What does the Holy Spirit do for you?
vs. 13 "The members of the council were amazed when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, for they could see that they were ordinary men who had had no special training. They also recognized them as men who had been with Jesus."
A few short weeks before, Peter was denying Christ in front of a young servant girl. You probably remember the story, Peter denies knowing Christ three different times within a few hours, while Jesus is being beaten and prepared for crucifixion. When the going got tough, Peter bailed on Jesus.
But here he is, a few weeks later and He is standing up preaching with great boldness about Jesus resurrection and power. He was amazing people! What was the difference? Acts chapter 2 was the difference. Peter had received the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit gives us boldness. The next couple of weeks I am going to preach on the Holy Spirit. I am going to teach who He is, what he does, and what he wants to do in each of us. I am going to show you how to receive Him and how to walk with Him in your daily life. It will change your life. I would hate prayer if it wasn't for the Holy Spirit. The only reason I can pray with any boldness at all is because of the Holy Spirit. Lets look again at these apostles Prayers.
vs. 29 "And now, O Lord, hear their threats, and give your servants great boldness in their preaching. Send your healing power, may miraculous signs and wonders be done through the name of your holy servant Jesus."
We need to start praying some Big, Bold, BA prayers like that. That's the prayer of Faith!
And look what happened!
vs. 30 "After this prayer, the building where they were meeting shook, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. And they preached God's message with boldness."
These apostles had already been filled with the Holy Spirit in Acts 2. Did they spring a leak? No, you can be filled with the Holy Spirit over and over. In fact, the more you are using your faith and boldness the more you need to be refilled with the Holy Spirit.
So how's your boldness in sharing Christ? How are your prayers, are they bold or boring? The answer for boring is the Holy Spirit! If you want the Holy Spirit to give you boldness like you have never had before, you better not miss tonight's KYC.
7 comments:
I think this is where so many main line dominations are missing out. If I couldn't pray in the spirit, i would feel like my prayer life had no power. When I know someone is stuggling and don't know what to pray, or I have a problem and can't find the words, its the Holy Spirit that steps up and gives us what we need. Man, my main comfort when I've screwed up has come from the Holy Spirit. I'm excited for tonight!!
I can envision a youth ministry where every person prayed with great boldness. Even if all they prayed was one scripture. If they prayed with boldness and faith it would rock the city. We all need to be challenged to start praying boldly. You don't have to come up with some long prayer. Take what you know God said and speak it with boldness.
Ok, so I got a few things. I love the part where Peter and John are like, "Do you think God wants us to obey you rather than him? We cannot stop telling about everything we have seen and heard." It's like their saying, "What? STOP?! You must be outside your mind!" They were so filled with the Holy Spirit that they could not help but tell everyone. Secondly, I love how once they were filled it seemed like eternity was all that was on their mind...think about that time when worship was annointed, or the Word became real for once and your stomach started burnin'. That's the holy ghost baby...let's get it tonight!
Its been two years now that I have been filled with the holy spirit...when I was w/ out, there were times when I somewhat felt lost in my prayer time - but after I took this step to the next level, it deepened my relationship with God. "...After this prayer, the meeting place shook..." This is where GOD is leading us, no one can stop what the spirit is about to do!
That service tonight was the best one ive ever went to. It changed my whole perception on how to pray and what the Holy Spirit can do for me. I feel changed from being prayed upon. I don't even know how to describe it.
now i know the reason that some of my prayers werent being answerd. it was because i didnt have the holy spirit and i didnt have any power or boldness.
thanks justin!
So how do we get the Holy Spirit to come upon us?
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