Engage the Spirit—Study #6
This Week’s Teaching Idea:
Praying in (or by) the Holy Spirit is to responsively pray at His prompting, about His concerns arising from attacks which threaten the faith of God’s people.
While the Spirit can prompt us to pray about all kinds of things – whatever He wills – the specific passages in which this is urged speak to prevailing in spiritual battle, standing though under spiritual attack.
GETTING STARTED
All of us likely have had the experience of walking or biking “up” an incline versus walking or biking “down” an incline. Going up can be challenging and good for our physical health, but always having to go up can become drudgery. Conversely, heading down an incline provides the experience of being helped (by gravity) along the way of our route. Sometimes prayer can regularly feel like scaling an incline, a lot of work.
Take some moments to use this illustration and describe your experience in prayer. Does it usually feel like an upward (and more difficult) climb, or a downward (and assisted) trek? Forced or free? [Please – be candid with one another. Your group is together to help each other grow in our dependence on the Spirit. Identifying a struggle is one way we help each other grow!]
IN THE WORD
Our time in the Word investigates the kind of “praying in the Spirit” the following situations might call for. As you think about the particular battles these people of God faced, how do you think the Spirit of God might prompt those around them to pray?
Read Genesis 3:1-6a and 1 John 2:15-17 – Suppose you were watching Eve interact with the Serpent. What kind of praying might the Spirit have prompted you for her? How do John’s words inform our “in the Spirit” praying for ourselves and others?
Read Genesis 39:1-10 – What kind of praying might Joseph needed given the pressure he was under? What are the particular pitfalls of having to live in this kind of situation?
Read Exodus 5 – What kind of praying might Moses need in light of how Pharoah responded to Moses’ first attempt securing Israel’s release (cf. 5:22-23)?
Read Ruth 1:1-5, 19-21 – What kind of praying might the Spirit prompt in others for Naomi? Do you know of anyone in a similar situation that needs such praying?
Finally, can you think of other real-life situations in the Bible where people were under spiritual attack and needed the “praying in the Spirit” by others?
MY LIFE – OUR MISSION
Is the Spirit flowing through me?
People like you and me who are “connected in life-defining relationships in Christ” are also, nonetheless, under attack. Take an extra moment to read 1 Peter 5:6-11. How does Peter call us on to watch and pray for one another? Why is this so important?
Pray for one another…and for our entire CCC team. Pray that we will:
grow in our corporate dependence upon the Holy Spirit
Take significant steps either to ENRICH our families or to REACH out to an international