The Love Everybody ants Bible Study Look Inside

THE LOVE EVERYBODY WANTS

How to Build Your Relationships on God’s Love

BIBLE STUDY GUIDE + STREAMING VIDEO

FOUR SESSIONS

Madison Prewett Troutt

The Love Everybody Wants Study Guide

©

2023

by

Madison Prewett Troutt

Requests for information should be addressed to: HarperChristian Resources, 3900 Sparks Dr. SE, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49546

ISBN 978-0-310-16061-8 (softcover)

ISBN 978-0-310-16062-5 (ebook)

Scripture quotations are taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright© 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.Zondervan.com. The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.®

Any internet addresses (websites, blogs, etc.) and telephone numbers in this study guide are offered as a resource. They are not intended in any way to be or imply an endorsement by HarperChristian Resources, nor does HarperChristian Resources vouch for the content of these sites and numbers for the life of this study guide.

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, scanning, or other—except for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

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Author is represented by the literary agency of The FEDD Agency, Inc., Post Office Box 341973, Austin, Texas 78734.

First Printing September 2023 / Printed in the United States of America

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Session One Who and Why

5

Session Two Conviction and Confidence

29

Session Three Patterns, Purpose, and Peace

57

Session Four Stand Firm and Surrender 85

About the Author

SESSION ONE

WHO AND WHY

all to g ether

Welcome to the Session One group section! This section is designed for a group to use together. To get the most out of your discussion time, review the discussion questions in advance and start with the questions most relevant to your group. You don’t have to push through every single question. There are suggested time limits for each activity—use a timer if you need one! Have your Bibles out and ready to reference.

hey again! (5 minutes)

Before you begin your study, read this note from Madi quietly to yourselves.

It’s so good to see you here. It’s a gift to be able to meet you in this content and talk about a topic that is important to both of us: love.

When I was thinking about this topic, I wanted to include “everybody” in the title because it’s not an exaggeration. Everybody wants to be loved—everybody. And we look for love everywhere: from families to significant others, to friendships, to off-and-on-again relationships, to followers. But love—real love—can’t be found in any of those places if you look there first. Maybe you have realized this already from experience. But the truth is there is a love that satisfies our desires. There is a love that we should be after. A love that lasts. A love that changes everything. The love everybody wants. The love you were made for.

So, let’s get started.

BMadi

let’s pray

Group leader, read the following prayer over your group.

God, You are love, and You created us in love and for love. We ask, Lord, that You enlighten the eyes of our hearts that we might see You and understand Your Word and seek You above all else. Give us wisdom from Your truths, fill us with a desire to faithfully follow after You. Soften our hearts, God. Forgive us for chasing after the wrong loves and choosing other things and people over You. You are far greater than anything else this world can offer us.

Help us. We need You, God.

amenr

press play

Session One: Who and Why (19 minutes)

As you watch the Session One video, use the space below to write down thoughts, quotes, and questions.

video notes

A The greatest commandment

A Complete in Christ, confident in ourselves, connected to a community

A On a scale of one to ten, one being terrible and ten being the absolute best, how would you rate your relationship with God?

A How would you rate your relationship with yourself? 10 1 10 1

A What about your relationship with others, including the opposite sex?

A The creation story is a love story.

A Sin was strong, but His love was stronger.

A Times I feel affirmed and loved

talk it out

(20 minutes)

Group leader, ask the group these questions and work through them together.

D1. Before we can begin growing in our relationship with God, we must be aware of where we are starting. Circle a few words from the list below that best describe how you feel when you think about God. ashamed distant lukewarm full of life loved ungrateful angry hesitant purposeful accepted

absent overwhelmed confused peaceful free silent tense constrained fathered known

judged disappointed difficult constant empowered

Have each person in the group share one word they circled and, if they want to, give a brief explanation of why they chose that word.

2. Choose a volunteer to read Genesis 1:27–28 . Notice the verbs in the verses. What did God do that expressed love for His creation? How did the very first humans experience and express love—to God and to each other?

3. In Genesis 3:1–5, the Enemy tempts Eve to eat the one fruit in the garden that God said she couldn’t eat. The Enemy deceives Eve, saying, “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” What was the lie about God that the Enemy led Eve to believe? How does knowing God’s character give us encouragement and strength against the Enemy’s lies? Discuss ways you can know God’s character more deeply.

picture this

Don’t Miss This

Chance!

