Discussion question your group will work through:
1.Batterson opens with the account of Benaiah chasing a lion into a pit on a snowy day. What is your gut reaction when you first read that story? Does it sound heroic, reckless, or something else — and why?
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About This Study Guide
In Chase the Lion, Mark Batterson takes one of the Bible's most obscure verses — the account of Benaiah, one of David's mighty men, who "chased a lion into a pit on a snowy day and killed it" (2 Samuel 23:20) — and builds an entire theology of God-sized risk around it. Batterson's central thesis is that the lions in your life — those terrifying, overwhelming, seemingly impossible challenges — are not obstacles to God's calling; they are the calling. Running toward the lion, not away from it, is what separates people of ordinary faith from people who change their world. Through a blend of Scripture, history, and contemporary storytelling, Batterson invites readers to stop playing it safe and start dreaming the kinds of dreams that are only possible if God shows up.
This study guide is designed for small groups or individual use over ten weeks, with one week devoted to the Introduction, one week per chapter, and a final week of review and reflection. Each week, read the assigned chapter before your group meets (or before your personal study time), journal your honest responses to the questions, and then discuss or pray through what God is stirring in you. You don't need theological training to use this guide — you just need a willingness to be honest about where fear has kept you from chasing the lions God has placed in your path.
By the end of this journey, you can expect to leave with a clearer picture of the dreams God has placed in your heart, a practical theology for taking Spirit-led risks, and a community of fellow "lion chasers" who can hold you accountable to stop running away and start running toward. Batterson's writing is equal parts challenging and encouraging, and these questions are designed to push you past surface-level agreement into genuine, life-altering response.
10-Week Schedule
- Week 1Introduction — The Odd Dream7 questions
- Week 2Chapter 1 — Quit Living As If the Purpose of Life Is to Arrive Safely at Death7 questions
- Week 3Chapter 2 — The Odd Dream7 questions
- Week 4Chapter 3 — Circle Makers7 questions
- Week 5Chapter 4 — Twenty-Three Hundred Miles from Home7 questions
- Week 6Chapter 5 — The Inverted Gospel7 questions
- Week 7Chapter 6 — Grab the Spear7 questions
- Week 8Chapter 7 — The Favor of God7 questions
- Week 9Chapter 8 — The Day I Met the Man Who Could Have Been Me7 questions
- Week 10Review & Reflection — Becoming a Lion Chaser8 questions
Week 1: Introduction — The Odd Dream
Free sampleRead the Introduction of Chase the Lion. Key Scripture: 2 Samuel 23:20–23
1.Batterson opens with the account of Benaiah chasing a lion into a pit on a snowy day. What is your gut reaction when you first read that story? Does it sound heroic, reckless, or something else — and why?
2.Batterson argues that most people see the lions in their lives as something to escape, but lion chasers see them as God-given opportunities. What 'lion' are you currently running away from — a dream, a calling, a relationship, a risk?
3.The introduction sets up the idea that Benaiah's lion-chasing résumé is what prepared him to eventually become commander of David's army. How does this reframe the way you think about the difficult, even frightening, seasons of your own life?
a.Can you identify a past 'lion' you faced that, in hindsight, prepared you for something greater?
b.Is there a current struggle you might begin to see as preparation rather than punishment?
4.Batterson says that God-given dreams will always be beyond your ability and beyond your resources. Why do you think God designs things that way? What would be lost if our dreams were always comfortably within reach?
5.The book is partly built on the premise that playing it safe is actually the riskiest thing a Christian can do. Do you agree or disagree? What does playing it safe cost us spiritually?
6.Batterson writes that lion chasers are dangerous to the status quo and offensive to the uncommitted. Who in your own life — past or present — fits that description? What has their courage cost them, and what has it produced?
7.How does the gospel itself model the kind of radical, costly, lion-chasing risk Batterson is describing? How does Jesus's own life set the pattern for running toward what others run from?
Week 2: Chapter 1 — Quit Living As If the Purpose of Life Is to Arrive Safely at Death
Read Chapter 1 of Chase the Lion. Key Scripture: 2 Samuel 23:20–23; Ephesians 3:20
1.The chapter title is itself a challenge. What does a life lived 'arriving safely at death' actually look like day-to-day? Can you describe a version of that life you've been tempted toward — or have lived?
Week 3: Chapter 2 — The Odd Dream
Read Chapter 2 of Chase the Lion. Key Scripture: Genesis 37; Acts 2:17
1.Batterson describes God-given dreams as 'odd' — they often don't make sense to the people closest to you. Has God ever put something on your heart that seemed odd even to you? How did you respond?
Week 4: Chapter 3 — Circle Makers
Read Chapter 3 of Chase the Lion. Key Scripture: 1 Kings 18:41–45; Matthew 7:7–8
1.Batterson tells the legend of Honi the Circle Maker — a first-century rabbi who drew a circle in the dust, stood inside it, and told God he wouldn't move until it rained. What is your initial reaction to that kind of bold, almost audacious prayer? Does it inspire or unsettle you?
Week 5: Chapter 4 — Twenty-Three Hundred Miles from Home
Read Chapter 4 of Chase the Lion. Key Scripture: Genesis 12:1–4; Hebrews 11:8
1.Batterson draws on the story of Abraham leaving Ur — a wealthy, comfortable city — for a land he could not see, heading to a destination God had not yet named. What did Abraham have to leave behind, both materially and psychologically, to take that first step?
Week 6: Chapter 5 — The Inverted Gospel
Read Chapter 5 of Chase the Lion. Key Scripture: Matthew 16:24–25; Luke 9:23–24
1.Batterson describes what he calls an 'inverted gospel' — a version of Christianity that promises comfort, safety, and personal fulfillment while quietly stripping out the cross. Where do you see this version of the gospel showing up in our culture? In your own heart?
Week 7: Chapter 6 — Grab the Spear
Read Chapter 6 of Chase the Lion. Key Scripture: 2 Samuel 23:21; 1 Samuel 17
1.Batterson highlights the moment when Benaiah faced an Egyptian giant armed with a spear — and Benaiah had nothing. He grabbed the spear out of the giant's hand and killed him with it. What does that image stir in you? What does it take to grab the spear rather than run?
Week 8: Chapter 7 — The Favor of God
Read Chapter 7 of Chase the Lion. Key Scripture: Luke 2:52; Proverbs 3:3–4
1.Batterson describes divine favor as the 'X factor' that accounts for why some people seem to be in the right place at the right time. How have you experienced what you would describe as God's favor in your life? What made it recognizable as something beyond coincidence?
Week 9: Chapter 8 — The Day I Met the Man Who Could Have Been Me
Read Chapter 8 of Chase the Lion. Key Scripture: Luke 19:11–27 (the Parable of the Minas)
1.Batterson describes a pivotal encounter with someone who represented a version of the life he could have lived if he had made different choices. Has there been a 'mirror moment' in your life — a person or circumstance that showed you a version of yourself you were in danger of becoming or had already become?
Week 10: Review & Reflection — Becoming a Lion Chaser
Review your notes, journal entries, and highlights from all chapters of Chase the Lion.
1.Looking back across the whole book, which chapter or idea hit you hardest — the one that made you most uncomfortable, most hopeful, or most convicted? Why do you think that particular idea landed the way it did?
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Frequently Asked Questions
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This study guide covers Chase the Lion in 10 weeks, with chapter-by-chapter discussion questions, reading references, and closing prayers for each session.
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The complete guide includes 71 discussion questions across 10 weeks — an average of 7 questions per week, designed for group conversation.
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Yes — the questions are written for group discussion and work well for small groups, book clubs, church studies, and couples reading together.
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