Desires Week One
Leader Guide
We think life is all about us. “Life my way is the best way.” Or is it? No matter how hard we try, how much wealth or recognition we have, we aren’t satisfied. The truth is, unless we do life God’s way, we won’t ever be satisfied. Our desires will be as unfulfilled as we are. Let’s consider the ways in which we can choose to do life God’s way.
What you will need: A Bible or your Bible app, a notebook, pen, and highlighter. The verses highlighted below are linked so that you can easily access them during your study time.
Jump Start
Leaders: This section is designed to get discussions started, examine God’s truth, and apply it to our week. Life Group leaders should not assume everyone in their group is a Christ follower. Because they are taking part in a Life Group, they must have some openness to knowing more, exploring. Pray for the Holy Spirit to work and let Him lead you as well.
1. What desire have you prayed for – that God didn’t grant? Do you now understand why that was or not?
2. Read Ecclesiastes 2:3. Which desires are not worth pursuing, which ones are?
Leaders: The one thing that Solomon asked for from God was wisdom. This pleased God so much that He gave Solomon everything. Solomon went on a quest to fulfill his desires – he didn’t hold back. We can learn from him that our desires often turn out to be worthless in the long run.
3. Not all desires are sinful. Read Genesis 2:9; 3:5-6. At what point does a desire become sinful?
Leaders: God made a beautiful, desirable world. Yet, He did not intend for us to worship or be distracted by His creation. When a desire distracts us from prioritizing God as the only one we worship, it becomes a (sinful) idol. God wants first place in our hearts. When we seek Him wholeheartedly all other desires will either adjust – and we won’t desire them or be fulfilled by the God who loves us. God knows our needs and desires better than we know them ourselves. Allowing Him to provide for us – even the things we want – demonstrates our faith in Him. This pleases God.
4. Read Ecclesiastes 12:13; Matthew 6:33. What is the “whole duty of man” according to Solomon that Jesus reminded us to “Seek first...”?
Leaders: We learned in the weekend message: “Controlling my desires is about priority not moderation.” Both passages we read remind us that God’s kingdom and His commandments are the priority in life.
Action Step: Write down your top three desires in life. Now evaluate whether you put them in order of importance. Which do you spend the most time on? Is there a desire you wish was a priority, but it gets pushed to the back burner? Compare your top desires with God’s desire for you. Are there areas you want to adjust, if so, what action can you take to make your schedule match your intentions?
Deeper
What can we learn from Solomon and his thorough pursuit of the meaning of life? Let’s read a few sections from Ecclesiastes and discuss the various pursuits he considered that came up short:
6. Read Ecclesiastes 2:12-17. Consider how even good things like living wisely can be meaningless.
Leaders: It seems that good things are valuable but like we heard in the weekend message, it’s not about moderation but about priority. When we put God first moderation always follows. However, moderation of things we consider bad or at least neutral does not always mean we are placing God first.
7. Read Ecclesiastes 2:18-26. Consider how even good things like hard work can be meaningless. What does Solomon hate about his “toil?” Does the fact that everything we work for – material things – will be passed on to someone else, bother you?
Leaders: Hard work is glorified in our individualistic society. Oftentimes we don’t even encourage moderation! The fact is sabbath is the antidote to overwork. God gives us a good way to check ourselves in this area. Discuss the feelings behind leaving things for our children and grandchildren. Like Solomon sometimes we resent them having things handed to them. Unlike Solomon, sometimes passing on things to our decedents motivates us to more and more accumulation.
8. Read Ecclesiastes 5:8-20. Consider how wealth and poverty can be misused and meaningless.
Leaders: make sure to include both the affluent and the humble in this conversation. Consider how even the least wealthy in our country can be considered affluent by international standards. Consider how comparison can cause us to become jealous for more even when we have enough. We can enjoy what we have by sharing generously and please God even with our meaningless wealth, even in our supposed poverty.