I sent my friend a message about something else and then casually dropped in an offer to give prayer a go. He agreed so I prayed for him every day that week. Then I asked him how it was feeling – he was feeling worse. Determined, I prayed again for a few days. The pain was still just as bad and he had to go into hospital for surgery the next day. That’s the end of the story! No healing. Nothing. What do you do with a situation like that? Spend some time talking with your mentee about these questions:
• Have you ever been in a situation like this? If not – why is that?
• Are there any other possible outcomes of this besides a literal answer to prayer? • What might God see that you can’t?
The Faith-Deeds relationship
Draw this Venn diagram and ask your mentee what they think it means and how it works. It would be worth reading James 2:14-25. Try and make the connection between Christian faith and acting on it, and other things in life that we believe and act on – such as ‘I believe this chair will take my weight (faith), and I sit on it (deed)’.
Ask: does faith always have to come first? Do deeds sometimes create faith? Is faith or deeds easier? Draw the diagram but with a larger faith oval than deeds – and together think of examples where this might be the case – and then do it the other way around. Do these three activities to finish:
1. Brainstorm things that they need faith for – when they seem exhausted push them for a few more. Discuss.
2. Now brainstorm deeds and see if you can connect them, making links and relationships with the faith items.
3. Choose just one faith item to act on this week and get them to come up with a specific and measurable goal that you can catch up about next time. Ensure they come up with it and are excited about it or they won’t do it – it’s no good it being your idea, this is all about their growth and thought process! Allow them to choose something that is comfortable but slightly stretching.
