Pursuing Intimacy Through Questions

When my husband and I were dating, we wanted to know everything about each other. In the pursuit of the other's heart, we learned as much as we could by asking questions. "What's your middle name? Your favorite color?" Getting-to-know-you questions soon gave way to deeper issues. "How many children do you want to have? Should mom stay at home or go to work?" And deeper yet: "Tell me how did you become a Christian? How do you see yourself serving God in the years to come? What are your dreams?"

We were so full of questions and interest in each other, we started passing a notebook back and forth. There we would write out a short list of questions, and then give it to the other person to answer. This went on the entire time we dated. And wouldn't you know it, over time we developed greater intimacy that led to our marriage. Even now, we find our relationship is kindled when we take time to ask each other deep and meaningful questions.

One reason I love using questions for Bible study is because it helps us to develop intimacy with the Lord. As we ask questions, our curiosity is piqued, our understanding of the Lord is deepened, and our love for Him grows. That's not to say He answers all of our questions, but He always uses them to reveal something to us, whether about Him or about ourselves.

Consider the questions asked of God in the following scriptures:

Moses, in Exodus 3:11 and following, when God called him to lead His people out of Egypt:

"Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?"

"Suppose they ask me, 'What is His name?' Then what shall I tell them?"

"What if they do not believe me?"

Moses, in Exodus 17:4 "What am I to do with this people? They are ready to stone me!"

Job, in Job 13:23-25 "How many wrongs and sins have I committed? Show me my offense and my sin. Why do you hide your face and consider me your enemy? Will you torment a windblown leaf? Will you chase after dry chaff?"

Isaiah, in Is. 63:17 "Why, O Lord, do you make us wander from your ways and harden our hearts so we do not revere you?" 64:5b "How then can we be saved?" 64:12 "After all this, O Lord, will you hold yourself back? Will you keep silent and punish us beyond measure?"

Man is not the only one asking questions. In the Old Testament, we see God questioning Jonah unceasingly in chapter after chapter. In 38:2-5, "Who is this that darkens my counsel with words without knowledge? Brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer me. Where were you when I laid the earth's foundations? Tell me, if you understand. Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know! Who stretched a measuring line across it..."

Jesus was a master of questions that penetrate the heart.

Mark 2:9 "Which is easier: to say to the paralytic, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say 'Get up, take up your mat and walk?'"

Mark 3:4 "Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?"

Mark 3:33 "Who are my mother and my brothers?"

Matt. 16:13,15 "Who do people say the Son of Man is?... But what about you? Who do you say I am?"

Study the questions of the Bible.  What purpose do they serve?  How does God respond?  What do they reveal about His character and purposes?  How did Jesus answer questions?  What did people ask Him?  Do you see any similarities to your own life?

This week, as you study the book of Habakkuk, notice the use of questions.  Have you ever wanted to ask God the kinds of questions Habakkuk asks? 

Then consider what questions you may be asking the Lord.  Record them somewhere, and watch for how He is answering.   Take time to let Him question you, allowing Him to penetrate your heart and will.  Perhaps like Habakkuk your praise of Him will bubble up and overflow.  Or like Job, you may be silenced.  One thing is certain: your knowledge of God will deepen and you will be changed.  My prayer for you is that intimacy with Him will be the result.