Spiritual Gifts and Praying in the Spirit
March 13, 2022 · 2:19:13 · Watch on YouTube ↗
These notes - summary, key points, and highlighted thoughts - were generated by AI from the recording and are not the preacher’s exact words.
Summary
The service opens with a reminder that we are pilgrims and strangers on this earth, a royal priesthood called to declare the marvelous light of God (1 Peter 2). In a world where everything can change in a single day, the church gathers to lift its eyes to the eternal kingdom of heaven.
The main teaching draws a careful line between two works of the Spirit. The baptism of the Holy Spirit, with its prayer language, is a promise for every believer: it is vertical, a prayer spoken to God in which a person utters mysteries and is built up. The gift of tongues listed in 1 Corinthians 12 is different and horizontal, given to some as the Spirit wills, to carry God's word to people in real human languages the speaker never learned, for the building up of the church.
The preacher illustrates this with a testimony of a sister who, in a tongue she did not know, spoke Hebrew to a Jewish doctor and reminded him of a vow to his mother to serve God, which led him to repentance and the Gospel. He urges believers to stir up the gift like a fire, to pray in the Spirit at all times, and closes with fervent prayer for Ukraine: for those trapped under rubble, for refugees, for the bloodshed to stop, and for chains of fear to be broken as they were for Paul and Silas.
Key Points
- We live as pilgrims and strangers, called to be a royal priesthood that declares God's light (1 Peter 2:9).
- The baptism of the Holy Spirit, with a prayer language, is promised to every believer; it is speaking to God, not to men.
- The gift of tongues in 1 Corinthians 12 is given to some as the Spirit chooses, to speak God's word to people in real languages.
- Spiritual gifts are distributed by the Spirit Himself to build up the whole church, never for self-display.
- A gift must be stirred up like a fire and used; pray at all times in the Spirit (2 Timothy 1:6; Ephesians 6:18).
- Corporate, Spirit-filled prayer is powerful: when the early church prayed together, the place was shaken (Acts 4:31).
- Even in war and crisis the church keeps praying, for the suffering, for refugees, and for the chains of fear to fall.
Devotional
God has not left His church powerless; He poured out His Spirit so you can pray beyond your own understanding, build yourself up in faith, and intercede for a wounded world. Do not let that gift grow cold. Stir it up like a fire and put it to use. When fear or sorrow presses in, remember Paul and Silas, who sang in the prison until the chains fell off. Pray today in the Spirit, and watch what God will shake loose.
The baptism of the Spirit is for every believer; it is your prayer spoken not to men, but to God.
A gift is like a fire: you must stir it up and use it, or it grows cold.
When the early church prayed together, the very place was shaken.
