KGM School of Service Knowing God Missions · Tumenyimana
Course: The Potter’s Wheel (Wheel)
Lesson: 5
Scripture: Mark 11:15–17; Matthew 5:3–6; Luke 11:1–13; Acts 4:23–31
Language: English

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Lesson Five — The Holy Spirit: The Life and Power of the Church: The Pillar of Prayer

BIG IDEA


The Holy Spirit is the Life and Power of the church. The door into His power is not talent but knowing our need. God created us to need Him, and He sees and responds when we call on Him. Jesus, our example, lived a life of prayer. He taught that God’s house will be called a house of prayer for all nations (Mark 11:17). The Father in heaven gives the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him (Luke 11:13). This is the pillar of Prayer.

PART 1 — SCRIPTURE READING

Mark 11:15–17 • Matthew 5:3–6 • Luke 11:1–13 • Acts 4:23–31

Open your Bible and read slowly: Mark 11:15–17, Matthew 5:3–6, Luke 11:1–13, and Acts 4:23–31. In Mark 11, Jesus drives out those who are buying and selling in the temple courts, and He teaches what God’s house is for. In Matthew 5, Jesus says who is blessed: the poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek, and those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. In Luke 11, one of the disciples asks Jesus to teach them to pray, and Jesus teaches them to ask, to seek, and to knock. In Acts 4, the believers raise their voices together in prayer, and they are all filled with the Holy Spirit.

In Lesson Three we came to the Father and the pillar of Love. In Lesson Four we came to the Son and the pillar of Truth. Now we come to the Holy Spirit, the Life and Power of the church, and to the pillar of Prayer. Love and Truth are what the church receives, and Prayer is the power that sustains her. In Lesson One we saw that loving God with all our soul is tied to the pillar of Prayer. In Lesson Two we saw that the knee-deep water speaks of the power of the Holy Spirit through worship and prayer. This lesson follows Chapter 5 of The Potter’s Wheel.

KEY VERSE — MARK 11:17


“And as he taught them, he said, ‘Is it not written: “My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations”? But you have made it “a den of robbers.”’”

PART 2 — WALKING THROUGH THE LESSON

A. Created to Need God — The Door into the Spirit’s Power

The Holy Spirit is the Life and Power of the church. How do we enter into His power? The door into the Spirit’s power is not talent. The door is knowing our need. Jesus said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:3). The poor in spirit are those who know their need of God.

God created a world that needs Him. Without Him the world is not complete. This need is not a mistake. It is part of His good design. Creation has no life of its own. Life, movement, and being come from God alone, for in Him we live and move and have our being (Acts 17:28). We were created in need, and God placed Himself near to be our riches and our fullness.

The door into the Spirit’s power is not talent but knowing our need.

B. Three Truths About Our Need

Three truths help us to understand our need.

  1. To know our need is humility. It is not a problem that we need God’s help. What matters is that we know our need. We have an empty place within us, and God longs to fill that place. We are not light in ourselves. But Jesus is the light of the world, and whoever follows Him will have the light of life (John 8:12).
  2. Pride is poverty. This is true of every human heart. Every person is spiritually poor, but pride tells us that we have no need. So pride takes away our ability to receive from God. Pride tries to fill the empty place within us, and pride only makes the empty place deeper. But God longs to relieve our poverty and to fill our emptiness. Scripture says that God opposes the proud but shows favour to the humble (James 4:6).
  3. Knowing our need leads to grace. David prayed, “But as for me, I am poor and needy; may the Lord think of me. You are my help and my deliverer; you are my God, do not delay” (Psalm 40:17). He also said, “This poor man called, and the LORD heard him; he saved him out of all his troubles” (Psalm 34:6). David was speaking of his need for God, and his need was not greater than ours. But he was blessed because he knew his need. This made him ready to receive grace.

So it is with us. In ourselves we are poor, but God gives what we lack. Faith brings us into His presence, and we come to know Him. His love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit (Romans 5:5), and we come to understand His will. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit come to live with us (John 14:17, 23).

C. Blessed Are Those Who Mourn — Longing for His Presence

Jesus said, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted” (Matthew 5:4).

Mourning, in Scripture and in life, is always connected to loss. Those who love God long for His presence, and they mourn when His presence is missing. This mourning is a key to revival. The church is meant to long for her Bridegroom. Jesus said that the guests of the Bridegroom cannot mourn while the Bridegroom is with them. He said that the time will come when the Bridegroom will be taken from them, and then they will fast (Matthew 9:15).

So the church mourns, prays, and expects the Holy Spirit to fill her. Those who mourn will be comforted (Matthew 5:4). And God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us (Romans 5:5). Let us be a church that knows her need and cries out for God. Let us long for God Himself more than we long for His gifts and blessings. Jesus said, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled” (Matthew 5:6).

D. The Call to Seek God in Prayer

God said to His people through the prophet Jeremiah, “‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart’” (Jeremiah 29:11–13). (Your Kiswahili Bible says “thoughts of peace.” It is the same promise: God’s thoughts toward His people are good.)

