Understanding our need

For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God's glorious standard.
(Romans 3:23 NLT)

My life passes as swiftly as the evening shadows. I am withering away like grass. But You, O LORD, will sit on Your throne forever. Your fame will endure to every generation.
(Psalms 102:11-12 NLT)

The secret to life is knowing our need and answering God’s call. Without understanding our need we cannot hear God’s answer for that need, without hearing God’s answer we are left to lesser things. These things try to fill our lives but nothing satisfies, not drugs, not alcohol, not money, or possessions, not even other relationships but only God’s love and it’s only when we respond to that love do we understand we have a Creator who desires relationship with us and wants to see us to grow and mature in Him. As we mature we are to help others see their need and point to the one answer.

Jesus told him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through Me. If you had really known Me, you would know who My Father is. From now on, you do know Him and have seen Him!" Philip said, "Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied." Jesus replied, "Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and yet you still don't know who I am? Anyone who has seen Me has seen the Father! So why are you asking Me to show Him to you?”
(John 14:6-9 NLT)

You see Philip did not see clearly his need and therefore could not see that Jesus was the answer, for if he would had recognized his own need his eyes would have been opened and who was standing before him that day would have been revealed. Like Philip we know of Jesus, we go to church, we pray and read the Bible because that is what we are supposed to do but have we ever dove into the depths of our own heart to see our desperate situation, do we know what we lose when we don’t surrender all to His Lordship? An American pastor once told a pastor from China, “We are praying for you, that God would deliver you from the persecution you face daily.” And the pastor from China said, “We are praying for you, that you would face more persecution so that you faith becomes stronger.”

When we’re in a group setting and we pray at the closing why are all the prayer requests for people we know, even people we don’t know (friends of friends)? Is it easier to talk about other people’s needs than it is to talk about our own? If real relationships are to happen how about we pray for each other! How about we become vulnerable to each other enough to expose our own needs? You want to see your group grow by leaps and bounds by practicing the things Jesus teaches, you want to see real community happen, then restrict the group to share only prayer request based on their own need. Don’t be surprised when people in the group start sharing how God has been speaking to them during the week about the things they have been praying for in the group. Also watch how ice breakers aren’t needed to get people to open up but true genuine love and compassion for each other is shown and encouraged. Soon your group will be too big to be considered a small group and it will need to break into other smaller groups, from a single seed comes a bountiful harvest! In this situation God’s love is truly experienced and people can’t get enough of it all because one person recognized their need and became vulnerable and open in a safe environment, allowing God to provide the answer through His children and allowing others to practice God’s love.