TURN (Part 3): Turned Around

TO START

For this series, TURN, we want to invite your group to move through a process of turning to God together. Each week we are inviting your group to move through questions and prompts in the following order: STUDY → CONFESS → REPENT → PRAY (feel free to choose a few questions/prompts from each section) 

  • Have you ever been caught up in a bad storm? Share your experience with the group. 

In this series, we are focusing on the spiritual practice of repentance. Repentance is the practice of turning away from sin and toward God. Each week, we want to invite your group to turn towards God by reflecting on a weekly prompt of repentance. Here is this week’s prompt: I have not invited God into the pain of ____.

READ JONAH 1:17-2:10

STUDY                           

  • What were Jonah’s initial thoughts and feelings while he was inside the fish? How are our prayers different inside the fish than from the shore?

  • In v. 6, Jonah’s language shifts to “But, you (God)…” Can you think of any other “but God” moments in Scripture where the Lord intervened to rescue his people?

  • What elements does Jonah include in his prayer? What aspects of his prayer sound like repentance? 

CONFESS

  • Is there something in life right now that has swallowed you whole (an area where you struggle to know God is present & good)?

  • In times where we are rebelling against God OR feel God has turned on us, why is it so difficult to pray? Is it difficult for you to pray in those seasons? What keeps you from crying out to God?

  • Are you living in a way that witnesses to the reality that God alone saves you? 

REPENT

  • How does knowing that God is always with you and that Jesus has taken on death for you even in your rock-bottom moments change the way you respond to pain and difficulty in life?

  • Share a time when you have seen God’s grace come in an unexpected way. 

  • Do you have a place where you go to encounter God? What could it look like for you to find a place to give God your full attention?

PRAY

  • Consider an area of life where you are turned away from God. Ask God’s Spirit to turn you around. 

  • Consider your need for God alone to save you. Pray that this realization will enable you to have grace for others who need God’s goodness right now. 

  • Agree as a group to attend at least 1 of the come & go prayer time on Wednesday nights. 

Matt DeLano