Recap:

We are continuing in our series on the Holy Spirit, and I want to start with a promise from Jesus in Luke 11. Jesus says, “Keep asking, and you will receive. Keep seeking, and you will find. Keep knocking, and the door will be opened.” And then He says, “How much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?” That means if you ask for the Holy Spirit, God is not reluctant. He is not holding back. He is not trying to trick you. He is a good Father who gives good gifts to His children.

So if you came forward last week and asked to be filled with the Holy Spirit, I want you to hear this: you received the Holy Spirit. You may not have felt goosebumps. You may not have had some dramatic moment. But Jesus said if you ask, you receive. The Holy Spirit is not just for one emotional moment at an altar. He is not just for Pentecost Sunday. He is not just for a camp experience from twenty years ago. The Holy Spirit wants to fill you, lead you, guide you, strengthen you, comfort you, and empower you every single day.

Because the truth is, we leak. We come to church and get filled up, and sometimes by Sunday night we are already irritated, anxious, discouraged, angry, tempted, or worn out. We are leaky vessels. That is why we do not just need to be filled once. We need to be filled again and again and again.

In Acts 2, the disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit in the upper room. But then in Acts 4, after Peter and John were threatened, arrested, and released, the believers gathered together and prayed again. And after they prayed, the place was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit again. That is the pattern. Filled in Acts 2. Filled again in Acts 4. The Spirit-filled life is not one-and-done. It is continual dependence.

Peter is the perfect picture of this. Before the cross, Peter was afraid. A servant girl asked if he knew Jesus, and he denied Him three times. But after being filled with the Holy Spirit, Peter stood before religious leaders and boldly declared that he could not stop speaking about what he had seen and heard. Same Peter. Different power. The difference was the Holy Spirit.

When the Holy Spirit fills you, He gives you boldness. He gives you strength. He gives you courage. He gives you power to face what you could not face on your own. So what do we do? First, we pray to be filled. Jesus said to ask, seek, and knock. So we ask. We keep asking. We make this part of our daily life: “Holy Spirit, fill me. Holy Spirit, I need You. Holy Spirit, strengthen me. Holy Spirit, help me today.”

Second, we position ourselves to be filled. Ephesians 5 says, “Do not be drunk with wine, but be filled with the Holy Spirit.” That phrase means to keep on being filled. Continually. Repeatedly. Daily. And Paul connects that filling with worship, thanksgiving, and making melody in our hearts to the Lord. So when anxiety starts rising, worship. When frustration takes over, give thanks. When fear gets loud, lift the sail. You cannot fill yourself with the Holy Spirit, but you can position yourself. You can lift the sail, and the Spirit of God can blow His wind into your life.

Maybe for you that happens in the car on the way to work. Maybe it happens before the kids wake up. Maybe it happens during a five-minute pause in the middle of a chaotic day. Susanna Wesley had nineteen children, and she would pull her apron over her head just to take a few moments with God. So no, we are not too busy. We need Him too much.

Third, we pay attention to His promptings. If we are asking to be filled, we should also expect the Holy Spirit to speak, lead, nudge, and guide us. Sometimes it may feel like a strong thought. Sometimes it may be an impression. Sometimes it may be a sense that you need to call someone, pray for someone, go somewhere, stop something, or say something. And yes, we can dismiss it. We can say, “That is probably just me.” We can let fear talk us out of obedience. But we need to learn to push past fear and pay attention.

Because the Holy Spirit’s promptings matter. That is what happened with Mike. He had been prayed for, he sensed the Holy Spirit moving in his life, and then he had a strong prompting to take over mowing for his wife’s grandfather. At first, he hesitated. But the prompting grew stronger. So he stepped in. Seconds later, a car came crashing into the exact spot where his grandfather had been mowing. Mike was hit and pinned, but no bones were broken. And even after being hit, he prayed with someone at the scene. That is not just intuition. That is the Holy Spirit leading, warning, protecting, and working.

The Holy Spirit is not only for church services. He is for front yards, conversations, workplaces, marriages, parenting, decisions, and everyday moments. Paul told Timothy, “Fan into flame the gift of God.” Then he said, “God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and a sound mind.” So we fan it into flame. We do not let fear control us. We do not bury what God has given us. We do not ignore the prompting of the Spirit.

We pray to be filled. We position ourselves to be filled. We pay attention to His promptings. And we push past fear. Because God has more for us. He wants a church filled with the Spirit, not just on Sunday mornings, but in homes, cars, workplaces, marriages, schools, and neighborhoods.

So the invitation is simple: ask again. Come, Holy Spirit. Fill me again. Lead me again. Strengthen me again. Guide me again. Give me boldness again. Give me power, love, and a sound mind. We are leaky vessels, but we have a limitless fountain. So stay under the fountain. Ask and keep asking. Seek and keep seeking. Knock and keep knocking. Because Jesus promised: the Father gives the Holy Spirit to those who ask.

Group Questions:

Icebreakers

  1. What is something that drains you quickly – emotionally, spiritually, or physically?
  2. Have you ever had a moment where you knew you needed help, but you were hesitant to ask for it?
  3. What is one place where you feel closest to God – in the car, outside, during worship, early mornings, late nights, etc.?

Discussion Questions

  1. The sermon opened with Jesus’ words in Luke 11: “Ask and keep asking, seek and keep seeking, knock and keep knocking.” What stands out to you about the way Jesus describes asking God for the Holy Spirit?
  2. The message said, “If you ask for the Holy Spirit, God is not reluctant.” Do you naturally see God as eager to give good gifts, or do you sometimes feel like you have to convince Him?
  3. The sermon used the phrase, “We are leaky vessels.” Where do you notice yourself “leaking” the most – stress, anger, anxiety, fear, temptation, discouragement, busyness, or something else?
  4. In Acts 2, the disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit. In Acts 4, they were filled again. Why do you think it matters that the Spirit-filled life is not one-and-done?
  5. Peter went from denying Jesus out of fear to boldly proclaiming Jesus in front of religious leaders. What does Peter’s transformation teach us about the power of the Holy Spirit?
  6. The sermon gave three practices: pray to be filled, position yourself to be filled, and pay attention to His promptings. Which one feels most natural to you? Which one feels most challenging?
  7. Ephesians 5 connects being filled with the Spirit to worship, thanksgiving, and making melody in your heart to the Lord. How can worship and gratitude help reposition us when we are anxious, frustrated, or spiritually empty?
  8. The story of Susanna Wesley showed that even in a chaotic life, we can create small moments to meet with God. What is one realistic “apron over your head” moment you could build into your week?
  9. The sermon challenged us to pay attention to the Holy Spirit’s promptings. Have you ever had a moment where you felt prompted to say something, do something, pray for someone, or change direction? What happened?
  10. Sometimes we dismiss promptings by saying, “That is probably just me.” How can we grow in discerning the voice and leading of the Holy Spirit without becoming fearful or overthinking everything?
  11. The sermon said we need to “push past fear” because God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and a sound mind. Where might fear be keeping you from obeying God right now?
  12. What would it look like for our group, our families, and our church to be filled with the Spirit not just on Sundays, but in everyday life?

Application

  1. This week, where do you need to pray, “Holy Spirit, fill me again”?
  2. What is one way you can position yourself to be filled this week – worship, prayer, thanksgiving, silence, Scripture, or another practice?
  3. What is one prompting you sense the Holy Spirit may be giving you right now?