Week of June 26

Waiting on God

Sowing our Prayer… Reaping the Spirit

A prayerless life is one of practical atheism.  As one who lived in and by the Spirit, the Apostle Paul understood prayer in particular to be the special prompting of the Spirit, leading him to thanksgiving for others and petition in the Spirit, even when he did not know for what specifically to pray.  Whatever else life in the Spirit meant for Paul, it meant a life devoted to prayer, accompanied by joy and thanksgiving.

Prayer, after all, is the ultimate expression of our current life.  It is evidence of our utterly dependent status.  Prayer in the Spirit does not make demands upon God (though our prayers often do), but humbly waits and listens to God—and trusts God the Holy Spirit to intercede for us in keeping with God’s own will and pleasure.

-  Gordon Fee

Monday	Romans 8:26-27
Tuesday	1 Thessalonians 5:17; 1 Chronicles 16:8-12
Wednesday	Jude 20-21
Thursday	Colossians 4:2-4
Friday	Philippians 4:6-7
Saturday	Ephesians 6:18-20

One of the main ways God interacts with us and we interact with God is through prayer.  These six months should be so immersed in prayer that by the end we will all have no doubts that God is with us and that it is He who is driving us onward. 

This week, explore these texts, this quote, and other prayer-focused books, quotes, sermons, and devotionals.  Let us together expand our idea of what prayer is when the Spirit is involved.  Without the Spirit, prayer would not be possible.  So explore Spirit-filled prayer as we seek a Spirit-filled life, Spirit-filled church and Spirit-filled ministries.

Week of June 19

Waiting on God

Sowing our Prayer… Reaping the Spirit

If it’s true that the Spirit of God dwells in us and that our bodies are the Holy Spirit’s temple, then shouldn’t there be a huge difference between the person who has the Spirit of God living inside of him or her and the person who does not?

… Churchgoers all across the nation say the Holy Spirit has entered them.  They claim that God has given them a supernatural ability to follow Christ, put their sin to death, and serve the church.  Christians talk about being born again and say that they were dead but now have come to life.  We have become hardened to those words, but they are powerful words that have significant meaning.  Yet when those outside the church see no difference in our lives, they begin to question our integrity, our sanity, or even worse, our God.  And can you blame them?

-Francis Chan

Monday	Exodus 35:31-36:1; Acts 19:1-6
Tuesday	Judges 3:7-11;  Romans 5:5
Wednesday	2 Chronicles 24:20; Acts 2:4-38
Thursday	Isaiah 11:1-4;  Acts 6:3-10
Friday	Isaiah 61:1-3; Acts 4:8, 24-34
Saturday	Micah 3:8-12; 2 Timothy 1:6-7

Together we are learning more about the Holy Spirit to help us focus on Him as we move through this period of waiting.  This week’s scriptures focus on what happens when humans are filled with the Holy Spirit.  As you read and reflect on these passages, notice the many different manifestations of the Spirit and all the different ways His Power comes through in the lives of the people he fills.  You could even make a list of all the ways the Spirit empowers people in the Bible.  After this, think about different manifestations of the Spirit’s filling that you have seen and add them to the list.

Week of June 12

Waiting on God

Sowing our Prayer… Reaping the Spirit

The Christian’s life in all its aspects—intellectual and ethical, devotional and relational, upsurging in worship and outgoing in witness—is supernatural; only the Spirit can initiate and sustain it.  So apart from him, not only will there be no lively believers and no lively congregations, there will be no believers and no congregations at all.

                        - J. I. Packer

Monday	Read and Reflect on John 7:37-39
Tuesday	Read and Reflect on John16:7-8
Wednesday	Read and Reflect on John 15:26-27
Thursday	Read and Reflect on Acts 4:31-37
Friday	Read and Reflect on Romans 5:1-5
Saturday	Read and Reflect on 1 Corinthians 12:3-13

Last week we looked at what we do while waiting on the Spirit to show up.  To continue us into the first of six months of waiting, let us together learn more about the Holy Spirit himself.  This week’s scriptures focus on the sending of the Holy Spirit, looking at Jesus’ reason for sending the Spirit and the reasons we need the Spirit.  In looking at why we need the Spirit will also show us why He was sent. 

Each day, read the scripture for the day and re-read the quote above.  After reading, think about these questions and write your thoughts on the back side of this sheet.

Why do we need the Holy Spirit?

What things come to us by the Holy Spirit (which are the same reasons that He was sent)?

Why is it better that we have the presence of the Holy Spirit instead of the presence of Jesus?

Do we forget to seek the Holy Spirit and instead only seek Jesus?  Why?

Week of June 5

Waiting on God

Sowing our Prayer… Reaping the Spirit

Friend, it is a wonderful thing to witness the power of God as it reaches to the heart and demonstrates to the soul the pure way to life.  Surely the person who partakes of this power will be favored by the Lord.  Therefore, we ought to wait diligently for the leadings of the Holy Spirit in everything we do.  Thus we will be able to travel through all that is contrary to God and into the things that are of God…

O Friend, do you not have a sense of the way to the Father?  Then you must press your spirit to bow daily before God and wait for the breathings to you from his Spirit.  Pray that he will continue his mercy to you and make his way more and more clear before you every day.  Yes, and also pray that he will give you strength in all the trials which may come your way.  By his secret working in your spirit, giving you assistance from time to time, you will advance nearer and nearer towards the kingdom. 

- Isaac Pennington, Letters on Spiritual Virtues

Monday	Read and Reflect on Acts 1:1-11
Tuesday	Read and Reflect on Acts 1:12-26
Wednesday	Read and Reflect on Luke 24:45-53
Thursday	Read and Reflect on Psalm 33:18-22
Friday	Read and Reflect on Isaiah 64:1-5
Saturday	Read and Reflect on Isaiah 26:8-9

Each day, read and re-read the quote above and the scripture for the day.  Then, after reading these, ask yourself:

What does waiting look like?

What do the Biblical characters do while waiting?

What are we told to do while waiting?

What are the characteristics of waiting people?

Finally, write what you discovered on the back of this sheet of paper and ask yourself, “Am I waiting on the Spirit like the Bible describes waiting?”