Digging Ditches

Week 1: Digging Ditches

Without works, faith is dead. What implementation needs to happen in your life to go along with the inspiration God has given you for what He is about to do?

Sermon Recap
 

2 Kings 3:9-20

Three kings, including Jehoshaphat, the King of Israel, went out to fight a battle but encountered a more difficult situation than they had planned (i.e. ran out of water). At the time, Elisha was newly established as a prophet of God and as a last-ditch effort the kings finally decided to turn to him and seek God's help.

Elisha didn't respond in the way that Jehoshaphat expected. He instead said, "This is what the Lord says: Make this valley full of ditches." Jehoshaphat did so, and in response God filled the land with rain and water to save the people. Jehoshaphat learned an important lesson that day: sometimes God requires us to have faith and participate as He leads us and answers our prayers.

Surely Jehoshaphat and the others were not excited about the idea of digging ditches when they were already tired, dehydrated and frustrated. In spite of their discomfort they obeyed God's command and provided some valuable wisdom for us in the process:

• Faith isn't making God give you what you want. Faith is being willing to dig a ditch.
• God likes to let people participate in their own miracles.
• Faith is born when you trust God to do something that "can't be done."
• There's a difference between inspiration (wanting God to do something big) and participation (being willing to do what God requires of you).
• He might not be requiring you to dig all the ditches before He sends the rain; He might just be waiting on you to show that you're willing to do it.

Connect
 

We learned in Sunday's message that God is really good at turning situations around. Have you ever seen something really good come out of a situation that seemed really bad?

Discussion Questions

Q: The Bible is clear that God loves us and that He enjoys answering our prayers. What is the difference between a prayer of supplication (i.e. asking God for something) and one of manipulation (i.e. using God to get what you want)?

A: Philippians 4:6-9; James 4:1-3; Ephesians 6:10-18.

Prayer is a way that God created for us to respond directly to Him. Whether we are responding to tough circumstances, to a joyful occasion, or even to our own sin, prayer is intended for our hearts to connect with God's. (Possible follow-up question: What are some other things that we respond to in prayer? Possible answers: A problem we don't know how to handle. A family member who isn't inclined to believe in God. Excitement in our hearts.) If our intention is not to respond in the most appropriate way for His glory, then we are misusing prayer, and this can result in seeking our own glory through a manipulative prayer.

Q: Just like in Jehoshaphat's situation, God often answers our prayers by calling on us to participate. 1) Why does he allow us to do this, instead of just giving us a direct answer? 2) If He shares the "work" with us, does He also share the glory with us?

A: Psalm 115:1-3; James 2:14-25.

We were created as instruments for God's glory. There are times when our faith is proven by our deeds (see James 2), and God is glorified when we trust Him like we were created to do. God often shares the "work" with us because it allows us to be involved in the process as we see Him in action, and we are then able to see the full scope of everything that He cares about. Therefore He is also glorified when we realize and appreciate His sovereignty. God never intends to share His glory, though. He wants to give joy to us instead, because we were not designed to receive glory, but to give it - and to enjoy doing it.

Q: Besides Jehoshaphat's and Elisha's story, can you name any other Biblical examples of people whom God called to action in order to make a turn a bad situation into a good situation? With every example you come up with, take a moment to discuss the challenges those people faced.

A: Genesis 6:11-22; Luke 5:1-6; 1 Samuel 16:1-13.

There are lots of examples, and all of them are remarkably similar to our own individual stories as Christians. Every time God saves a person, He calls him/her from a bad situation into a better situation - that is, from a life of sin to a life of fellowship with the Lord. Just like Noah with his ark, Simon Peter with his nets, and Samuel anointing David, God wants to use every one of us to leave a mark on the world in His name.

Q: Consider the idea of "digging ditches," and take this opportunity to share with the group an area of your life where you might be struggling with a lack of faith. How can you build up your faith in that situation?

A: Mark 9:14-29; Hebrews 11:6; Joshua 10:12-14.

To build faith, start by building your view of God. The Bible is full of huge promises from God, like when Romans 8:28 says that He works all things together for our good. His love is so complete and our sin runs so deep that it can be tough for us to fully believe His promises sometimes. Hebrews says that in order to please God, we have to believe that He can do what He says He can do. In order to grow this type of faith in our hearts, we first need to acknowledge our lack of faith and pray for God to supply us with it. As you pray for this, God will often put you in positions where you have to believe His promises, if you are not currently in such a situation already. To put it plainly, faith comes from God. We can't build it ourselves; we can only submit completely to Him and do whatever He tells us.

Take Away
 

Hebrews 11:1 says that "faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see." Most of us would agree with this - but the problem is that many of us are not even sure what we hope for! As we've discussed, God has given us the privilege of prayer partly so that we can lay our needs out before Him, so it's important that we tell God what it is that we need and what we hope for.

What is it that you are asking God for? What are you hoping for? Pray bold prayers and tell God what you need. He might say yes and He might say no, and either one is a perfectly valid answer, but He can't answer a prayer that you never pray.

Apply this idea to your prayers at other times, too. Don't just tell God what you need; tell Him what you're thankful for, too. Tell Him what you feel and what you think. Tell Him what you are burdened for. Keep in mind, Jehoshaphat was only told to dig ditches when he expressed the fact that he needed something.

Close and Pray
 

As the leader of your home group, you have probably already discovered that you carry a lot of the responsibility for setting the spiritual tone of your meetings. Keep this in mind as you wrap up in prayer, and lead your group in response to the challenge of praying for big and specific things. Talk and pray together for ways to "dig ditches" as a group, and take the opportunity to pray boldly for whatever is next for your group as a whole.