Habit 2: Listen, Pray, Obey RELATING TO GOD AND DEVELOPING WISDOM
God speaks. One of the first things the Bible reveals is that God is a speak-
ing God—he speaks the universe into existence through the power of his words and then he speaks and enters into relationship with the first man and woman. He speaks words of life to humans, showing us how to live true to our design and flourish. God speaks, we receive and listen to his words. Foundational to a thriving relationship with God is learning to listen to God (namely through his Word, but also as he speaks to us through his Spirit and Christian community), learning to pray/commune with God, and learning to obey God. This is the process of deepening your relationship with God and developing wisdom. God is always present to us, our journey is about learning to be more present to our ever-present God.
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Everyone who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. - Matthew 7:24
STUDY MATTHEW 7:24-27 AND ITS SURROUNDING CONTEXT.
Discuss together what Jesus is teaching here. Why does Jesus call his disci-
ples to both hear his words and do his words? What’s the difference between the wise man and the foolish man, and where do you see such examples in your life and in our culture? How does a person develop wisdom? What are you learning in your core book about this topic?
The first step toward God is a step away from the lies of the world. It is a renunciation of the lies we have been told about ourselves and our neighbors and our universe…The usual biblical word describing the no we say to the world’s lies and the yes we say to God’s truth is repentance. It is always and everywhere the first word in the Christian life…Repentance is not an emotion. It is a decision.
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DEVELOP A DAILY HABIT OF LISTENING TO, PRAYING TO, AND OBEYING GOD.
God is always present to us and speaking to us, our opportunity is to be-
come more present to God and better listen to him. God speaks to us authoritatively, clearly, infallibly through his “living and active” Word: the Bible. So it’s wise for disciples to develop a daily habit of listening to God by reading God’s Word, answering and relating to God through prayer, and obeying what God says to us. There is not one right way to do this, there are hundreds of different ways this daily habit could look. Discuss and develop as a group the daily habit that is most Life-giving for you, and begin forging these habits together and encouraging each other in them.
“Grace and active obedience are complementary. There is no faith without good works, and no good works apart from faith.” - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
RECOGNIZE THAT SIN (LACK OF OBEDIENCE) DOESN’T JUST HURT YOU, IT HURTS THE COMMUNITY.
Sin is corporate. Sin has relational implications for all of us. Rich Plass writes,
“Your individual behavior affects the community, not just what you can be but what we can be.” Sin is fundamentally selfish, it’s choosing a path that harms the people around you. Start creating a culture in your Discipleship Group of repenting of sin together. Is there something God is calling you to confess and repent of right now?
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“The question is simply, ‘Who is your master?’ Once that’s settled, you ask whether any word have been spoken. If it has, you have your orders.”
DEEPEN YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD THROUGH HABITS LIKE SCRIPTURE MEDITATION, SOLITUDE, SILENCE, AND STILLNESS.
We’re all so busy and our busy minds are full of so much content. To better
hear and commune with God in our noisy world it’s wise to develop some additional habits that allow for deep listening and transformation. Discuss these habits as a group, and maybe pick the one that is most difficult for you to practice and incorporate it into your life. If stillness is really difficult for you, that likely means there’s a big opportunity for growth and discovery. • Scripture meditation: Slow down your reading of the Bible, pick a verse or passage that you more deeply meditate on and soak in throughout the day or your week. • Solitude: Schedule some time daily or weekly to be alone, away from others, so that you can be more attentive to God. • Silence: Schedule some time daily or weekly to be in silence, away from noise, so that you can be more attentive to God. • Stillness: Schedule some time daily or weekly (try 15 minutes 2-3x a week) to be still, away from activity and accomplishing things, so that you can be more attentive to God and how he is at work.
“Be still and know that I am God.”
Psalm 46:10
READ CHRISTIAN BIOGRAPHY AND AUTOBIOGRAPHY.
Reading biography is 1 Thessalonians 2:8 in action—the writer is “sharing
the gospel and their life” with us. Most of the great biographies of the saints that have gone before us contain lengthy sections about how these disciples discovered and forged habits of listening to, delighting in, and following God at a deep, hearttransforming level. It could be fun and fruitful to pick 1 significant saint from church history to deeply study each year. After 10 years of doing this you’ll have acquired 10 diverse mentors who will have significantly shaped your walk with the Lord.
