July 12, 2026 | Courts of Praise | Bishop Beau Barton
Prisoner of the Lord
Small Group Guide
Ephesians 4:1 — "I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called."
This week Bishop Beau preached on the true cost of obedience — the difference between giving God what's convenient and giving Him everything. When obedience leads to hardship, it's easy to misplace the blame instead of trusting that God is present in the suffering. Central question for our group: when doing the right thing costs you something, who gets the credit — and who gets the blame?
Discussion Questions
In Ephesians 4:1, Paul calls himself "the prisoner of the Lord" instead of naming who actually put him in jail. What do you think that says about how he saw his circumstances?
Bishop Beau said, "you don't get to decide what your suffering is going to be, but you are responsible for how you respond to it." What's the difference between those two things?
Read 1 Peter 2:19-20. Why does Peter say there's no credit in patiently enduring punishment you deserve, but there is credit in patiently enduring suffering for doing right?
Bishop Beau talked about Elijah standing before a king with no introduction, no backstory — just obedience. What does that story say about how God measures faithfulness?
Have you ever caught yourself misplacing blame for a hard season that actually came from doing the right thing? What did that look like?
Hebrews 5:8 says even Jesus "learned obedience by the things which He suffered." How does that change the way you look at your own hard seasons?
What would it look like this week to make the decision — before the hard thing happens — that you'll let God get the glory out of it?
Closing Challenge
Closing Challenge: This week, identify one place where you've been giving God less than everything — a habit, a relationship, a decision — and take one concrete step to hand it fully over to Him. Come back next week ready to share what that step looked like.