A Bible Study

By Sandra Higley

Note: This Bible study is formatted for small group open discussion. If you use this study by yourself, we suggest that you journal your answers to the discussion questions. Also, biblegateway.com is an excellent resource for looking up passages in translations you may not have at home.

One of the most fascinating phenomena to hit the Internet in the last decade has been the introduction of flash mobs. What first appears as a spontaneous action by several people in a public place is actually a carefully orchestrated moment meant to entertain the unsuspecting crowd. You may enjoy an Internet search of some of the most noteworthy ones, including The Sound of Music Flash Mob in Antwerp, Belgium, and the Frozen Flash Mob in Grand Central Station, New York.

These intriguing—although perhaps pointless—extravaganzas usually cause people to smile or scratch their heads. They may also leave people wishing they could be part of something like that, even if only as an observer who happens to be in the right place at the right time.

Why? What pushes scores of people to spend hours coordinating, practicing, and performing this type of a spectacle with millions more who tune in to watch it all unfold? Perhaps it stems from a yearning to be part of something bigger than ourselves—a big-picture event that moves people out of their small story into a collective and purposeful “belonging.”

Discussion Questions

Read Ecclesiastes 3:11, Ephesians 2:10, and Luke 13:29. Based on these verses, where do you think an unfulfilled longing to participate in something of epic proportions comes from?

Dick Eastman of Every Home for Christ sees global evidence of rapidly accelerating spiritual awakening. His organization alone experienced an increase from 750,000 responses to the gospel in the year 2000, to 13 million in 2011. His desire is that indicators like this will plant seeds of excitement, anticipation, and hope so that on any given day you will say, “I can’t afford not to pray.” What does this evidence of increased response to the gospel do to your spirit?

What did Jesus say will happen when global saturation of the gospel takes place (Matt. 24:14)?

Based on 2 Peter 3:12 (nkjv), do you think it is possible for you to personally play a major role in that event? What might that role look like?

Steve Hawthorne talks about praying with homothumadon (responding to God with one heart and mind and passion), as in Acts 4:24–31 (nasb), rather than praying a “spasmodic series of crisis prayers.” Would you say that your prayer experiences with other believers are more homothumadon or crisis in nature? Explain.

Ben Jennings described an unprecedented prayer gathering in Seoul, Korea, in 1984 that marked the beginning of a new era in global prayer. On May 14–18, 2012, Christian leaders will gather in Jakarta, Indonesia, for a new World Prayer Assembly. How might this event launch even more prayer toward the fulfillment of Habakkuk 2:14?

Consider: If God is orchestrating and inviting you to join a global prayer “flash mob,” how will you respond?

Action Steps

Let your responses to this study initiate a quiet time with God. Steve Hawthorne named some things we can expect Jesus to do for us. Let’s turn them into prayer points. Ask God to:

• Lift our vision beyond our own concerns and countries.
• Keep us from getting stuck in cycles of “self-ism.”
• Push us past our self-absorbed despair.
• Instill in us a bold confidence that He is going to exalt Jesus as King!
• Set our hearts ablaze with the zealous certainty that He is doing great things and wants us to participate