Read John 6:1–7

Point 1 – Our needs are not a surprise to God.

When Jesus looked at Phillip and asked him where they were going to get enough bread for all of these people, He wasn’t panicked. It wasn’t a question with any worry attached to it. He was, like parents often do with their children, giving him an opportunity to problem solve. He wanted to hear what ideas Phillip might have. He wanted Phillip to think about the enormity of the situation and come to the end of himself.

The passage says that Jesus already knew what He was going to do. Jesus is already prepared with solutions for our problems, whatever they may be. He is not stumped. He has never once said, when we come to Him in prayer, “Wow! That’s a doozy, that is. I’ll have to think on that one.” He knows how to answer our prayers and what to do in the midst of our most confounding problems. He does love to invite us into the problem-solving portion of the way He answers prayers. This may be due to the fact that when we come to the end of our own abilities to solve our own problems and we take the whole mess to God, anything that happens then has to be Him answering our prayers in His power and His time.

God asks us to tithe, for example, knowing that doing so may cause some panic, or anxiety. We may think that if we don’t have all of the money we’ve earned, we might not be able to cover all of our bills, or get all of the things we want for ourselves or our families. He uses this to see if we have faith that He will supply all of our needs, and bless us abundantly when we are obedient to His commands. He knows what we need and He loves to provide for us.

Questions for Group Discussion or Personal Reflection

1. How do our needs affect our perspective of God’s provision?
2. What is the difference between being tempted and being tested? Why is this distinction important?
3. Why do we sometimes hesitate to bring things to God and to ask Him to provide for us?

God does not see our needs as obstacles but as opportunities to reveal who he is!

Read John 6:8–12

Point 2 – Trust Jesus to do the miraculous!

Jesus gives us ways to participate in being His hands and feet in the lives of those around us. Just like He had the disciples organize the people, and He used the fish and the bread of the boy, He gives us ways that we can be a part of experiencing how He answers prayers. He gives us ways we can witness the miraculous. He gives us what He does so we can practically show others His love for them. And so that He can bless His children. He wants us to use the blessings He’s given us to spread the good news of how awesome He is and how much He loves us by sending His Son for us.

When we say to Jesus, “I don’t have what is needed to answer this need or this prayer, but here’s what I do have and You can have all of it,” He does amazing things that we could never do alone with the little we have and we get to witness them! We get to be part of the story being developed. We get to share first-hand accounts of what He does all the time. We are witnesses to His goodness and faithfulness. When we share that with others, His glory spreads.

Jesus can take the doubt about the little we have, “Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?” and multiply it many times over when we don’t allow those doubts to stop us from believing He can do the miraculous. When we show we believe He can do anything, in spite of our doubts, we get to see Him do anything.

Questions for Group Discussion or Personal Reflection

1. Do you relate to Philip or Andrew in the story? How so?
2. God uses what we bring to him: our time, talent, treasure, and testimony. Which of these do you feel especially called to bring to Jesus during this season?
3. When was a time God did a miracle in your life or in the life of someone you know? How does this fuel your faith for what he can do in the future?
   God does not see our needs as obstacles but as opportunities to reveal who he is!

Read John 6:13–14

Point 3 – Watch what God will do!

Our God is so good to us that He provides not only what we need, but even what we want, and more than we could want. The more we see Him do because we have decided to give Him the little we have so that He can radically multiply it, the more we will want to see Him do. And the more we want to see Him accomplish in our lives and in the lives of those around us, the more involved we become in His plans.

He did not create us for passive lives. He created us to take part in showing His love to His world. When we tell Him that we’re ready to give Him all we have, we get to stand back and see the wondrous ways He uses what we have and what we can do to accomplish all the amazing things He does in the world every day.

His will will be done, one way or another. The question we all have to answer is, do we want to share in the blessings that come with doing what He lets us do and then getting to experience the miracles firsthand, or do we just want to hear about those miracles from someone else who was there and who saw it themselves?

Questions for Group Discussion or Personal Reflection

1. Having done your part, you can watch God do His. What is God calling you do to “your part” in his plan?
2. Having done your part, you can watch God do His. What are you expecting God to do in your life? What are you “waiting on God for” to use the language frequently used in the Psalms?