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“Oh, that you and I might get into the very heart of the Word of God, and get that Word into ourselves! As I have seen the silkworm eat into the leaf, and consume it, so ought we to do with the Word of the Lord—not crawl over its surface, but eat right into it till we have taken it into our inmost parts. It is idle merely to let the eye glance over the words, or to recollect the poetical expressions, or the historic facts; but it is blessed to eat into the very soul of the Bible until, at last, you come to talk in Scriptural language, and your very style is fashioned upon Scripture models, and, what is better still, your spirit is flavored with the words of the Lord. …continually making us feel and say, ‘Why, this man is a living Bible!’ Prick him anywhere—his blood is Bibline, the very essence of the Bible flows from him.” Charles Spurgeon
DEVELOP A HABIT OF PURSUING WISDOM.
The Bible and the discipleship journey is not driven by rules, but by revela-
tion and relationship that leads to wisdom. God speaks to us and surrounds us with people who speak into our life so that we develop wisdom—the ability to navigate life well and make choices for God’s glory and the common good. Discuss as a group your current practices for pursuing wisdom and making decisions. How do you listen to God, and how do you seek and process counsel from a diversity of others who see things you can’t see? What’s 1 new step you can take this year to develop wisdom in
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yourself and/or others?
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Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. - Proverbs 3:5-6
MEMORIZE
Without counsel plans fail, but with many advisers they succeed - Proverbs 15:22
It will always be true that the wisest course for the disciple is always to abide solely by the Word of God in all simplicity. - Dietrich Bonhoeffer If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. - James 1:5
DEVELOP A HABIT OF COMMUNICATING TO OTHERS WHAT YOU ARE LEARNING FROM GOD’S WORD.
Our learning of God’s Word sinks deeper in our hearts when we thoughtfully
share, communicate, and teach it to others. One fun and simple way to practice this is to each day share with at least 1 person what you learned in God’s Word today. This could be a co-worker, a friend, a spouse, a young child, a stranger, etc. Don’t just quote what you read, consider the unique context of the person you’re speaking to and think about how to best and creatively communicate today’s biblical truth to them. As you do this overtime you’ll find yourself becoming a clearer and more effective communicator of God’s Word. We want everyone in our church to develop the ability to be both thoughtful readers and teachers of God’s Word.
“Our Bible teaching should always look to explore the missionary implications of a passage—to make the truth plain and to make it real. To that end we need to explore how the text speaks to contemporary culture. At its most basic level, an integral part of the preparation process is thinking through how to articulate the truths being considered to a non-Christian.”
Tim Chester
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ENJOY PRAYER! VIEW PRAYER AS A RELATIONSHIP/DEPENDENCE.
Don’t view prayer as an item on your to-do list. Prayer is being with God.
Prayer is relationship. Prayer is the freedom of dependence, of casting all your cares upon God and relaxing in your Father’s arms. Take time as a Discipleship Group to enjoy praying together, to cast your cares upon God, and to ask him to form in you a stronger habit of listening, praying, and obeying that is driven by deep communion
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and intimacy with God.
Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. - 1 Peter 5:6-7
MAIN TAKEAWAY: We’re a church of disciples who practice the habit of listening to God, talking to God, and choosing to obey God and walk in wisdom.
What is God saying to you?
What’s your next step?
RECOMMENDED RESOURCES FOR HABIT 2: Garden City’s Word & Prayer Plan Answering God, Eugene Peterson How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth, Gordon Fee and Douglas Stuart Women of the Word, Jen Wilkin A Praying Life, Paul Miller A Call to Spiritual Reformation, D.A. Carson God’s Wisdom for Navigating Life, Tim and Kathy Keller Prayer and the Knowledge of God, by Graeme Goldsworthy Union with Christ, by Rankin Wilbourne The Choice, Edith Eva Eger Just Do Something, Kevin DeYoung What You Do Is Who You Are, Ben Horowitz
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