God wants to have deep, meaningful conversation with us. Isn’t that exciting? What does that look like? What is it like to have a conversation with one who (according to Ps 139) knows your words before you speak them and your thoughts before you think them? You can fool all of the people some of the time; and some of the people all of the time. But you can’t fool God anytime, ever.
Deep and meaningful conversation with God will often result in a redirection of the conversation. Your pray might be, “They made me angry God!” His response may be, “I wish they hadn’t done what they did but let’s talk about why you’re so easily angered?”
There are underlying motives that exist within our hearts. Some we are fully aware of and can control at times. Others not so much. I’m personally very challenged about how my reactions reveal more clearly where I get my validation from and what captivates my attention and emotional energy. Only Jesus can deliver me from me and I'm so thankful that He does.
God knows the deeper motives and secrets of our hearts. Conversation with God will always run deep. Are you still excited about deeper conversation with God? Take heart, He who knows you the best loves you the most. He longs for deep, meaningful conversation. So do you!
Ps 63 reveals a man who walked in a deep, meaningful conversational relationship with God morning, noon and night.
Psalm 63:1-8 O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. 2 So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory. 3 Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you. 4 So I will bless you as long as I live; in your name I will lift up my hands. 5 My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food, and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips, 6 when I remember you upon my bed, and meditate on you in the watches of the night; 7 for you have been my help, and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy. 8 My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me. ESV
Conversation with God should be our way of life. I’m talking about prayer but the idea of prayer has been so over-spiritualized I’d rather just speak of it as conversation with God. When we have a conversational relationship with God, prayer is our first response rather than our last resort.
Any meaningful conversation that takes place in your life happens both ways. What kind of relationship would I have with Tracy if I didn’t talk to her at all or if I only talked at her?
Martin Luther said, “To be a Christian without praying is no more possible than to be alive without breathing.”
The devil doesn’t mind if you come to church. He just doesn’t want you to become the church! When we come to church our lives are enriched. When we become the church our world us is enriched.
The Word made flesh has come to dwell with us to usher God’s Kingdom into the earth! Jesus redeems us and awakens life-giving conversation to transform us and everyone around us.
What’s it like to cooperate with God in our daily lives, everywhere we go listening to his perspective? One of my roles is to serve as part of the Apostolic Team for the All Nations Movement in England with Steve Uppal. In this role we connect with pastors and leaders from many nations.
Christians in the East live very different lives as they are utterly dependent on a conversational relationship with God. Man who actually lives in China was on a ministry trip to Iran in a place where very few people knew him. His phone rings and it is a local number but he had given his number to nobody. Locals asked him not to answer because it would likely be authorities trying to locate him but he felt he was supposed to do so.
He felt led to answer and when he did it was a woman saying very few words asking if he would meet with her by being at a certain location at a certain time. Again, only because he felt it was the Lord, he responded. Arriving at this location two men quickly escorted him into a building where he met the woman who called. She said she had been a Muslim and wanted to receive Jesus because of an encounter she had with him but she didn’t know how. She prayed asking Jesus to lead her to someone who could help her. Suddenly, she saw a phone number written on the wall. She called the number knowing it would be someone who could lead her to Jesus. He led her to Christ that day!
I’ve been praying for God-encounters to begin happening with people you and I know.
EVERYONE IS CREATED FOR ABUNDANT LIFE!
Jesus wants to have a deep and meaningful conversation with us all.
We Bring GP2RL Action Point:
Pray for people by name this week to encounter Jesus in a deep and meaningful way.
CREATED FOR CONVERSATION: DEEP MEANINGFUL CONVERSATION
DISCUSSION GUIDE
Click here for a downloadable pdf file of this guide.
UNDERSTANDING THE SEASON: Words are powerful! God created everything and sustains it all by his word. God sent his WORD to redeem us and awaken life-giving conversation that transforms us and everyone around us. In this season will grow in more effective conversation with God and with others.
God’s plan is for us to hear his voice together as a family. This is why we start each group with the first question:
DISCUSSION QUESTION:
1. Where are you reading in your Bible and what are you sensing from God? Share your New Year’s Revelation for 2022 if you have one.
Ask each person in your group to answer the discussion questions below after reading the verses. Don’t move on to the next question until everybody who is willing to share has had the opportunity to give their perspective.
Psalm 63 reveals a man who walked in a deep, meaningful conversational relationship with God morning, noon and night.
PSALM 63:1-8 O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. 2 So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory. 3 Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you. 4 So I will bless you as long as I live; in your name I will lift up my hands. 5 My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food, and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips, 6 when I remember you upon my bed, and meditate on you in the watches of the night; 7 for you have been my help, and in the shad- ow of your wings I will sing for joy. 8 My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me. ESV
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
Have each person give a 60 second summary of what these verses are saying, in their own words.
What do these verses teach us about God?
What do these verses teach us about people?
What should you do this week in response to what we are reading and what God is revealing?
Who comes to mind when considering a person you might share this with this week?
We Bring GP2RL Action Point:
Pray for people by name this week to encounter Jesus in a deep and meaningful way.