Group leader, read this note from Madi to everyone.

(15 minutes)

I am a visual learner. When I read the Bible, I like to picture myself in the scene—sometimes I’m someone in the crowd or someone Jesus is responding to or healing. It helps me apply Scripture to my own life. Although times might look different now than it did thousands of years ago, nothing has changed when it comes to us all needing Jesus.

The Gospels—the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John—record what Jesus said and did while He was on earth. Passages from the Gospels reveal Jesus, and, in a way, give us an opportunity to see Him.

This week, you’re going to read the passage about the greatest commandment together. This story is the heartbeat of this study. Everything we’ll be talking about from here on out can be traced back to these verses. Take this opportunity to let Jesus’ words change you—do you want to live your life in line with His priorities? In these few words, Jesus tells you how to start living out the life He wants for you—a life rooted in His eternal, unchanging love.

Jesus gave an incredible response to those testing Him and judging Him, when they asked Him: “What is the greatest commandment?”

Imagine what you would be hearing and seeing if you were right there in the story. What does Jesus look like? How does He respond to those who misunderstand Him? What does the tone of His voice sound like? Does He use His hands when He talks? If you were there, what would you see?

Group leader, read this week’s gospel passage aloud.

Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”

Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

Matthew 22:34–40

Reflect on this gospel passage using the following prompts. If you have time, discuss these questions out loud. You could break into groups and share, or just write them down individually.

A What did you see? Check any that apply.

Jesus a disagreement a call to purpose a crowd

What else? Write it down.

A How does this story challenge you?

A Why do you think “love” is God’s greatest command? And why do we often turn to other loves before we turn to His love?

until next time (5 minutes)

Use this space to write down all the names of the people in your group. Refer back to this section to pray for everyone by name throughout the week.

When’s the next meeting?

Group leader, close your time with the following prayer.

God, You made each of us uniquely and intentionally and You love us deeply. We are longing for love, and we’ve run after it in so many different directions. Your love is the love that we want. Your love is the only love that satisfies. I pray that our greatest priority would be to love You with all of our heart, soul, and strength. This week, speak to us, reveal Yourself to us, and show us more of who You are as we seek You with all our heart.

In Jesus’ name,

amenr

ON YOUR OWN

Part 1

Checking in

Hey—it’s Madi. Thanks for showing up for the personal study. No matter where you are in your faith journey, I am so glad you are here. There are no wrong answers. There is no shame in being where you are—God meets you right where you are, but He loves you too much to leave you there. He wants you to grow in relationship with Him! Even though I’ve been on this journey for a long time, I am far from perfect and daily seek to know God more, so I make it a priority to follow the same disciplines I’m going to talk about. By His grace, I want to keep growing in my faith.

Throughout this personal study section, you’ll have opportunities to study Scripture, challenge yourself, pray Scripture, and reflect on what you’ve learned. I’ve found these practices transformative in my own journey, and I hope they help you, too. Are you already spending time with God daily?

No matter what your answer is to that question, I want you to spend five extra minutes each day with God throughout this study. The exercises in these pages can guide the added time. I hope that you continue spending time with God daily long after this study is over, but right now, focus on today. Don’t push through every single question just to fill in the blanks

If one of the activities is meaningful for you, whether it’s a longer passage of Scripture, a weekly challenge, or a verse to take to prayer, allow yourself to spend time on it.

Let’s do this together!

Invite His Holy Spirit into your personal study with this prayer:

God, please send Your Holy Spirit to guide me during this time of prayer and study. I want to grow in my understanding of Your great love for me—Your love is the love that I want the most.

amenr

Let’s get a picture of your life right now by revisiting what we talked about during the group time. Where did you place yourself on these scales? Below each scale, write a few words about why you chose that number.

On a scale of one to ten with ten being the absolute best . . .

How would you rate your relationship with God?

How would you rate your relationship with yourself?

Last, what about your relationships with others?

No matter what rating you gave your relationship with God, there will always be room for improvement. We are always growing! The hope is that through this study those numbers increase, not only going higher, but deeper. In this session, we’re going to focus on our relationship with God. Prayer is one of my favorite ways to connect with God. Prayer is time with Him—time spent talking to Him and revealing your heart to Him, time spent listening for His voice and just sitting in silence with Him. Setting aside daily time for prayer helps you comprehend His great love for you. 10 1 10 1 10 1

You already have this love—prayer is a beautiful way to experience it more deeply. Prayer is most impactful when it isn’t something we do every once in a while, but when it’s a lifestyle and priority. But how do we pray? What do we even say? These are good questions, and I’ve got a few answers.

