#75 – The Power of a Repeated Question

Welcome to season eight of Presently Engaged with Mandy Pallock. Here you’ll find short, friendly, Jesus-focused encouragement to live intentionally right where you are. And now for your host, Mandy Pallock. You know that I love a good question.

Asking questions and listening well can take every relationship you have deeper. In this season, we are diving deep into questions in Scripture because as we look to the Bible, we look to the very best source. We will then end the podcast with a Scripture reading anchoring us in the truth of God’s word before you go on with your day. This will give us the opportunity to center our minds on Jesus and our hearts on his word because lives will change as we engage with God’s word.

I wonder if you could help me with something. Would you consider texting this podcast right now to a friend or to someone that you’re mentoring? Listen in and then join me at PresentlyEngaged.com. I am so grateful for your time and glad that you are here because you friend are making a difference.

Elijah was having a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. He had been hiding for his life from the king and queen of Israel. Then he had faced that king on Mount Carmel and prayed and watched literal fire fall down from heaven, proving the existence of the God that he served to the thousands on the mountainside. Then the people of Israel fell on their faces and declared the Lord, he is God.

Then Elijah had led the Israelites to punish the false prophets who had been enticing and leading the people to sin and worship the false God of Baal instead of the one true God. Then Elijah had gone to an all out prayer fest where he had prayed for rain seven different times, intensely asking God to send rain to the drought-stricken land. Then confident that God would send rain, he told the king to hitch up his chariot and ride to the capital before the rain stopped him. Then Elijah ran ahead of the king’s chariot all the way to the capital about 15 miles.

Then when the king named Ahab got home, he told his wife Jezebel everything that had happened. So Queen Jezebel sent a threatening message to Elijah telling him he would definitely be dead by this time tomorrow. Then Elijah was afraid and ran for his life. The next scene finds him 95 miles later in the depths of despair.

He prayed. He said, I’m done God. Take my life I’ve had enough. And after two rounds of nap and food, Elijah travels 40 days and 40 nights to meet God on Mount Horib, the historical mountain of God.

And in a cave at Mount Horib, God meets him. Let’s take a quick rabbit trail here. Another name for Mount Horib is Mount Sinai. This is the place literally called the mountain of God.

This is where God spoke to Moses through the burning bush. This is where the Israelites worship God. After being freed from Egypt, this is where God gave the Ten Commandments and the law to his people. In a time of great discouragement and extreme exhaustion, Elijah is drawn to a place of historical, cultural, and personal significance.

Are you feeling separated from God or from what you might call the will of God right now? Go back to the last thing God called you to do and do that. James 4.8 says, draw near to God and he promises to draw near to you. There’s hope and truth in that statement.

Back to Elijah. Let’s read 1 Kings 19, 9 through 10. There he went into a cave and spent the night and the word of the Lord came to him. What are you doing here, Elijah?

He replied, I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your servant, torn down your altars and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left and now they’re trying to kill me too. Notice that God begins with a question.

What are you doing here, Elijah? He doesn’t start with a command. He doesn’t give Elijah a plan. He doesn’t rebuke him.

He begins with a question. This is the first moment of connection. God is drawing Elijah out physically and spiritually and Elijah’s response, it’s raw, it’s honest. He says, I’ve done everything I could, so to speak, and it still didn’t work.

I’m alone. I’m done. God doesn’t argue. Instead, he invites Elijah out of the cave to witness something profound.

The Lord said, go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord for the Lord is about to pass by. A wind comes, a great and powerful wind that tears through the mountains, but the Lord isn’t in the wind. Next, an earthquake, but the Lord isn’t in the earthquake. Then fire, but again, the Lord isn’t in the fire.

And finally, a gentle whisper. When Elijah hears it, he pulls his cloak over his face. He knows this is the presence of God. I wonder how we learn how to recognize the presence of God.

How did Elijah recognize the presence of God in the gentle whisper and still a small voice? One way was from being in God’s presence before, draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. And again, the voice comes, what are you doing here, Elijah? Same question, same mountain, but now after a whisper, Elijah is ready to hear.

God gently refrains everything. He says, you’re not alone. I’ve preserved 7,000 in Israel who have not bowed to Baal. You’re not finished, Elijah.

I’m sending you to anoint kings to train your successor. And God’s question is followed up with reassurance and direction. Then God encourages Elijah with truth, truth of who he is, truth of what will happen. And in verse 18, God declares, yet I reserve 7,000 in Israel, all whose knees had not bowed to those to that false God Baal, had not committed idolatry who still worshiped God the Lord.

He fills Elijah’s heart with truth. What do we do when we feel like Elijah? When we’ve given everything and it still feels like it didn’t make a difference, when we feel stuck in a cave of fear or discouragement or fatigue? Ask the question Elijah was asked, what am I doing here?

Not in a sarcastic way, not in defeat, not with that judgmental tone of voice that we’re all too familiar with. What are you doing here? But in a curious, kind, open way. What am I doing here in this season, in this place, in this conversation?

What is the goodness that God has for me here? What is the purpose and calling that he is fulfilling in and through me by being in this place that God has me in? What am I doing here? Ask God that question.

God’s questions are always invitations. When you ask, what am I doing here? It can clarify your purpose, reveal misplaced focus, reignite a sense of mission. It creates a space for God’s whisper.

He may not answer with a fire or an earthquake. I haven’t seen either, but he will speak. Perhaps he’ll affirm the steps you’ve taken. Perhaps he will redirect you.

