Questions

Our son, Micah, was asked to read a book for work – The Art of Asking Better Questions: Pursuing Stronger Relationships, Healthier Leadership, and Deeper Faith - by JR Biggs. Always looking for a good book, I downloaded a sample from Amazon and started to read. (full disclosure, I have not yet finished it, but like what I have read so far)  

Questions have always intrigued me. They are the sign of a curious mind. Children ask questions all the time. They want to learn. Curious people want to learn so they pursue the questions they have. “Who is this person? What is their story?” “How does this work?” “What is that place like?” “What happens if...” “How can I do this better?” (this being any number of things – work, fix a car, have a better marriage, be a better parent, etc)  

In the book, there are 3 types of questions that stood out as they take us to deeper places. Here they are...  

1. The questions we ask ourselves. (Why did I do that? What is wrong with me? What do I really believe? Where is my life going?) 
2. The questions God/Jesus asks us. (Where are you? Who do you say I am? What is your life? Do you believe I can do this?) 
3. The questions we ask God. (Why? How long will this last? What’s next? What do you want me to do?)  

These are all great and any of them is worth pursuing. This morning as I write this, I am thinking through one of my favorite questions I have for God...  

... “What are You teaching me?” And it’s a corollary... 

... “What do You want me to learn?”  

I have asked many people the first of these – “What is God teaching you these days?” and so often I hear this... “He is teaching me to be patient.” That seems pretty universal today. He is teaching us patience, to learn to wait. That is something we all must learn as His timing is always different than ours, the whole “a thousand years is but a day to God” truth. Learning to wait is almost always part of His curriculum for us.  

However, is there something else God may be teaching you? Are there questions He may be asking you about yourself? About your relationship with Him? About your life? These are all good questions to think about. Jesus was a great “question asker”, and I think He still is.  

What questions is Jesus asking you? 

A few weeks ago, I read another book (this time the whole book) called “God Talks” by Ed Rush. It was an interesting book though I wish it had more Scripture in it. It made me think, and ask myself some questions...  

“What if God wanted to talk to me?” “Am I listening?” “Am I willing to listen? “ 

So, I took a retreat on the High Point Greenway on a cold Friday to try to put into practice what I was learning. I went for a walk and stopped every 2 miles and did what the book said. I stopped, opened my journal, got quiet and still before God and asked Him some questions...  

“What lies do I believe about myself? About you, God? About my past? My future? My purpose?” 

I also asked the following follow up questions to the ones above .... 

“What is true about myself? About God? About my past? My future? My purpose?”  

And both of these sets of questions were in fact prayers. Questions as prayers. So, I wrote them out, one at a time and then I listened for answers, and wrote what came to mind. I was astonished at the answers which came in the form of Scriptures I had learned or studied over the years. It was one of the most encouraging retreats I had ever spent as it led to some deep reflection that had eluded me in the past.  

The interesting part to me is that it came from asking different questions, and in the fact that in just a couple of weeks, I had been exposed to the idea of askng questions from 2 different books I had never heard of before. The most intriguing part to me was found in the Scriptures that came to mind in this experience, the Scriptures I had been exploring for all my life but never experienced in this way so fully before. It was if God was answering my questions directly from His Word.  

But isn’t that how God speaks? Through His living Word. 

I want a deeper walk with God, not because mine is shallow, but because He is so deep. I am only skimming the surface. Asking the right questions is a way to go deeper, that and being in the Word, so that we can hear and know His voice. Questions are a way to knowing God better.  

So I ask you... 

“Do you want to know Him better?” “What is He saying to you?” “What does He want you to learn?”  

Start by asking Him some really good questions and then start listening. Don’t be surprised if He answers back with a question for you. I am sure it will make you think.  

On the journey,

Patrick