FIND A TIME

Don’t just say “I’ll pray in the morning.” Pick a time and faithfully keep it. Jesus got up early in the morning. For me, I always pray in the morning and at night right before bed. Pick a time that works best for your schedule and try to stick to it.

FIND A PLACE

Jesus had a specific place He went to pray. I have realized for me, I am more consistent in my prayer life when I know the time and place. I begin to look forward to it. I have a prayer closet I pray in every morning or if for some reason I am running behind, I will use the time I have in my car while driving to pray. Find a place—removed from distractions—and pray out loud.

FIND A POSTURE

I mean this literally and figuratively. Find a position, whether it be sitting, kneeling, standing, or a combination. But also a heart posture: one of surrender, humility, holiness, and gratitude. I always like to start my prayers by thanking God (Psalm 100).

FIND A PLAN

This sounds more intense than I mean for it to. My prayer life has become personal and powerful because every time I spend time with God, I go in with a plan. I don’t just ramble or talk about what I need God to do for me. I pray for those who don’t know Jesus and the hurting and suffering. I pray for leaders in position of influence, for my friends, and my family. I spend time worshipping God and listening. I spend time praying Scripture. If praying out loud or for longer than a minute is new for you, I would encourage you to start with the Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:9–13).

Prayer doesn’t have to take you a whole hour, especially as you start your prayer journey. Even if all you have is five minutes for undivided attention and heartfelt prayers to God, that is great! Hopefully as we grow together in our prayer life, we find a way to make more time for what matters to us most, like prayer.

My prayer for you this week is that through time with Him, you experience His love for you with a new depth.

in His Word: Scripture

Let’s read this passage together: 1 John 4:8–12

You can hear from God every day. Second Timothy 3:16 reminds us that “all scripture is God-breathed.” Listening to His words gives us more insight into His incredible love for us. I love this letter that John wrote. John was one of the original twelve disciples. He walked and talked with Jesus, and he would have heard Jesus explain the greatest commandment. Here, John spoke beautifully to other Christians about love. Not surprisingly, it lines up with what Jesus said in Matthew 22:36–40.

This passage is yours to explore. Highlight phrases that make you curious. Underline words that you want to remember throughout the day. Write questions in the margins.

Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.

A Where does love come from? Who loves first? How does that perspective line up with or conflict with explanations about love that you’ve heard before?

A Which specific phrases in this passage remind you of the greatest commandment (Matthew 22:36–40)?

A God loved first—His love for us isn’t based on anything that we have or have not done. How does this truth shape your understanding of His love for you and the kind of love that you can offer to others?

weekly challenge:

Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.

Mark 1:35

Each week, I’m going to offer you a challenge that will help you grow in your relationship with Christ. My challenge to you this week is to write out a plan for some time with Jesus. This isn’t another box to check—making time for Him is a response to His love for you. Remember what Jesus said in Matthew 22:37: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.”

Having a brief time with Jesus at the beginning of the day is a great way to direct your heart, soul, and mind to Him right away. When you make time for Him in your day, you are following the greatest commandment. Love for yourself and love for others is completely dependent on your love for God. If you’re not creating space to experience God’s love yourself, you’re not going to have anything to offer anyone else. Time with God is the source of love—if you’re not taking that chance to get love straight from the Source, you will be running on empty!

I’ve found that planning this time in the morning, very first thing, is super helpful. Maybe this makes you feel wary—after all, so many of us have tried

to put together a Bible-reading and prayer morning routine and found ourselves just hitting snooze. But responding to God’s love looks like trying again, even if we’ve failed before.

Plan out at least one specific time with God this week. You can plan out this time using the chart below, or you can make a similar chart in your own planner or journal.

Example: Madi’s Plan

Date: (10/25)

Time: at 5:30 a.m.

