Spiritual Practices: Breath Prayer
Overview
As the Jesus followers in Jerusalem start to spread, the message of Jesus spreads with them. In Acts 8, Philip goes to Samaria and shares Jesus as he goes. Many people in Samaria believe his message and, when word gets back to the apostles in Jerusalem, Peter and John go to Samaria to see what is happening. When they get there, the realize that the Jesus followers in Samaria had been baptized in the name of Jesus, but that they had not yet received the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
Receiving the Holy Spirit, or being baptized in the Holy Spirit, is a gift that God has promised (Luke 3:16, Acts 2:38-39). The Holy Spirit helps us in many ways as we follow Jesus and is something that everyone who follows him should ask for. When Peter and John laid hands on the Jesus followers in Samaria and prayed for them, God answered their prayer and they received the Holy Spirit.
If you have never before received the baptism of the Holy Spirit, you can begin to pray and ask God for this gift. Even if you have been baptized in the Holy Spirit before, we should always seek to be filled with his Spirit even more. That is what this breath prayer is about.
Prayer
Lord Jesus Christ, fill me with your Holy Spirit
Overview
As the Jesus followers in Jerusalem start to spread, the message of Jesus spreads with them. In Acts 8, Philip goes to Samaria and shares Jesus as he goes. Many people in Samaria believe his message and, when word gets back to the apostles in Jerusalem, Peter and John go to Samaria to see what is happening. When they get there, the realize that the Jesus followers in Samaria had been baptized in the name of Jesus, but that they had not yet received the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
Receiving the Holy Spirit, or being baptized in the Holy Spirit, is a gift that God has promised (Luke 3:16, Acts 2:38-39). The Holy Spirit helps us in many ways as we follow Jesus and is something that everyone who follows him should ask for. When Peter and John laid hands on the Jesus followers in Samaria and prayed for them, God answered their prayer and they received the Holy Spirit.
If you have never before received the baptism of the Holy Spirit, you can begin to pray and ask God for this gift. Even if you have been baptized in the Holy Spirit before, we should always seek to be filled with his Spirit even more. That is what this breath prayer is about.
Prayer
Lord Jesus Christ, fill me with your Holy Spirit