God’s good plans for His people are fulfilled when we seek Him in prayer. Jesus taught that God’s house will be called a house of prayer for all nations (Mark 11:17). In Lesson Two we saw that the church is God’s temple (1 Corinthians 3:16). So the local church must be a house of prayer, where believers call on the Lord, each one alone and all together.

E. The God Who Sees — Above All Time and Near to Us

Why do we pray? God sees all of time. Every event, past, present, and future, is fully known to Him. We live only in the present moment. But when we kneel in prayer, we meet the God who sees all of time. In prayer, either we are changed, or our circumstances are changed.

God is also near. He gives His attention to each person, as if He had no one else to care for. The angel of the Lord found Hagar near a spring in the desert (Genesis 16:7). “She gave this name to the LORD who spoke to her: ‘You are the God who sees me,’ for she said, ‘I have now seen the One who sees me’” (Genesis 16:13). Even in the desert, God was near, and He was watching over her life.

The Bible is full of lists of names: families, people who returned from exile, and the greetings of Paul. Every name reminds us that each person matters to God. Jesus said that the very hairs of our head are all numbered (Luke 12:7). If God cares enough to record names, how much more does He care about the cries of our hearts?

F. Prayer Changes Things — And Prayer Changes Us

Humility in prayer glorifies God. Prayer is not a religious custom that belongs to the past. Prayer is the hand of faith that reaches out to God. Through prayer the heart receives peace, and God receives glory. True prayer is an act of dependence. When we bow before God, we say humbly that only He can sustain us.

Scripture shows us three things that prayer does.

  1. Prayer changes circumstances. As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning (Exodus 17:11).
  2. Prayer changes us. Jesus went up onto a mountain to pray. As He was praying, the appearance of His face changed (Luke 9:28–29).
  3. Prayer brings us into agreement with God’s will. Jesus prayed that the Father’s will be done, and not His own (Luke 22:42).

Prayer connects us to the power of the Holy Spirit. So a prayerless church is a powerless church. But a church that prays will see breakthroughs, miracles, and revival.

G. A God Who Responds

God is a God who responds. When we pray, He acts. Through the prophet Hosea the Lord promised His people a day when He will respond (Hosea 2:21). Hannah prayed for a son, and the Lord gave her Samuel (1 Samuel 1:10–20). Elijah prayed, and the fire of the Lord fell (1 Kings 18:36–38). Peter was kept in prison, and the church prayed earnestly to God for him. The Lord sent His angel and rescued Peter (Acts 12:5–11). God is still answering prayer today.

H. The Prayer Life of Jesus

Jesus, our example, lived a life of prayer. Look at seven marks of His prayer life.

  1. He began His ministry with prayer and fasting. At His baptism Jesus was praying (Luke 3:21). Then, full of the Holy Spirit, He was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, and for forty days He ate nothing (Luke 4:1–2). This preparation gave Him strength to overcome temptation. He returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit (Luke 4:14). A church that fasts and prays will walk in the power of the Spirit.
  2. He prayed alone, in a solitary place. At daybreak Jesus went out to a solitary place (Luke 4:42). Mark tells us that He prayed there (Mark 1:35). If Jesus needed time alone in prayer, how much more do we?
  3. The more He became known, the more He prayed. The news about Jesus spread all the more, and crowds of people came to hear Him and to be healed (Luke 5:15). “But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed” (Luke 5:16). More responsibility requires more prayer.
  4. He prayed before great decisions. “One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God” (Luke 6:12). When morning came, He called His disciples to Him and chose twelve of them (Luke 6:13). Great decisions should come after prayer. The leadership, the vision, and the direction of the church should come through seeking God.
  5. He prayed in His greatest trial. Jesus prayed, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done” (Luke 22:42). Prayer does not always remove suffering, but prayer gives strength to endure. A praying church will stand firm in trials.
  6. He taught His disciples to pray. “One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, ‘Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples’” (Luke 11:1). Jesus did not only pray. He trained others to pray, and He gave them a pattern for prayer (Luke 11:2–4; Matthew 6:9–13). A church trains her people in prayer and intercession.
  7. He prayed for His followers. Jesus told Simon that He had prayed for him, so that Simon’s faith would not fail (Luke 22:32). Leaders pray for their congregations, and believers pray for one another.

The Prayer Life of Jesus at a Glance

I. The Power of Praying and Worshipping Together

The early church was a church of prayer. Before Pentecost the believers all joined together constantly in prayer (Acts 1:14). On the day of Pentecost all of them were filled with the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:4). Later the believers prayed for boldness (Acts 4:29). “After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly” (Acts 4:31). When the church unites in prayer, heaven responds.

Prayer and worship belong together. Jesus said, “God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth” (John 4:24). Worship is more than singing. Worship is an expression of love, surrender, and reverence for God. True worship is led by the Holy Spirit. True worship is rooted in truth, based on God’s Word and not on emotion alone. True worship is also a way of life that continues every day of the week. A Spirit-filled church is a praying and worshipping church.

To reach the lost world, the local church must first receive power in prayer. Without prayer, evangelism has no power, spiritual battles are lost, and lives are not changed. James wrote that the prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective (James 5:16).

