THE G.O.A.T. – Week Eight
Read Matthew 7:7-8 – Pastor Jason challenged us that there’s a right way to ask a question of God. We are good at the first step (Ask), but the second (Seek) and third (Knock) needs a lot of reflection.
What do you think the normal pattern is for the average person to ask for something of God? Do you find that pattern to be passive or proactive?
***For Leaders – Asking is putting in a request to God to “move” for you or someone else. In reality, asking is the most passive step because it’s the easiest thing for our hearts to do. We have a need in our heart, so we ask.
What is the most common mistake that we make during the first step when we ask something of God?
***For Leaders – Because we believe that asking is “end” of the process (instead of the beginning), we end up heading in the opposite direction from God after we ask. We think we’ve put in our request so we’re done and then we mis takingly put the eyes of our heart on something else other than God.
What is the most challenging part of the second step which is seeking?
***For Leaders – Read Eph 1:18 – Keeping the eyes of our heart on God after we’ve made a request is the most challenging part. It’s impossible to seek God without turning the eyes of our heart to him. We seek Jesus with the eyes of our heart on him so we “may be enlightened” to know hope and our inheritance according to Eph 1:18. Think about it. After we ask for something, it’s hard to believe that God will do anything unless you have hope and there is an inheritance for His children. Example: We keep the eyes of our heart on the Lord by reading more, listening to more podcasts, praying more instead of surfing on our phones or watching TV. That’s the seeking process.
What is the most challenging part of the third step which is knocking?
***For Leaders – To knock means to wait! It’s not passive, but it’s trusting. The difference between asking (which is passive because requests come easy for the heart) and knocking is our hearts don’t naturally like to wait for anything! Pastor Jayson gave a great example that he could seek to find your home if he wanted to come over, but once he got there, he lost total power to do more. He would have to wait until someone answered the door.
Read Matt 7:9-11 Why do you think Jesus taps in what we know as parents as an example?
***For Leaders – Jesus taps into what we know as parents with his examples because even a person who was totally far from God could still connect. He knows a good-willed parent would never give the worst version of a gift to their kids. So EVEN if people who are far from God know how to give good gifts to their kids, how much more will they understand that God knows how to give good gifts to those who ask Him?
What did Pastor Jayson mean by “your struggle with God could be a result of the faith foundation you’ve built.”
***For Leaders – Answer lies in verses 24-27. Here’s the root of the story – the materials you use matter. You can’t build a strong faith with weak materials. You can’t build a stand-up-when-life-is-hard faith with 65-minute-a- week materials. When you know you a storm is coming…you prepare. It’s hard to prepare for major storms with only 65 minutes of time dedicated to storm preparation.
Final Reflection from Pastor Jayson – If you could fix you…you would have fixed you by now. You can’t so your foundation must be built on Jesus.
Am I prepared for the next crash? Where are you with Jesus?
If your foundation is in ruins then your only answer is Jesus.