Friday, September 25, 2009

Where two or three are gathered

We started meeting in June of 2005. I didn’t know what God had planned. I only felt led to offer an opportunity for women to meet together once a week for Bible study, prayer and fellowship.
I felt ill equipped to handle this task; I knew so little myself. I didn’t want to set myself up as an expert; I just knew a group would need a facilitator to keep things moving smoothly. For awhile, I argued with God, explaining He’d surely picked the wrong person, and there must be someone more qualified than I for such a task. I even wrote out a fairly long list of reasons why I couldn’t do it, and He needed to find someone else. You see, I wanted to part of such a group; I just didn’t want to be the responsible one.

He wasn’t letting me off the hook.

I’ll never forget that first meeting when about five women – Bibles on hand, notebooks open, pens ready – sat with all eyes intently on me, ready to get started, eager to learn. It was intimidating, and scary, and exciting.

Our first topic was prayer. We used the ACTS format (adoration, confession, thanksgiving and supplication) to start with. I remember our first feeble attempts at adoration – offering praise to God aloud. Some of us had never done that before. I remember when women who never said a word finally began speaking up and joining in the prayer time. It was thrilling.

My intention was for us to meet only that summer. Four years later . . . many have come and gone, but a core group remains that continues to grow and mature in our relationship with the Lord. We’ve learned so much together, and those first awkward prayers now flow freely.

Do you wish you were part of such a group? If you have that desire, I think you can be confident that it’s from the Lord. He wants His children to meet together often (see Acts 2:46)! Is God asking you to initiate a Bible study/prayer group? Like me, you may feel unqualified for the job. That’s OK. It’s best that you not rely on your own strength; you have to rely totally on Him. That will place God directly in charge – exactly where He should be!

I will say, before I began, I checked with the leaders in my church to receive their input and blessing. Accountability is important.

If you believe God is leading you to start a small-group study, talk to your spiritual authority, prayerfully consider how God wants you to proceed, let Him lead you, and follow His direction.
God bless you as you are obedient to Him.

Matthew 18:20; For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.

No comments:

Post a Comment