Jennie Allen - Chase Bible Study Guide: Chasing After the Heart of God

2012 by Jennie Allen

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Published in Nashville, Tennessee, by Thomas Nelson. Thomas Nelson is a registered trademark of Thomas Nelson, Inc.

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations are taken from THE ENGLISH STANDARD VERSION. 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.

Scripture quotations marked NIV are from the HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.

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Author image Jessica Taylor. Used with permission.

978-1-4185-4935-0

Printed in China

12 13 14 15 16 RRD 6 5 4 3 2 1

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She will chase after her lovers but not catch them; she will look for them but not find them.

hosea2:7 NIV

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contents

I was eighteen years old. I felt paralyzed in my relationship with God. I knew God was real, but my fancy prayers and daily devotionals were not cutting it. I was doing everything right, but it felt all wrong. Yet I thought I was giving God what He wanted.

I began to questionand this good little Bible-belt girl somehow missed the rules for wrestling with her God. As I surveyed my life, I realized doing all the right things had won me the admiration of everyone but God. And I felt empty and prideful. It was worse than rebellion: being good with no God. It was beginning to occur to me maybe God was after something else.

Maybe I was chasing the wrong things.

And then I stumbled across a phrase in 1 Samuel 13.

David was a man after [Gods] own heart (v. 14).

The phrase intrigued me because I knew David committed murder and adulteryhe was no missionary or priest. I saw this man as both completely sold out for God and completely broken. He was in love with God. He lived with an acute awareness of his need for Him.

The closer I have gotten to the life of this man, David, the more my ideas of what God wants from me have been shattered. David had one life and two eyes and one heart, just like me, but they were all laser-focused on the heart of his God... my God. David was in love with Him.

And, yes, David sinned and wrestled, just like me. But while he was not so concerned about appearing godly, he was terribly concerned about knowing God. He was a man who saw past his circumstances, past himself, past this life to the heart of God.

We gather together to discover the heart of God. I am terrified we get it wrong a lot of the time. We rarely, in our busy lives, stop and see Him, really see Him. We are so busy doing things for Him and for everyone else we altogether miss Him. He wants us.

As we chase after His heart together for these few short weeks, we will explore the life of David, a man who knew the heart of God. We will look into their passionate conversations. And whether you are running from God or working your tail off to please Him, Davids journey will challenge your view of God.

The story of Davids life and his prayers fill Gods Word. Its as if God was saying, When you open My Word, look at this man, look at hisprayers, look at his life, look at his mistakes, look at his faith, andyoull see Me, My heart.

Lets chase.

What do you hope to get
out of this study?

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Engage with Your Small Group

An important part of personal growth is community. We are going to deal with the way we view God and how our hearts can change to be more like His. This could be a painful process and it will certainly reveal sin in all of us. Make sure you have a group of women to walk through this process with you.

Commit to Being Consistent and Present

The nature of life makes it nearly impossible to follow through with a thorough examination of our hearts and Scripturenot to mention the devils desire to interfere with it. Commit to being present at your group meetings, barring an emergency, and arrange your schedule so you do not miss any part in this journey. Have your lesson and projects finished when you come to the group meeting.

Ground Rules for Group Discussion Time

:: Be concise. Share your answers to the questions while protecting others time for sharing. Be thoughtful. Dont be afraid to share with the group, but try not to dominate the conversation.

:: Keep group members stories confidential. Many things your group members share are things they are choosing to share with you, not with your husband or other friends. Protect each other by not allowing anything shared in the group to leave the group.

:: Rely on Scripture for truth. We are prone to use conventional, worldly wisdom as truth. While there is value in that, this is not the place. If you feel led to respond, please only respond with Gods truth and Word, not advice.

:: No counseling. Protect the group by not directing all attention on solving one persons problem. This is the place for confessing and discovery and applying truth together as a group. Your group leader will be able to direct you to more help outside the group time if you need it. Dont be afraid to ask for help.

Study Design

In the first meeting, your groups study guides will be passed out and you will work through the Getting Started lesson together. After that, each lesson in the study guide is meant to be completed on your own during the week before coming to the group meeting.

These lessons may feel different from studies you have done in the past. They are very interactive. The beginning of each lesson will involve you, your Bible, and a pen, working through Scripture and listening to Gods voice. Each lesson will conclude with four projects you can do to help you further process how to live Gods Word. Dont feel as if each lesson has to be finished in one sitting; take a few blocks of time throughout the week if you need to.