When the church unites in prayer, heaven responds.

J. The Lesson in One Sentence

The Holy Spirit fills the church that knows her need, seeks God with all her heart, prays as Jesus prayed, and lives as a house of prayer (Acts 4:31; Matthew 5:3; Jeremiah 29:13; Luke 5:16; Mark 11:17).

In Lesson Six we come to the local church, a Community of Self-Giving Believers, and to the pillar of Fellowship.

PART 3 — KNOW THE WORD: TEACHING FOCUS

1. The Church Is Called a House of Prayer

Read the key verse again (Mark 11:17). Jesus said these words in the temple courts, after He drove out those who were buying and selling there (Mark 11:15). In Lesson Two we saw that the church is God’s temple (1 Corinthians 3:16). So heaven calls the church “a house of prayer.” Let this name be true of us. Guard the times when the church gathers to pray, for everything else that the church does draws power from prayer.

2. Blessed Are Those Who Know Their Need

Jesus said that the poor in spirit are blessed, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 5:3). Our need is not a mistake in God’s design. To know our need is humility, and the humble are ready to receive grace. David did not hide his need. He called himself a poor man. He called, and the Lord heard him (Psalm 34:6). God shows favour to the humble (James 4:6).

3. Jesus Is Our Example in Prayer

Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed (Luke 5:16). He spent a whole night praying to God before He chose twelve of His disciples (Luke 6:12–13). If Jesus needed prayer, how much more do we? So do as one of His disciples did. Ask Him, “Lord, teach us to pray” (Luke 11:1).

PART 4 — TRUST THE SPIRIT: TEACHING FOCUS

1. The Spirit Helps Us and Intercedes for Us

Paul wrote, “In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans” (Romans 8:26). We come to prayer in need, and we do not know what we ought to pray for. The Holy Spirit helps us in this weakness, and He Himself intercedes for us. So our weakness does not keep us from prayer.

2. The Spirit Fills the Church That Prays

Jesus taught His disciples to ask, to seek, and to knock (Luke 11:9). Then He said that the Father in heaven will give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him (Luke 11:13). The first believers prayed, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly (Acts 4:31). The Holy Spirit is the Life and Power of the church. He fills the church that knows her need and prays.

3. The Spirit Leads and Gives Power

Look again at how Jesus began. He was full of the Holy Spirit, and He was led by the Spirit into the wilderness (Luke 4:1). He returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit (Luke 4:14). Later Jesus promised His disciples that they would receive power when the Holy Spirit came on them (Acts 1:8). Paul wrote that those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God (Romans 8:14). So the church does not rely on talent. She relies on the Holy Spirit. He leads her, and He gives her power.

Word and Spirit in Lesson Five — Side by Side

PART 5 — FORMING CHRIST IN THE BELIEVER

This lesson forms Christ in us in three ways:

  1. Christ is formed in us when we know our need. To know our need is humility. Come to God as David came: poor and needy, and sure that God is our help (Psalm 40:17).
  2. Christ is formed in us when we long for God Himself. Those who love God long for His presence. Long for Him more than for His gifts and blessings. Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness will be filled (Matthew 5:6).
  3. Christ is formed in us when we pray as Jesus prayed. Pray before you begin. Pray alone. Pray more as your responsibility grows. Pray before you decide. Pray in your trials. Pray for others.

PART 6 — DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

Come prepared to answer. Come prepared to listen.

  1. Where do you see your need of God most clearly today, in your own life and in the work you lead? How does this need bring you to prayer?
  2. Ask yourself honestly: do I seek God’s gifts, or God Himself? When your church gathers, how does she seek the presence of God Himself?
  3. Hagar said, “You are the God who sees me.” When has God seen you and responded to your prayer? How does this help you to pray today?
  4. Look at the seven marks of the prayer life of Jesus. Which one is strongest in your own life? Which one do you want to grow in this year?
  5. Heaven calls the church “a house of prayer.” What would this look like in your church? How will you guard the times when your church gathers to pray?

PART 7 — WEEKLY ASSIGNMENT

Before next class, take time with the following:

CLOSING PRAYER

A PRAYER TO PRAY OUT LOUD THIS WEEK


Father, You created us to need You, and You placed Yourself near to us. We are poor and needy, and You are our help and our deliverer. You are the God who sees us. You hear us when we call, and You respond. We thank You.


Teach us to pray, as Jesus taught His disciples. Let us long for You more than we long for Your gifts and blessings. Make us hunger and thirst for righteousness, and fill us. You give the Holy Spirit to those who ask You, and so we ask. Let Your Spirit help us in our weakness, and let Him lead us to worship You in the Spirit and in truth.


Let Your church live as a house of prayer, in our town and across Tanzania. Teach us to seek You with all our heart, each one alone and all together. Teach us to pray as Jesus prayed: before we begin, before we decide, in our trials, and for one another. Fill us with Your Holy Spirit, so that we speak Your Word boldly. In the Name of Jesus, amen.

NEXT LESSON — Lesson Six — The Church. A Community of Self-Giving Believers: The Pillar of Fellowship

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