5.7.22 - Pursuing and Praying for Connection (Self-Guided)
“RECONNECT,” WEEK 4: PRAYING FOR OUR CONNECTIONS
Over the last 3 weeks, we have been exploring what it means to reconnect in a “post”-pandemic world: with our faith, with the church, and with one another. At the center of these conversations has been a discovery that the truth is we are already connected, and the challenge set before us is to better see and better respond to our relationships. Here’s how we have tried to map out this challenge:
God has already sought us out: are we willing to accept the abundant life offered by Jesus and live as “people of grace”?
The Church is made up of Christians, whether we like it (or like them!) or not: do we realize we have an important role to play in seeking the health of others believers?
And finally, our lives have already brought us into relationships with other people who we need and who need us: are we willing to be people who are eager to pour out the same hope we are learning to receive through our faith?
In this, the final week of our “Reconnect” series, we want to be intentional about truly creating time and space to listen to the Holy Spirit as we seek to respond and act. To that end, we are asking everyone to find moments this weekend to step away for a few minutes to pray. As you pray, allow yourself to really ask the questions below with a humble heart: you are God’s beloved child, and He wants to lead you, not just to new work or new tasks, but to a deeper experience of His love and a place of genuine excitement about how you can better serve and love others.
PRAYER 1: WILLING TO LISTEN
Take a moment to “hear” what you are really feeling about yourself and about your faith. Who has God shown Himself to be to you? Where do you see or experience God in the world around you? Where do you see Him in the people around you? What does He want you to better see or feel or understand?
PRAYER 2: WILLING TO REPENT
Take a moment to “hear” what is getting in the way of your growth or your faith. What has been hardest for you to bear lately? When you consider the 3 areas of connection in this series (God/Church/others), where have you been most guarded? What are you guarding? What most interferes with your ability to truly feel the ways you are connected? What do you need to let go of or admit, in order to be able to accept what God is seeking to show you or give you?
PRAYER 3: WILLING TO BE LOVED
Take a moment to “hear” how God really feels about you. This can be so, so hard to do…but it is so, so important! How do you usually feel like God “sees” you? What does it mean to be God’s “child”? What can we learn about this by looking at God’s Son, Jesus? Ask God, and listen to what He shows you: who are you to Him, really?
PRAYER 4: WILLING TO BE SENT
Take a moment to “hear” where God has put you in this world. Who is in your “circle”? Who are the people who know you, who listen to you? How can you open yourself up to deeper connections with those people? Who around you needs you? How can you show them that you love them, that they can trust you? Who do you not yet know…but can seek to know?