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Shake it up!

Greg Stier
Greg Stier

“After they prayed the place where they were meeting was shaken. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.”   Acts 4:31

There is a simple pattern for revival in the book of Acts. And it’s found in this simple ben-white-128602.jpgverse. If we want to see God use us to accomplish amazing things we must be willing to “shake it up” (“up” not “off“…Sorry Taylor Swift!)

First of all, our buildings must be shaken by the power of prayer.

After they prayed the place where they were meeting was shaken.” 

Are we shaking our buildings with the power of prayer? Are we shaking our churches, our youth rooms and our homes with the power of prayer?

If we spend more time in announcements than we do in intercessory prayer in the typical church/youth group meetings we lead, then we shouldn’t be surprised if there is a lack of revival in our people! Without prayer, we cannot tap into the power of the Trinity to produce changes in us and others. Our churches are like muscle cars without fuel, beautiful to look at, but useless if we can’t drive them.

Let’s shake it up by building a prayer culture that is authentic and palpable. Let’s have a “pray first” philosophy where prayer is not the last resort but the first response. By the way, for help with this check out our Gospel Advancing website and take the diagnostic to see how you “score” when it comes to prayer and six other key values.

We must shake our buildings with the power of prayer. Then we must be personally shaken by the power of the Spirit.

They were all filled with the Holy Spirit.

I heard the illustration of being filled with the Holy Spirit being like a glass of milk with chocolate syrup at the bottom. The syrup must be stirred up for the white milk to take on the look and taste of the syrup. In the same way we must “stir up the Spirit” by actively yielding to him in prayer so that we can take on the characteristics of the Holy Spirit. 

Are you living in a daily declaration of dependence on the Spirit? Are you stirring him up by yielding to him on a day-by-day, moment-to-moment basis? Are you equipping the teenagers you lead to do the same?

Finally, we must shake our cities with the power of the Gospel. After the early believers prayed, “they spoke the word of God boldly.”

This is an interesting verse because it indicates that a sure sign of being filled up with the Holy Spirit is a willingness to speak up about Jesus. If we think we’re filled with the Holy Spirit but we never share the Gospel, we may want to think again.

If you don’t know how to share the Gospel check out the Dare 2 Share Gospel Sharing apps. And bring your teenagers out to Dare 2 Share Live this Saturday (September 23rd). They will be inspired, equipped and unleashed to share the Good News of Jesus.

Pray for tens of thousands of teenagers to show up at Dare 2 Share Live this Saturday in 69 locations across the country and shake it up for Jesus!

 

 

Unlikely Fighter

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The story of how a fatherless street kid overcame violence, chaos, and confusion to become a radical Christ follower.

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