Length: for 10 minutes

Place: in my prayer closet

Posture: on my knees

Attitude: in gratitude

Plan: praying Scripture (Psalm 23)

My Plan Date: ( / )

Time:

Length:

Place:

Posture:

Attitude:

Plan:

No matter what else is going on in your life, come to prayer with gratitude. You have so much to be thankful for that you may not even realize. Even if you are not happy with who you are or where you are right now, you can be grateful for anything God has given you. Salvation? Breath in your lungs? Freedom? A bed? Pray to the One who loves you—the One who wants to hear every single word!

My hope is that this challenge will help you get to know God. His love is the foundation of all other loves.

to His heart:

Prayer and Worship

When we acknowledge God’s love as our foundation, Scripture becomes very personal to us. Through prayer and Scripture, we can understand His love for us more deeply and become more secure in it. Even though they were written long before we were alive, the words of Scripture are for all believers. So, with great confidence, we can bring God’s Word into our prayers, repeating the words of Scripture back to the One who breathed them.

If you have a Bible and a few minutes set apart for Him, you have everything you need to connect His Word—and the incredible love revealed in it—to your life by praying Scripture over yourself. If you don’t have a Bible, there are free apps you can download. I’d highly recommend getting a paper one, though. Having my own copy of the Bible helps me focus on God without any of the normal phone distractions.

Here’s an example of praying Scripture. I’ll use Romans 8:38–39

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord .

After reflecting on that verse for a minute, I would pray something like this: “God, nothing can separate me from You. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth—nothing at all. Help me believe today that nothing can take me away from You and Your love.”

Now you try it. Don’t worry about what it sounds like. Let your words come from your heart—this is a response to God’s incredible gift of love. Find Psalm 23 in your Bible and write it here. Then pray over yourself.

A Psalm 23:

A Prayer:

Read Ephesians 2:8–10, but make it personal by adding your own name in the blanks.

For it is by grace  has been saved, through faith—and this is not from _________ , it is the gift of God—not by works, so that ______________ can boast. For __________ is God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for ____________ to do.

takeaway: Reflect

and Hope

Let’s talk about this past week. Did responding to His love for you change your priorities? Are you starting to think of Him and His love as the foundation of everything else in your life?

One of my favorite things to do is to look back at my past journals and workbooks to remind myself of all God has done and what He has taught me each step of the way. My hope is that you will take the time to pray and reflect each week about the way He’s changing your heart. One day, these journal entries and notes will blow you away with all that God has done for you.

Here are some questions that will help you reflect. Choose a few to write about, or just use the space to journal about what is in your heart.

A What did you recognize about your thoughts and feelings on days you spent more time with God versus days you didn’t?

A List three ways in which you grew closer to God this week.

A How do you think your relationships will change as you begin to put God first?

A During this study, how do you hope to grow in your relationship with God, yourself, and others?

Great work this week! Remember, His love is the love you are seeking—and He is seeking you with all of His heart, too. I’ll see you in Session Two. We’re going to take what we’ve learned about God’s incredible, personal love for us into our next topic: learning how to love ourselves the way God commands us to.

about the author

Madison Prewett Troutt, bestselling author of Made for This Moment, is a speaker and social media influencer best known as a finalist on the reality television show, “The Bachelor.” Madi has a degree in communications from Auburn University and a certificate in ministry in pastoral leadership through Highlands College. She has been involved in many outreach programs, including Adullam House, Make It Matter, Autlive, and Auburn Dream Center. Madi started her career working as a foster parent recruiter in Birmingham, Alabama. She lives in Waco, Texas, with her husband, Grant.

WHAT IF YOU'VE BEEN LOOKING FOR THE WRONG LOVE IN ALL THE WRONG PLACES?

Love is something we all want. We can't avoid it. But why is it so hard to find?

What if it's because we're looking for the wrong love, in all the wrong places? And what if what we've been believing about love is rooted in lies?

What if the love everybody wants isn't nearly as complicated as we've made it?

In this four-session video Bible study, Madison Prewett Troutt breaks down the answer to your questions about love found in Jesus' great commandment in Matthew 22. You'll learn the simple truth that you must build your relationship with God first and that loving yourself and loving others well comes after. If you're tired of searching for love and coming up short, you're invited to join Madi in this study as she helps you discover the love you want is already yours-you just need to change whose love you're chasing.

• Group discussion questions and activities

• Individual access to four streaming video talks from Madi

• Personal Bible study exercises, prayers, and journaling between sessions

• Chapter guide through Madi's book

• A small group leader helps section with tips