While my granddaughter and I were in a boat crossing a local river, the motor stopped. Yanking the starter rope repeatedly didn’t restart it. Eventually, I discovered the fuel line wasn’t connected properly to the outboard. Once I fixed that, everything functioned perfectly.
The Holy Spirit empowers Christian living. He is our spiritual fuel line. Prophecy may or may not be our gift, but worship and prayer are part of the Christian life.
I received a Facebook message from a pastor in India asking me to pray for him. He said he was soul-tired. Being a pastor is stressful and difficult. I’m guessing his fuel line was unhooked, and the Holy Spirit wasn’t empowering his ministry. I have been there myself.
The Holy Spirit empowers worship. The Apostle John worshipped in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day (Revelation 1:4). The Apostle Paul wrote, “For we who worship by the Spirit of God are the ones who are truly circumcised…” (Philippians 3:3) and “So I want you to know that … no one can say Jesus is Lord, except by the Holy Spirit” (1 Corinthians 12:3 NLT).
People with unrenewed hearts can’t worship God like my outboard can’t run without fuel. The Holy Spirit must connect the fuel line of worship. When we’re born again, He creates hearts that naturally love and adore God (Ezekiel 36:26–28).
Only He can turn our wandering, unanchored minds away from unworthy substitutes for God. Only He can redirect and empower us to worship the worthy One.
The Holy Spirit is equally important in prayer. Paul wrote, “Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere” (Ephesians 6:18 NLT). “But you, dear friends, must build each other up in your most holy faith, pray in the power of the Holy Spirit” (Jude 1:20 NLT).
John Piper wrote that praying in the Spirit means the Holy Spirit moves and guides prayers. He prompts, awakens, and moves them. He shapes and determines what we pray for. His power carries the prayer, and His leading guides it.1
The Holy Spirit gives some believers glimpses of the future. The Apostle Peter said that the Holy Spirit predicted through King David that the Scriptures had to be fulfilled concerning Judas’ betraying Jesus (Acts 1:16). David foretold it 1,000 years before it happened (Psalm 69:25; 109:8).
During his Pentecost sermon, Peter said Joel had prophesied about God’s Spirit being poured out on men and women causing them to prophesy. That was what the crowd was witnessing. Jesus’ followers were prophesying God’s mighty works in languages they had never learned. (Acts 2:11, 17–18, Joel 2:28–32).
Peter and John were released after they appeared before the Jewish Council and were told not to teach in Jesus’ name. They returned to and shared their experience with their fellow believers. The believers recognized that the Holy Spirit had predicted this resistance through David (Acts 4:25, Psalm 2:1–2).
A prophet named Agabus predicted by the Holy Spirit that a widespread famine was coming. It was fulfilled during Claudius’ reign (Acts 11:28).
Agabus also predicted by the Spirit that the Jewish leaders would arrest Paul and turn him over to the Gentiles (Acts 21:11). The Holy Spirit informed Paul repeatedly that jail and suffering were in his future (Acts 20:23).
Christians at Tyre prophesied through the Holy Spirit that Paul shouldn’t go to Jerusalem. That was contrary to the Holy Spirit’s guiding Paul to go there (Acts 19:21, 20:22–24). Either their prophecy or their interpretation of it was wrong.
That is why Paul wrote that prophecies must be tested (1 Corinthians 14:29). They incorrectly interpreted the suffering awaiting in Jerusalem as an indication that Paul shouldn’t go there. So, if our worship, prayers, or prophesying is sputtering, we should check our fuel line. #freediscipleshipresources #freeevangelismresources #freechristianleadershipresources
See free spiritual growth resources for Christians at https://www.christiangrowthresources.com
God has empowered me to write “His Power for Your Weakness—260 Steps Toward Spiritual Strength.” It’s a free evangelistic, devotional, and discipleship eBook. Pastors have used it in Malawi, Mozambique, and Zambia to lead more than 2,400 people to Christ and teach the basics of Christianity to 5,016 people. I invite you to check it out. https://www.christiangrowthresources.com/his-power-for-your-weakness
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