The Fullness of the Spirit (Acts 6:3–8)
Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty.
– Acts 6:3
And what they said pleased the whole gathering, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit…
– Acts 6:5
Then Acts six, eight, and Stephen, full of grace and power was doing great wonders and signs among the people.
– Acts 6:8
Did you hear that description of Stephen? He’s full of the Holy Spirit. He’s full of wisdom, he’s full of faith, he’s full of grace, and he’s full of power.
What an amazing description of this man who would become the first Christian martyr that we read about in the Book of Acts. I want to pray for this kind of fullness over your life and my life today. When I read these verses, I want to be full of all these things.
And I want to pray that you would be full of all these things, because the same Holy Spirit who is on Stephen is the same Holy Spirit who’s in us. We have the ability to live lives that are full like this. Jesus told us, “I came so that you might have life and have it to the full, have it abundantly”. So I just want to pray these exact words that we read about in Stevphen’s life. And at the same time, I want to invite you to pray for this kind of fullness in your life today.
Acts 6:3–8 encourages us to pray for the fullness of God’s Spirit.
Oh God, I pray for every follower of Jesus listening right now, every one of Your children. And we pray this together, please make us like Stephen in these ways. Help us to live today full of Your Holy Spirit. We pray that we would not live in the flesh today. But that we would live in the fullness of Your Holy Spirit, leading us, guiding us, empowering us. We pray that the fruit of Your Spirit would flow from us. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. We pray for the fullness of Your Holy Spirit in our lives today. We pray for fullness of wisdom. God, we pray that You would guard us from foolishness in any way in our lives today. Help us to be wise in everything we think, desire, say, decisions we make, and actions we take.
We pray that You would help us to live full of wisdom today. We pray for fullness of faith. God, grow our faith today. Help us to become more faithful, full of faith in You, trusting in You. We know Jesus that You said that even just a mustard seed-sized faith can move mountains. God, we pray that You’d make us full of faith and full of grace.
Acts 6:3–8 calls us to depend on the power of God’s Spirit.
Oh God, please help us to reflect the grace You’ve shown to us in every interaction we have today. Lord, even with people, just as we read about Stephen and those who stoned him. God, we pray that You would help us to show grace toward friends, toward enemies, even toward those who would seek to harm us. God, help us to be full of grace today and full of power. Full of power from Your Holy Spirit, with boldness to speak the gospel just as Stephen did, even when it cost him his life.
God, we pray for that kind of fullness of power in our lives. That we wouldn’t care about what other people think about us or what might happen to us if we share the gospel. God help us to be bold, full of power in sharing the gospel, to follow in Stephen’s footsteps. We pray this over our brothers and sisters in places around the world who are experiencing persecution just like what Stephen experienced in Acts 7.
A Prayer for the Middle-Eastern Turkmen People
We pray specifically for the church in Iraq today. Please bless our brothers and sisters in Iraq and across the Middle East. We pray for the spread of the gospel to people groups across the Middle East, like the Middle-Eastern Turkmen people. There are three million of them in Iraq, with little to no knowledge of the gospel. God, we pray that through brothers and sisters full of Your Spirit and of wisdom, faith, grace, and power. That the gospel would spread to the nations. And we pray that You would help us to play our part in spreading the gospel to the nations, whatever You’re calling us to do as we live today. God, may it be so, full of Your Spirit, full of wisdom, full of faith, full of grace, and full of power. May it be so, we pray according to Your Word, in Jesus’ Name. Amen.
