Paul Name
Some moments in ministry are worth remembering. I love those times when I get to see God at work and I happen to be part of the story. Not because I’ve done anything special. Just because God is good, and the moment is right, and hearts are willing…
Yesterday evening was one of those moments.
Earlier this year I had been preaching about St Paul’s visit to Ephesus in Acts 19. One part of that story is that he met with a small group – just a dozen people – asked if they had received the Holy Spirit, prayed for them and taught them. “What if…” I asked. “What if I were to visit our homegroups, ask the same question and pray for the Holy Spirit to do the same thing.
One group got in touch and said “Yes please!” So I did. And it was wonderful.
Tell me more about the Holy Spirit…
We’d met together the previous week and discussed what they did know about the Spirit. It’s fun teasing insights out of people and getting a real insight into what they do – and don’t – understand. Not because I was testing them, but so that I didn’t make assumptions. And it’s so useful to be able to draw on the rich teaching from the Dunamis Project – something I’ve been involved with teaching for more than 15 years now (more on that at the bottom of this page).
This time, our primary purpose was to pray together, and so we did.
And the Holy Spirit worked…
This was just a small group of six ‘ordinary’ Christians, hungry to know more of the Holy Spirit’s work in their lives. We took it in turns to be prayed for, all of us gathered around this one person. We thanked God for the work he has already done in their life. We invited the Holy Spirit to come and fill them afresh. We weren’t afraid to be silent and listen. When a word, or phrase, or image came to mind we spoke them out gently, offering them as something that God might be saying, letting those revelations guide and shape our praying.
There were words and images specifically for every person. Everyone knew that the Holy Spirit was present and at work. We saw people quietly caught up in a special closeness to God. Some shook, or trembled, or had tears or smiles. For everyone this was a genuinely good time.
I did some of the praying. But one of my real joys was simply being present as the others joined in, praying and sharing, encouraged and freed to minister to one another. All I did was help them get started. A little bit of teaching, modelling an example, giving some encouragement, and then letting them learn to fly.
And then they turned and prayed in the same way for me. I hope they’ll soar.
The hearts were willing. The moment was right. God is good.
