Prayer for a Spirit-filled Life
by Acts 29 Booklet
If the Christian life is simply a matter of doing our best, there was no need for God to send the Holy Spirit to help us. He is an integral part of our Christian life. He is our Number One Helper. He takes up residency in believers forever. He doesn't just pass through, He comes to stay.
Read Galatians 5:16-26, John 15:1-8, Romans 8:5-8
"For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body - whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free - and we were all given the one Spirit to drink." (1 Corinthians 12:13)
"Peter replied: 'Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.'" (Acts 2:38)
"I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing." (John 15:5)
Pray a Personal Opening Prayer, then pray the following:
Dear Father, Thank you for sending the Holy Spirit to be my trustworthy guide. Thank You for the assurance that when I accepted Jesus as my personal Savior, I received the gift of the Holy Spirit and have everything I need to experience the wonderful Spirit-filled life. I acknowledge that the Holy Spirit is the presence of Jesus in me. Jesus is the vine and I am the branch. I know that the Holy Spirit is the sap that runs from the vine into the branch. I know that You didn't create branches to produce fruit, but created them to have fruit produced through them.
- Father, please produce the fruit of the Spirit - love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control, through us, the members of Asbury.
- Place in the heart of each person in the Asbury family a strong desire to live a lifestyle that is dependent on the leading of the Holy Spirit and characterized by the fruit of the Spirit. Prepare us for Your works in the Tulsa area.
- Give us a deeper understanding of the purpose and power of the Holy Spirit in our lives.
- Thank You, Father, for the assurance that when I abide in Christ, the Holy Spirit gives me the self-control necessary to overcome temptation. Help me abide in You, for apart from You, I can do nothing.
- I pray for a special anointing of the Holy Spirit on Asbury's pastors and teachers so they will be examples of spirit-filled lives for the rest of the congregation. Work mightily through them.
- Help me be diligent in seeking Your will and when I have found it, to live it by faith and through the power of the Holy Spirit.
- Help me remember the kind of obedience You expect from me - to act justly, to love mercy and to walk humbly with You. (Micah 6:8) Thank You for the assurance that obedience always brings spiritual blessing.
- Thank You for creating spiritual gifts to ensure that each believer has a significant role in the Body of Christ and that believers will work together to accomplish Your overall purpose. I praise You that we're all "somebody" in the Body of Christ.
- Give me discernment to distinguish between the promptings of the Holy Spirit and the worldly messages around me.
- Thank You for giving us the Sword of the Spirit, Your Holy Word, to expose and destroy Satan's lies that confront us (Ephesians 6:17). Help everyone at Asbury fill their hearts and minds with the truths of Scripture, so we will discover the joy and hope found in Your Holy Word and recognize the power it offers to meet the needs in our lives.
- Thank You for the assurance that the Holy Spirit is committed and equipped to guide us according to the truth. Since He will not override our will or force us to follow, I pray that we will surrender to His leading.
- Help us remember that the fruit of the Spirit is not environmentally sensitive - that the production of fruit is not limited to times when everything is going well. Help us show:
Love - to the unlovable and those who don't love in return.
Joy - in the midst of painful circumstances or when we don't get our way.
Peace - when something we count on doesn't come through.
Patience - when things are moving too slowly.
Kindness - toward those who treat us unkindly.
Goodness - to those who are insensitive.
Faithfulness - when friends prove unfaithful.
Gentleness - towards those who treat us roughly.
Self-control - in the midst of temptation.
- Father, it is my desire that the fruit produced through me will attract nonbelievers to Jesus Christ and that You will help me be a powerful, willing witness for Jesus.
Father, thank you for Jesus, our example of One who lived a Spirit-filled life. Thank you for caring about us so much that you sent the Holy Spirit to be our Guide to a righteous life. We praise You for the peace we experience as we walk in the Spirit - the peace that passes all understanding - because He always leads in perfect peace and takes our weaknesses and strengths into consideration. Give us the faith to relinquish control and give the Holy Spirit control of our lives. In Jesus' name, I pray. Amen