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COMMUNITY GROUP/FAMILY AND DAILY STUDIES BASED UPON OUR PREACHING SERIES AT COMMUNITY CHURCH PUTNEY)
You can listen to all the messages at
WEEK 2 – PRAY FOR A CHANGE…FOR MORE OF THE SPIRIT
COMMUNITY
GROUP/FAMILY STUDY 2
Pray for a change... For
more of the Spirit
A Christian
could be described as one who has the Spirit living in them. Jesus died for us
not just so we could have our sins forgiven; He died that our cleansing would
make it possible for the Spirit to reside in us. The Spirit cannot reside in
one and have no effect!
His presence
makes us ‘new creations’ that love God and desire to please Him in every way.
The Spirit also empowers us to a life of holiness and witness. As we look at Paul’s
prayers, we will see how he depends on the Spirit and asks for more of His
powerful work in the church.
Discuss/think/pray
about
Read Ephesians 3:14-21
· Paul names God as Father,
which is the New Testament norm for how we address God in prayer. How do you
normally address God? How does purposefully addressing God as Father help us in
our praying?
· Paul prays for their
empowering ‘out of His glorious riches’. What does this say about Paul’s
awareness of God’s resources and how will theology (knowledge of God) help us
in our intercession?
· What does Paul expect,
firstly, to be the result (v. 17) of His praying for the Spirit’s empowering?
· What is the second result of
the Spirit’s work (v. 18)?
‘To
speak of knowing something that ‘Surpasses knowledge’ is to be deliberately
paradoxical; but however much one comes to know of the love of Christ, there is
always more to know: it is inexhaustible’ (F.F. Bruce)
· And what is the third
manifestation of God’s work in us (v. 19)?
‘Being filled to all the
fullness of God means to have God’s character reproduced in the life of the believer
by the Holy Spirit.’ (Gordon Fee)
Using Ephesians 3:14-21 as
a model, Pray for CCP and one another.
GOING DEEPER PERSONAL DAILY STUDIES
Monday: Faith for the Spirit is born of knowing He loves us
Begin by meditating (reading slowly, repeatedly,
with feeling) on these texts:
Ephesians 3:14 For this reason I kneel before the Father…
Luke
11:13 “If
you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children,
how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask
him!”
Take a few minutes (kneel
if you can) to thank God that He is your Father, has adopted you, are loved
completely, can be confident of good gifts including the Spirit.
Tuesday: By the Spirit we are enabled to cry “in Christ alone”
Begin by meditating (reading slowly, repeatedly,
with feeling) on this text:
Ephesians 3:16-17 I pray
that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his
Spirit in your inner being, 17 so
that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.
To ‘see’ the wisdom of the cross, and to grow in love for the gospel of
grace requires the work of the Spirit. Pray that ‘Christ may dwell in your
heart’ through faith.
Wednesday: The Spirit, through prayer, helps us grasp God’s
ungraspable love
Begin by meditating (reading slowly, repeatedly,
with feeling) on this text:
Ephesians 3:17-19 And I pray
that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy
people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that
surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness
of God.
Christians are ‘rooted and
established in love’ – they are saved and continually being developed, in love,
by the Spirit – God loves you! But we never come to an end of fully
appreciating God’s love for us, and deepening our love for Him; such growth is
made possible by the Spirit.
Using Paul’s prayer as a
model, pray for yourself and Community Church.
Thursday: A bursting heart for God leads to expectant faith in
prayer
Begin by meditating (reading slowly, repeatedly,
with feeling) on this text:
Ephesians 3:20-21 Now to him
who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to
his power that is at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus
throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.
What does this text reveal
about Paul’s vision, expectation, and worship of God?
Using this text as a guide,
worship and pray for yourself and CCP
Friday: A people of the Spirit are a people of great hope
Begin by meditating (reading slowly, repeatedly,
with feeling) on this text:
Romans 15:13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him,
so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
‘Hope’ is the expectation of the final
restoration of all things when Christ returns, and that we ourselves will be
renewed. It’s the Spirit who gives us this hope and grows our excitement of it
within us.
Using Paul’s prayer as a model, pray for
yourself, CCP and particularly those who are suffering, having their trust in
God and hope challenged.
Saturday: To live a life worthy of the Lord requires the Spirit’s
empowering
Begin by meditating (reading slowly, repeatedly,
with feeling) on this text:
Colossians 1:9-11 …Since the day we heard about you, we have not
stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge
of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives,
10 so that you may live a
life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every
good work, growing in the knowledge of God, 11 being strengthened with all power according to his
glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience…
Christians
are saved by faith in Jesus alone. But we do not stay the same! We mature and
develop throughout our lives. Paul prays that these Christians would live in
such a way that they would be ‘worthy of the Lord’. This kind of fruitful life
requires the Spirit’s power.
Pray
for yourself, CCP and anyone who comes to mind using this prayer as a guide.
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