Listen, Pray, Obey
The Discipleship Culture Guidebook continues on with Part 2 - Listen, Pray, Obey. In any discipleship scenario, once a group is established and we know who it is that we are doing life with, it’s important to talk about this foundational part of our relationship with the Lord – our listening to His speaking.
God speaks. One of the first things the Bible reveals is that God is a speaking 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.
“Be still and know that I am God.” - psalm 46:10
This verse has really re-hit me(Max) hard lately. Our Father fights for us, communicates with us, plans for us, and Loves towards us very intentionally – he initiates and we have only to be still and know Him. Our listening to and sitting with God is vital to our flourishing relationship with Him and to our outpouring – our relationships with others. Here are a handful of recommended practices from Habit 2:
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 the 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.
If you’ve never engaged with this Habit in the Guidebook before, or if you’re already an expert, take a moment to ponder these points freshly, and commit to working on one of them. If you’ve got a story to share about how God is meeting you in this practice, tag us in an insta-story and we’ll share it with our church (:
Take a look back at this sermon by Justin on Habit 2 - Listen, Pray, Obey! We recorded this sermon in March of 2020; this was our third week of virtual Liturgies, and we had no idea what the future would hold!
Here is the full Habit 2 in the Guidebook to flip through, too:
We also want you to have access to the whole Guidebook if you don’t already, so below is a link to download it. We have a physical Guidebook for you too, so you can scribble down your thoughts and prayers and dive into the resource in a Lifegroup! Just email Alayne and we will get you a copy!