15 Questions for Discerning God's Activity & How We Can Join Him
Practical Urban Mission - Part 2
By S. Crawley
This series of posts, Practical Urban Mission, opened by introducing three essential elements in transformative urban outreach:
Point to who God is by who we are becoming - being authentic and integrated people.
Discern how God is already working so we can respond in prayer and action.
Create space for people to discover, listen and respond to God so they can get to know Him and choose their response to Him.
In the first post we spent some time digging into the first essential element - being witnesses who point to God through our authentic journey towards wholeness.
Today, we’ll look at a second essential element - 15 questions to help us practically “listen” and discern how God is already working so we can respond in prayer and action.
Operating Assumptions
Three assumptions underpin this post:
God wants to (and does) communicate with us and we are capable of hearing Him
God is continually at work and wants to involve us in what He's doing
We have a general awareness of our strengths, gifts, calling and what God is currently doing in our inner world - this often flows into what He is inviting us to do in our outer world.
(If it would be helpful to unpack any of those assumptions, let me know. If I get 5 requests, I'll post a separate blog on them).
Ok, time for practical steps!
Questions That Help Us Listen In The Harvest Field
Here is a list of proven questions, put into five categories, that will help you "listen" to God. With a posture of curiosity, they will help you discern how God is working in your world.
You can ask these questions and hear from God on your own, but this process is definitely more powerful if you do it with team! Pull together some others who share the sense of call or burden for the people on your heart.
Press in together!
Listening to God
Our Father is the Lord of the harvest.
He has a plan. He has an end goal. He wants to involve us.
His voice is the most important.
Here are some questions we can ask:
1. What is on His heart for these people?
2. What is He already doing?
3. How is He already working?
4. How is He inviting us to join Him and be involved?
We can ask these questions in our quiet place. We can ask them as we work. We can ask them as we prayer walk the streets, neighbourhoods or buildings He has called us to.
Listening to People (& God)
God is already at work in and amongst the people He invites us to love.
He blesses them. He sows Kingdom seed amongst them. He prepares their context and appoints their time so that they might reach for Him (Acts 17:26-27).
If we are curious and listen carefully, we can discern the hunger that His Spirit is stirring, and the hearts that might be open to Him.
As we interact with an individual, an affinity or an urban village we can ask:
5. What are they thankful for?
6. What are they hungry for?
7. What are they passionate about?
8. What are they frustrated by?
9. Where and how does the Kingdom connect with the things on their hearts and minds?
Listening to Stakeholders (& God)
Clues about God's work can be found among other community stakeholders, too.
There are other authorities and groups who have an interest in the people or place God has called us to. Different levels of government. Charities. Formal and informal community organisations. Academics. They are speaking through research papers, policies, websites and other media.
These questions can help us listen:
10. What is trending in social media amongst this group?
11. What is in the local newspapers?
12. What policies and programs are changing?
Pulling It Together
As we listen to the different streams we will develop a deeper sense of the dynamics at work in this group of people.
These questions help us prayerfully process the possibilities we see:
13. What needs or brokenness do we see and how might we sow God’s peace in response ?
14. What spiritual hunger can we see and how can we serve it?
Landing It
We’ve done good listening. We’ve got a sense of what is happening, Now for the most important question of all:
15. How does God actually want us to respond?
There are so many possibilities for us to contribute at different levels.
We might launch a community project. We might think about stories from the Bible that speak to the concerns we’ve identified. We might talk to some friends who have skills or gifts in the areas we’ve noticed. We might wait and seek God for more clarity.
Just because we see or discern what God is doing, doesn't mean that He wants us to act the way we think we should act. Or that He wants US to act. Or that He wants us to act NOW.
What does He actually want?
We need to ask Him this question before leaping into action!
What About You?
These 15 questions can help us put God and His communication and action at the centre of how we join with our Father’s work.
What do you think of these questions? Do you have others we should consider? Leave a comment below!
Coming up next in this series - visual tools to help us discern and play our part in evangelism.
For Reflection
1. A Scripture - Acts 17:24-28
What does this passage tell us about God's work amongst all people? What encourages you?
2. A thoughtful question
What insights do you already have about the people on your heart? What else do you desire to know?
3. A possible application
Find someone else who has an interest or concern for the people God is inviting you to love. Ask them what they are hearing and discerning.
Discipling the Urban Harvest provides practical insights and encouragement to walk with God in multiplying discipleship in an increasingly urban world - growing as children of the Father, serving the communities He has called us to, and discipling those hungry to know Him.