Two questions to ask a fellow Christian

Two questions to ask a fellow Christian

There are two key questions to ask fellow-believers when we meet:

1.     What part of Scripture did you read today?

2.     How was your prayer life today?

Prayer and Bible reading are habits that sustain and deepen our following of Christ. Scripture reading makes us attentive to God’s voice to shape our attitudes, words thoughts and deeds. Prayer is to our relationship with God what talking is to a close friendship. Without prayer and Bible, it is hard to imagine a Christian staying close to Christ let alone growing in him.

Notice the word ‘today’ in the questions. Yesterday’s prayer and Bible reading are like yesterday’s lunch. They were great at the time but are of diminishing value as the hours pass. Plans for tomorrow’s prayer and Bible reading are also great … but they are as useless as tomorrow’s dinner plans in fulfilling today’s appetite.

These two questions can be asked in an ugly way that embodies legalism and which exalts the asker and debases the asked. However, they can also be asked in a way that is gracious and encouraging. That is to ask them in a way that honours an honest negative answer and opens the way for renewed encouragement rather than scolding.

Imagine how we can encourage one another if this became a standard part of our conversation. It can be asked up and down the generational gap and across levels of ability. The questions are a great leveller among the people of God.

I’ve started building these questions into my conversations with believers that I am close to, whether it be my pastor, my boss, my peers or the people that I serve. No Christian is too ‘senior’ for these questions and none is too ‘junior’.

So how about it? Why not start asking these questions in safe zones and then make them a faith-sustaining habit in your daily conversation with the people of God?

David Burke

Ps: thanks for asking. I read Ezekiel Chapter 5 today and was struck by the awfulness of sin among the people who used to be at the centre of God’s plans. I prayed for those near and dear to me, for believers in a persecuted zone, for a church plant that I know of and for my own activities today. How about you?