Strengthened by the Spirit
Spiritual Strength
Part of DNA Guides
September 11, 2022

Be Real Together:

Take a few minutes to catch up, tell stories, and laugh together. Trust and friendship take time to build. If you’re launching a new DNA, one person should tell their story — what do we need to know about you? Next week, have another person in your DNA share their story.

Discussion Starter (5-10 minutes):
As we begin our discussion on being strengthened by the Holy Spirit, let’s take a minute to share about our faith/church backgrounds regarding whether the Holy Spirit has been overemphasized or underemphasized, both in our own walks as well as individual church experiences. Let’s get a pulse for how our Group views the role of the Holy Spirit in relation to God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Trinity in general.

Read Together:

This Sunday, we examined several passages relating to the Holy Spirit. Take turns reading the verses below out loud.

  • John 7:37-39 – Jesus describes the Spirit as “streams of living water.”
  • Acts 1:4-8 – Jesus promises the eventual gift of the Holy Spirit.
  • Ephesians 5:15-21 – Paul exhorts to not get drunk on wine but to be filled with the Spirit.
  • Genesis 1:2 – The Spirit is present at creation.
  • John 14:15-17 – The Spirit is intimately present.

When you think of the existence, work, and power of the Holy Spirit, what other Scriptures come to mind for you?

Grow Together: Observe and Apply

Application Discussion Questions:

  1. What are some practical ways we can be reminded of the presence and significance of the Holy Spirit?

  2. Read Galatians 5:22-25 and 2 Peter 1:3-11. Have you considered that the Holy Spirit is the origin, motivator, and force behind the Fruit of the Spirit (Galatians) and the virtues of faith (2 Peter)?

  3. What are some practical ways we can be strengthened by the Holy Spirit? Do any of these ways below stand out to you?

    • Memorizing Scripture
    • Praying with someone else (Matthew 18:19-20)
    • Acknowledging moments when the Holy Spirit convicts our conscience or prompts us to take action

  4. If time allows, read and discuss the story below:

“The Prayer Revival of 1857”
On Sept. 23, 1857, a quiet business man named Jeremiah Lanphier started a weekly prayer meeting at a Dutch Reformed church in NYC, right around the corner from Wall Street. It wasn’t designed to launch a church, it wasn’t even designed to grow all that big. It was merely the product of 1 man who had a hunger for God in his own life.

It started small. The 1st week, 6 people showed up. Apparently the word got out, because the 2nd week, 20 people showed up. By the 3rd week, there were 40. By the time they hit week 4, both the attendance and the hunger of the attendees had grown enough to justify starting a daily prayer meeting instead of weekly.

In our day and age, this kind of story would demand we answer some questions:
- Was he a celebrity pastor?
- Did their online marketing go viral?

The answer to each of these is “no.” There was no flash. No hype. Not even a sermon. In fact, one church historian reported that “There was no fanaticism, no hysteria, just an incredible movement of people to pray.” (J. Edwin Orr).

Eventually, the group began hosting 3 meetings per day, multiplied into theaters in cities like NYC, Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia, Washington DC, and several others. By the time this 2 year revival had run its course, it was reported that over 1 million people had given their lives to Christ because of this movement of prayer. American’s population at the time was roughly 30 million. What’s now remembered as the “Prayer Meeting Revival of 1857-1859” is known as the greatest spiritual awakening in American History.

What’s more, during one of the Chicago meetings, a young 21-year-old man who had recently moved to the city, felt his first call into Christian ministry. He wrote a letter to his mother back east to let her know he was starting a Sunday school class. His name was Dwight L. Moody — the man who founded Moody Bible Institute and Moody Publishers, 2 of the most influential Christian education contributors in the world.

Pray Together:

Thank you, Lord, for the gift of your Holy Spirit. Thank you for the way that you strengthen us. Help us to seek your presence everyday that we would walk in step with your Spirit.
In Jesus’ name we pray, AMEN.