By now, if you have followed the prayer journal, you have thought and prayed through the reality of a kind of chasm in the Universe caused by sin, that prayer is meant to bridge. Praying often feels unnatural because it's apparently not part of the simplicity of relating to God like we now do other people (why would Adam and Eve pray in the garden when God is standing in front of them?!)
So, as awkward as praying to God can feel for those who haven't had it engrained in their hearts, it can be even more strange when the goal becomes listening for God to talk back. Go into the discussion recognizing this difficulty. For many, it's the real reason they defend praying on the go. While we should pray ceaselessly, so often people only pray here and there, exclusively through music or while driving, etc., out of a lack of belief on some level that God is to be heard by devout listeners. Some believe God can be heard one week, but forget they believe it the next. We all need reminded that the Creator of the Universe actually has an outbox.
Thaw
- What's the "one thing" you took away from the message Sunday?
- Did you hear anything that you had never heard or thought of before?
- Is there any one in the group that feels like they have heard God before and would be willing to share that story?
Leader note: Encourage the person telling the story, and thank them for their vulnerability. Also make sure you ask what lasting impact and change in life that moment made, as God may want you to reuse that moment to reignite something He's up to in the person that shared.
Read
- 1 Kings 19:1-12
- Thoughts?
Leader note: You may want to point out the Hebrew words translated "gentle whisper" (NIV) can also be translated "silence". It certainly adds layers to think of God's voice not being in the overt displays of awe and power, but in their absolute opposite; silence. You may also note that God uses the former to make the latter a more weighty point. How does this apply to our faith journey and the things that God does along the way to get our attention, ultimately driving us to seek Him out in the "quiet caves"?
Discuss
- How do you interpret the idea of "echoes" in your prayer life?
Leader note: As a reminder, these "echoes" are ways that God seems to reinforce ideas ( a way of His speaking) through the scriptures, through other people, through circumstances, etc...Repeated themes and patterns are one way that God gets through....if we pay attention. This may also be a good time to point out what was shared in the message about ways to be assured that God's voice is actually being heard. God's voice will carry 1. The Weight of authority, be in 2. The Spirit of Jesus and 3. Won't contradict Scripture. You may want to remind the group of these facts as the sharing about God's voice continues throughout the night.
Apply
- What are some specific things you would be willing to share with the group that you would like to ask God?
- What are the hindrances for asking for specific things? Small things?
- What are ways that you can orient your life around hearing God's voice?
Leader note: You may want to help here with a few ideas. Keeping a note pad or journal handy is one way. To begin your days committing to listen to God's voice through the words of others, the circumstances and echoes and even in that still, small quiet whisper. The idea is to actually position yourself to hear it, to know your hearing it, and then to act on it.
- Is anyone in the group thinking that God may be teaching them or telling them to do something? Care to bounce it off the group?
Leader note: Remember to use the 3 assurances of God's voice as a group for anyone that shares, and see if it holds up. Celebrate the bravery this takes, be gentle and recognize that as this is being shared in your LifeGroup, lives are changing.
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