Day 19
21 Days of Prayer and Fasting
January 30
EMPOWERED TO GO
Read: Acts 2:1-41
REFLECTION:
Have you ever been watching a movie at home and then all of a sudden the power goes out? What about trying to start your car with a dead battery? Several years ago we had a blizzard hit the small city where I lived and our family was without power for three weeks. Needless to say, these types of things are very frustrating. What’s very clear in our world today is our absolute dependence upon power for survival. Why? Because we need some type of power source for pretty much everything we own. In our passage today, we will see our need for power from the Holy Spirt to fulfill God’s mission in our lives. The great theologian Charles Spurgeon said, “Without the Spirit of God, we can do nothing. We are as ships without the wind, branches without sap, and like coals without fire, we are useless.” That’s very serious language. Useless without the power of the Holy Spirit.
It doesn’t take long for Luke to describe the effects of the Holy Spirit. As believers are gathered together praying in the upper room during Pentecost, God sends His Spirit. He made a spectacular entrance filling the room like the sound of a mighty rushing wind and spread like wildfire on each believer. While not everyone agrees on the meaning of such imagery, one thing is very clear, the Holy Spirit came as promised by Jesus to provide power for believers to fulfill His mission (Acts 1:8). We can see this power wonderfully displayed through Peter the Apostle as he stood and boldly preached the redemptive work of Christ to thousands of people. This is the same guy who denied Jesus prior to the crucifixion (Luke 22). Now we see him living the mission with boldness, proclaiming the Gospel, and thousands of people putting their faith in Jesus. Do you want to know something? We can experience the same boldness that Peter did. How? Through the Spirit of God who lives in us. Notice, Peter was in a posture of prayer, submission, obedience, and trust. If we live our lives in such a fashion, we too can be empowered to go live the mission like Peter.
QUESTIONS FOR PERSONAL PRAYER:
Do you feel powerless at times to live out your faith? In what areas do you feel weakest? (At work, at school, at church or out in public)
Will you ask God to give you spiritual power in every area of your life so you can boldly live out the Great Commission?
CORPORATE PRAYER POINTS:
Read: Acts 2:1-41
REFLECTION:
Have you ever been watching a movie at home and then all of a sudden the power goes out? What about trying to start your car with a dead battery? Several years ago we had a blizzard hit the small city where I lived and our family was without power for three weeks. Needless to say, these types of things are very frustrating. What’s very clear in our world today is our absolute dependence upon power for survival. Why? Because we need some type of power source for pretty much everything we own. In our passage today, we will see our need for power from the Holy Spirt to fulfill God’s mission in our lives. The great theologian Charles Spurgeon said, “Without the Spirit of God, we can do nothing. We are as ships without the wind, branches without sap, and like coals without fire, we are useless.” That’s very serious language. Useless without the power of the Holy Spirit.
It doesn’t take long for Luke to describe the effects of the Holy Spirit. As believers are gathered together praying in the upper room during Pentecost, God sends His Spirit. He made a spectacular entrance filling the room like the sound of a mighty rushing wind and spread like wildfire on each believer. While not everyone agrees on the meaning of such imagery, one thing is very clear, the Holy Spirit came as promised by Jesus to provide power for believers to fulfill His mission (Acts 1:8). We can see this power wonderfully displayed through Peter the Apostle as he stood and boldly preached the redemptive work of Christ to thousands of people. This is the same guy who denied Jesus prior to the crucifixion (Luke 22). Now we see him living the mission with boldness, proclaiming the Gospel, and thousands of people putting their faith in Jesus. Do you want to know something? We can experience the same boldness that Peter did. How? Through the Spirit of God who lives in us. Notice, Peter was in a posture of prayer, submission, obedience, and trust. If we live our lives in such a fashion, we too can be empowered to go live the mission like Peter.
QUESTIONS FOR PERSONAL PRAYER:
Do you feel powerless at times to live out your faith? In what areas do you feel weakest? (At work, at school, at church or out in public)
Will you ask God to give you spiritual power in every area of your life so you can boldly live out the Great Commission?
CORPORATE PRAYER POINTS:
- For our Pastors to have wisdom concerning the direction to which God has called Liberty for 2025.
- For the Pastors and church leaders in our community to grow together in unity and purpose.
- That God will use our local churches to be a light in our community and make disciples.