Search Me

My wife and I both lead a discipleship group at our church.  While we love doing things as couples, and our groups do that, we have found a lot of men and women who will get more real with each other if the group is not co-ed.  Many of the guys in my group have wives in Amanda’s group.  We both have singles in each of ours as well and haven’t tried to play matchmaker (yet, anyway ;)).

Last night, we decided to do something a little different for our group.  We wanted to provide each person with some quiet time in the Word.  It is easy to listen to a message in a room with hundreds, it is less comfortable in a small group of 12, but it gets real in a hurry when it is just you and Jesus.

Knowing that different people are at different levels in their daily Bible consumption, we decided to help train our groups in the Word by actually getting them in the Word.  I created a simple guide to use.  We met with our groups for prayer requests, then let everyone take the guide for about 35-40 minutes of uninterrupted time in the Word, and then we got back and shared some things we learned.

Both groups had some really special time.  I learned so much from my guys concerning what the Holy Spirit had just taught them!  I thought I would share this simple outline with you from Psalm 139 as maybe something you could use today.

PRAY

Pray and ask God to clear your mind as you anticipate meeting with him.  Ask him to help remove distractions.  Tell him why you desire to hear from him.

READ

Read Psalm 139.  Take your time as you read through it highlighting any phrases or verses that stick out to you.

THINK

Summarize below the main theme of Psalm 139.  Imagine you were trying to remind yourself what this psalm was about so that you could teach someone else.

Psalm 139 teaches:

What are some of the most memorable phrases or verses from this psalm and why?  Write 3 of them out below and reference the verse (writing it out will sometimes help you see different things):

1.

2.

3.

If God can discern your thoughts from afar (v. 2), what are some of your thoughts that he knows about?

God has more thoughts about you than the sand that is on the seashore (v. 18) – try to wrap your head around that.  What are some of the specific thoughts he has concerning you?

He has made you fearfully and wonderfully (v. 14).  You are unique.  What are some of the positive things that God has put in you?

While he has made you wonderful, we can make ourselves anxious (v. 23).  What are some of the negative things we have put into ourselves that block us from the “way everlasting” (v.24)?

MEMORIZE

Is there a verse or verses that you would like to memorize to help you this week?  Which one(s)?

PRAY

Pray over these things from God’s Word.  Confess anything that needs to be confessed.  Hand over anything that needs to be handed over.  Praise anything that deserves to be praised.