Chapter 8: Communing with God
Barnes begins this chapter by talking about waiting. “We hate waiting,” he says. Waiting is a very human experience, and
even the disciples were in put in a position to wait after Jesus’ death and
resurrection, before they experienced the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Barnes says that our character is
revealed when we are waiting. What
has waiting revealed about your character?
So what are we ultimately waiting for? Barnes says we are waiting to commune
with God in the form of the living water that is actually the Holy Spirit. But we are powerless to make this
communion happen (remember the message of Chapter 6: It’s not about You!).
Read the 2nd paragraph on page 115: “Why, then, are so many
followers of Jesus still thirsty in spite of …” How does Barnes suggest that we wait for the Spirit? Discuss whether you have an “upper
room,” a place and time devoted to prayer.
On page 117, Barnes says “we may think we are waiting on God
to give us what we want … But when the Spirit comes upon us in our prayers, we
discover that we were waiting for the wrong thing.” At the bottom of the same page, he talks about the great
leaders of the church, who did not aspire to greatness. “The greatness came not from their
gifts and skills, but from the power of the Spirit at work in empty
vessels. Emptying is one of the
first things that happens in the upper room – but only so that we can be
filled.” What does it mean to empty
ourselves?
Do you know people who are consumed by fear? What do you think people are REALLY
afraid of? Barnes says that “God’s
power makes us unafraid.” Do you
agree?
What are some steps you can take to wait on the Holy Spirit
to fill you? (Read the last full
paragraph on page 121).
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