What Questions Should You Be Asking?

When reading the gospels, it seems Jesus is constantly having to “INTERPRET” what he had just said while teaching.  For the average listener, He spoke in parables.  However, for the common person who asked questions, they were not satisfied with what they heard in the nice stories even though he was sharing the depth and wisdom of God.

I sometimes wonder if we ask God enough questions or whether we just read scripture and take everything at face value? For the majority of us, I think you know the answer to that question. Here is the problem. Reading the scripture only at face value can get us really twisted in our concepts about God and spirituality. You can read one account of Jesus being kind and compassionate and then another where he seems to make following him almost beyond reach. Now, I know some who read what I just said will get mad or argue with me and say the word of God is powerful to any who read it.  Yet, the facts speak otherwise. For instance, look at the pharisees. They spent the whole day reading and studying the scriptures and yet they walked in darkness even to the point where they believed Jesus was Satan himself. Remember that Satan knows God’s word and yet it doesn’t change him and he attempts to twist its meaning to confuse us. Remember also that when Jesus was in the wilderness before his ministry started that Satan attempted to twist scripture in order to get Jesus to do the opposite of what God desired. Scripture alone, without the help of the Holy Spirit, just makes us religious.

Matthew 4:5-6                                                                                                                                                                                            Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written: “‘He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’”

True learning comes from asking questions and not just taking life as it comes. To not ask questions in life is an invitation for many to experience “TRAIN WRECK” in our lives that may wound us for life. Scripture even challenges us to come and reason with God, which implies asking questions. (Isaiah 1:18) Even Jesus, when he was a young boy, asked questions and this was the Son of God. Shouldn’t we act and live like Jesus?

Luke 2:46                                                                                                                                                                                                     After three days they found him ( Jesus ) in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions.

Thinking is easy if you only ask the basics questions to navigate, but what if you want to understand the deep truths of God that will change your life? To discover those things you will have to do the “HARD WORK” of asking questions. Starting to ask “MORE” questions than you currently do will most likely change how you think and process the truth you already know.

One day Jesus has an encounter with Pharisees who were attempting to trap him with scripture or demand of him some miracles to prove he was the Son of God. Truth be told, they didn’t want to understand more but rather wanted to discredit Jesus and his teachings. In that encounter, Jesus instructed his close disciples, those who followed him daily, to be careful about who they received understanding from because the Pharisees twisted the meaning of scripture to prove they were smarter and better than the average person, including Jesus. Jesus was always provoking his close disciples to ask questions and dig deeper into what he was teaching them.

Matthew 16:6                                                                                                                                                                                          “Watch out!” Jesus warned them. “Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” They decided he was saying this because they hadn’t brought any bread.

How often has the church gotten off track and had believers be contaminated by religious people who can quote scripture? It happened in Jesus’ day with the Pharisees and it can often happen to us today. Religious church leaders often just “PARROT” bad concepts about God which they themselves have been taught.  These leaders or pastors just accepted what they were taught rather than asking hard questions to see if the statements of others actually stand up to scrutiny. The result is a church that learns doctrines rather than developing soft hearts toward God, which will change them and the world.

Religious people who have evil intent often attempt to cover up their motives by using religious sounding words to convince the masses they are right. If we are not careful we will be “DUMBED DOWN” in our ability to think biblically because we ask so few questions.

Back to the story about the yeast of the pharisees.  Jesus always had a practice of talking privately with his close disciples because they were attempting to put into practice what they were learning. Jesus wanted to take them further than what the crowds understood because they had demonstrated hearts that longed to understand God’s best for them. To help them get past the deception and misunderstanding about the yeast of the Pharisees, Jesus asked them questions concerning what they have experienced thus far.  Many times, God does amazing things in our lives and we miss them by assuming that these happenings were just “COINCIDENTAL” when in fact they were supernatural. How often have you forgotten the special times when the Holy Spirit’s powerfully moved in the past?  These special teaching moments are meant to change our future, yet we end up forgetting them partly because we don’t ask the Holy Spirit for follow up guidance.  Instead of shaping our understanding of God and his purposes, we allow those moments to just fall by the wayside.  Our memories of special encounters with the Lord will be forgotten if we don’t cherish them by asking the questions that are meant to unlock their deep truth.

Matthew 16:8-11                                                                                                                                                                                        Jesus knew what they were thinking, so he said, “You have so little faith! Why are you worried about having no food? Won’t you ever understand? Don’t you remember the five thousand I fed with five loaves, and the baskets of food that were left over? Don’t you remember the four thousand I fed with seven loaves, with baskets of food left over? [11] How could you even think I was talking about food? So again I say, ‘Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.’”

Over my many years of life, I have learned to ask questions regularly.  Since becoming a believer I have sought out the Holy Spirit’s advice on most things. I understand from scripture that he is trying to communicate with me daily if I will only respond to his prompting. It is so easy to misunderstand the Spirit of God because we develop “MIND SETS” that hinder our ability to process the mind and will of God.  One major mindset is feeling we don’t need to ask questions in our daily lives…..nothing could be further from the Truth.

Questions:

1) Do you regularly ask questions of the Holy Spirit regarding life in general and scripture in particular? The answer to that question should provoke encouragement to ask more questions.

2) What hinders you most from asking questions of the Holy Spirit? Is it your age, your knowledge or your lack of concern? Each of us has our own temptations for doing life by our own power so get honest with God about your particular stumbling block.

Pastor Dale