When Less Becomes More

For where two or three are gathered …. or four, or 10, or 20. With a LIFE Group of 35 people, when we gather on Sunday mornings, we’re typically looking for a few more chairs. And that’s a good thing.
We have an active, welcoming class. Our members are interested in learning about God’s Word and what’s happening in each other’s lives. Whether it’s talking about our children, jobs, or a Bible verse, there’s no shortage of conversation.
But even so, a larger group can sometimes make it harder for people to share some things or maybe elaborate on the details. Although our group certainly doesn’t hold back, there are times when it can be challenging to share a prayer request within the larger group context.
The solution? As the group gets bigger, we get smaller. For no particular reason other than to try something new, one day I decided to take prayer requests in smaller groups of three or four, rather than in the full class setting as we typically do. The result was surprising.
Group members shared more about their lives and mentioned more prayer requests than usual. Prayer requests that might be general in nature or maybe not spoken at all were shared in greater detail in the context of a smaller group.
Over and over, people told me that doing prayer requests this way was really something they liked. The ability to connect in meaningful ways was an enriching thing, even among a group that is already having great fellowship. By getting smaller, we got bigger. We’ve been doing it ever since.
I guess math is a funny thing. Sometimes two plus two equals five. And sometimes, when we divide, we get something more than what we started with.