QUIETING
Getting Started: If you were put in a wilderness cabin with plenty of food supplies and no electricity, how long would be too long?
Digging In:
- Read Luke 5:12-16. The word translated “lonely” would be translated “wilderness”. Why would Jesus go there? Couldn’t he have prayed anywhere? Why is this detail included?
- There are some Christians who use their driving commute as their main prayer time. What are the advantages and disadvantages of such a practice?
- Read Mark 1:35-39. What do you find amazing about this passage?
- In our day and age where drawing a crowd is such an important measure of success, how does it make sense that Jesus would leave when crowds were gathering?
- Read Matthew 14:13- What had just happened that would cause Jesus to withdraw to a solitary place? What do you think he was thinking about
- Through these scriptures we see that withdrawing to solitary places was a habit for Jesus. If he believed it was an important practice, why don’t we do the same?
Pastor Greg mentioned some reasons for not finding quiet in our lives:
Too connected.
- How are you more connected to technology than 10 years ago?
- How many times a day do you check Facebook or other Social networking sites?
- How would you feel about going on a “technology fast” for one day a week or even one hour a day(other than when sleeping)?
Too noisy.
- How often do you work or play in silence?
- Finish this sentence: “When I am alone for an hour, silence makes me feel ________.”
Too afraid.
- What are the kinds of thoughts that people try to avoid?
- Are there times when you use noise to distract you from the thoughts in your head?
- For those of you who are practicing “quiet” before the Lord, what are the logistics of that? When, where, what? What part of this time is talking to God and what part of this time is spent listening to God? Where does scripture reading fit into your “quiet”?
Close your time together with even a couple of minutes of quiet.