“You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses
in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8)
When we were doing renovations on our church building in the fall, I had to open the front door to allow access to the contractors sometimes as early as 6am. One morning as I opened the door, I felt this mighty gush of wind that pushed the door back at me. My strength wasn’t enough to fight that strong wind. I prayed that morning that the Holy Spirit would do in our church what the wind was doing that day. I was reminded of the early apostles that experienced the infilling of the Holy Spirit in Acts 2.
“When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.” Acts 2:1-4
Living a Spirit-led life or a Spirit-empowered life is one of the 4 discipleship habits that the early church intentionally pursued. They also pursued Bible study and prayer, fellowship with other believers and giving of themselves (Acts 2). (In Growth Track 202 we go over these 4 discipleship habits). So many of us suffer from spiritual anemia, spiritual lethargy and spiritual apnea and it is very evident in our lives! These are obvious symptoms of not being empowered by the Holy Spirit. As a result, many Christians depend on their own abilities instead of allowing themselves to be empowered by the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit enables us to:
- Boldly proclaim the gospel – The Spirit empowers us to be more Christ-like by enabling the ‘fruit of the Spirit’ in us. The Holy Spirit also gives us gifts to be his witness in the advancement of the Kingdom. (Acts 1:8)
- Pray – (Romans 8:26)
- Deny our flesh – The Spirit quickens our conscience when we’re doing wrong. (Romans 8:10-11)
- The Holy Spirit helps us to operate in discernment, wisdom and revelation – The Holy Spirit empowered the New Testament writers so powerfully that they were able to write their gospels and letters 3-6 decades after Christ’s death. (Ephesians 3:16-19)
Listen to Jamey as she shares about the importance of praying to be empowered by the Spirit.
Resources:
Download Prayer Guide
If you missed the message on Sunday, Pastor Ashish spoke about the importance of praying first. I strongly suggest that you go listen to it as we begin this 21 day fasting and prayer. Let us resolve to always PRAY FIRST in everything we do. Listen to the message HERE
Here is a Worship Playlist you can listen to – 21-Day Fasting Playlist
