. 22) for Lesson 5; don’t develop it here.
Focus 1 (v. 4): “take away my life.” Help the group notice: the passage records these words, and it also records what the LORD did next. Don’t hurry to judge whether Elijah was right to say them.
Focus 2 (vv. 5–7): The angel came twice, and the second time added, “because the journey is too great for you.” Ask the group what goes through their minds when they read that line.
Focus 3 (This week): Everyone thinks of one person who is worn out or holding things together alone. Next time, ask each other: did you do that small thing?
Leader tip: This chapter contains a prayer to die. If someone shares thoughts of harming themselves, stay with them privately right after the meeting, and contact local emergency help (Canada and the U.S. 911 / Suicide and Crisis Lifeline 988; mainland China 110 / 120 / psychological support hotline 12356; Hong Kong 999; Taiwan 110, 119 / suicide prevention line 1925) or someone they trust; this is not something to discuss in the group. Don’t teach this lesson as ‘Elijah’s faith was weak,’ and don’t teach it as ‘eat and sleep well and you’ll be fine’ — the passage shows the LORD caring for him; it does not give a method. Verse 3 says only that he “arose and ran for his life”; it does not say he was afraid, so don’t fill in his feelings for him. Don’t press anyone on question 9; only those who want to share need to.
Focus 1 (vv. 9–14): The same question asked twice; the same answer given twice. Help the group notice the shape of the passage, and ask whether they have a ‘speech they have said many times.’
Focus 2 (vv. 15–18): God’s response is a sending and the seven thousand. Ask the group what goes through their minds when they read “Go, return on your way” (v. 15) and ‘seven thousand.’
Focus 3 (This week): Everyone writes down two or three people who are also holding on. Next time, ask each other: did you go and see one of them?
Leader tip: This lesson is easily taught as ‘God only speaks in quiet’ or ‘to hear God, wait for the still small voice.’ The passage gives no such formula: it says only that the LORD was not in the wind, the earthquake or the fire, and that after the fire there was a still small voice; in the chapter before, the LORD answered by fire. Don’t make “I, even I only, am left” into Elijah’s badge of honor, and don’t swing the other way and accuse him of lying — the passage makes no comment; it only records that God sent him and told him about the seven thousand. Read the swords in v. 17 as written, without developing them in the group. Question 6 touches loneliness and hurt; don’t press, and only those who want to share need to.
Focus 1 (v. 19): A mantle, and not a word. Ask the group: when you read that Elijah put his mantle on Elisha, what comes to mind?
Focus 2 (v. 20): “Go back again; for what have I done to you?” Ask each person to say which tone they hear — the leader does not need to give a conclusion; the passage itself does not record it.
Focus 3 (This week): Each person thinks of something they carry alone and of one person’s name; anyone who wants to can say next time whether they talked with that person.
Leader tip: This lesson is only three verses, and it is easily taught as ‘when you are called you drop everything at once’, or verse 21 is made into an example of ‘burning your bridges’. The passage only records what Elisha did; it does not make it a rule for everyone — and he did go home first. The passage does not record the tone of Elijah’s words in verse 20; don’t decide it for the group. Don’t make Elijah a lone hero: “I, even I only, am left” (1 Kgs 19:10) is his own word, and God immediately says he has reserved seven thousand (1 Kgs 19:18), and gives him Elisha.
Focus 1 (vv. 2, 4, 6): “I will not leave you,” said three times. Ask the group: in your own life, has anyone refused to leave you like this, or have you refused to leave someone?
Focus 2 (vv. 13–14): The mantle, and “Where is the LORD, the God of Elijah?” Ask the group how they kept going after someone who led them was gone.
Focus 3 (This week): Each person writes down the name of a spiritual elder and one thing that person left behind; anyone who wants to can share next time.
Leader tip: Guardrail 5 — teach “Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven” (v. 11) as written; don’t speculate about where Elijah went or how, and don’t explain the chariot and horses of fire. Don’t turn verse 9, “a double portion of your spirit” (v. 9), into a method for ‘asking for a double gift’; the passage does not explain the ‘double portion,’ and Elijah himself says, “You have asked a hard thing” (v. 10). If anyone in the group is saying goodbye to a family member, or has recently lost a spiritual elder, don’t press question 10; let those who want to speak do so. For Pointing to Christ, read only Matt 17:3; don’t teach it as Elijah being a type of something.
Principles
The leader is not a teacher, but someone walking alongside everyone else.
Give everyone a chance to speak. If some talk a lot, you can gently say, ‘Let’s hear from those who haven’t spoken yet.’
Don’t rush to give answers. If there is silence, wait a few more seconds.
If you can’t answer a question, it’s fine to say, ‘I don’t know — let’s look into it together,’ and come back to it next time.
What is said in the group stays in the group.
At the start, the leader can share their own answer first. Keep it simple and honest.
In the lessons, words in double quotes with a reference are scripture. What the passage does not say, we can only guess; guessing is fine, as long as we say we are guessing.
Don’t press on painful things. If someone becomes upset, stay with them after the meeting; if needed, involve a pastor from their church or a professional counselor.