Maybe he’ll just remind you that you are not alone, that you are not done, that your labor is not in vain. Take the encouragement and truth, a first Thessalonians 524. He who calls you is faithful. He will surely do it.

And friend, maybe you’re not the one sitting in the cave right now. Maybe you’re walking alongside someone who is, someone tired, disappointed, wondering if their work matters or wondering if God still sees them. This is where your role as a loving mentor or friend becomes sacred. You don’t have to fix everything.

You don’t have to offer perfect advice. Sometimes the most Christ-like thing you can do is create a safe space for honest reflection and ask gently that same question God asked Elijah, what are you doing here? You might ask it over coffee or during a quiet walk in a voice memo or sitting side by side after a long week of ministry. Ask it with compassion, not correction or judgment for their emotional state.

Let it invite, not interrogate because questions can open doors. Gentle questions help someone name what hurts, surface what’s heavy, and remember what’s still true. And as we speak and connect, God’s whisper can begin to meet us right there, reminding us and them that they’re not alone, not forgotten, not finished. And that’s the power of presence and a good question.

It can position our hearts to hear God’s still small voice. So let’s learn from God’s interaction with Elijah in 1 Kings 19. God didn’t demand an answer right away. He gently asked an evaluation question and gave space for Elijah to consider an answer.

And then he circled back with the same question. I sometimes wish I could come up with the perfect answer, response or clever truth on the spot. But I’m more of a marinate first kind of person. And I don’t expect every question to land right away or for someone to have a quick witty answer on the spot.

Some questions need time to breathe. Just because I’ve asked doesn’t mean a response has to come immediately. I can listen, give space and trust that when the moment’s right, we can return to the question without pressure with gentleness and maybe with a little more clarity the next time around. Trust that the person that you’re speaking to is made in the image of God.

And if they’re a believer, trust that the Holy Spirit inside of them is just as big as the Holy Spirit inside of you. We ask the questions. God does the work. Asking questions and listening well can take any relationship deeper.

And it is about relationship. What if the key to guiding young people or strengthening your marriage, friendships and family wasn’t about having all the answers, but learning to ask the right questions? I’m Mandy Pollack and I recently hosted a streaming conversation series with 15 Jesus Loving Visionaries about what it looks like to build resilient relationships with the people you love the most. You’ll hear from voices like Dr.

Jeff Meyers, President of Summit Ministries, Aaron Davis and Lori Ferguson-Wilbert award-winning writers and teachers, Dr. Jonathan Rogers, storyteller and author and Phil Lawler, co-creator of Ventures and Odyssey and many more. And the feedback has been powerful. The talks were motivating and practical.

One person said it made me think intentionally. Someone else told me that talk encouraged me and the things God is calling me to do. One participant shared, I love how focused the talks were on my relationship with God before focusing on building relationships with others. Friend, these conversations are free to watch and they’ll encourage you to invest deeply in the relationships that matter most.

So you can find the replay today at curiousconversations.org. That’s curiousconversations.org. And now back to questions in scripture. To close, we’ll center ourselves again in God’s Word.

In Matthew 7, Jesus asks six questions, each one giving a moment to pause to evaluate, to consider how we interact with others and what we value. So let’s listen together for those questions and evaluation prompts as we read. Matthew 7, this is the Word of the Lord. Do not judge or you too will be judged.

For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged. And with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, let me take the speck out of your eye when all the time there is a plank in your own eye?

You hypocrite. First, take the plank out of your own eye and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye. Do not give dogs what is sacred. Do not throw your pearls to pigs.

If you do, they may trample them under their feet and turn and tear you to pieces. Ask and it will be given to you. Seek and you will find. Knock and the door will be opened to you.

For everyone who asks receives. The one who seeks finds and the one to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake. If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him?

So in everything due to others, what you would have them do to you for this sums up the law and the prophets. Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life and only a few find it.

Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles?

Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cast down and thrown into the fire. Thus by their fruit you will recognize them.

Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles? Then I will tell them plainly, I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers.

Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose and the winds blew and beat against that house, yet it did not fall because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house and it fell with a great crash.

When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching because he taught as one who had authority and not as their teachers of the law. Let’s pray. Dearest Father, would you awaken us with your questions today? Would we be aware of your still small voice responsive to your presence?

And would we be ready to ask gentle kind questions of those we are mentoring and discipling for your honor and for your glory? In Jesus’ name and for his sake, amen. God’s word is for you friend. Can you imagine not being able to read it or listen to it in your own heart language, the language that you think in, dream in and speak in?

Biblica is a global ministry innovating new ways to reach people with the Bible. My husband Peter and I have supported their work for almost 10 years and we’d like to invite you to join us. Biblica’s mission is to end gospel poverty wherever it is found. So as your heart was blessed by today’s reading of God’s word, please visit Biblica.com to support translating and distributing the Bible in someone else’s heart language.

God’s word and people are the two things from this world we take into eternity. Together we can provide the Bible in accurate contemporary translations and formats so that Bible-less people experience the word of God in a language they understand. Two dollars delivers a Bible to a waiting community. How might God include your family in translating God’s word, delivering Bibles to frontline churches and sharing the love of Jesus?

Send truth, hope and God’s word at Biblica.com. And now as we conclude a blessing for you from Colossians 1, 9 through 10. May you be filled with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way.