“What does a Spirit-filled church do after it has been filled?”

SMALL GROUP DISCUSSION GUIDE Sermon: When the Church Prays Text: Acts 4:23-31 | Oasis Church | Pastor Scott Time Needed: 60–90 minutes

OPENING PRAYER (2–3 minutes)

Leader, open your time together with this prayer or pray in your own words:

Holy Spirit, we invite you into this conversation. Just as the early church gathered together and prayed with one voice, we come before you now — unified, surrendered, and expectant. Open our eyes to what you want to say to us through your Word, and give us the courage to respond. In Jesus' name, amen.

ICEBREAKER QUESTION (5–10 minutes)

Think about a time when you were facing something difficult and someone showed up to stand with you — a friend, a family member, anyone. What did it mean to you that you didn't have to face it alone?

Give everyone a chance to share briefly. This doesn't need to go deep yet — just get people talking and connected.

SCRIPTURE FOCUS (5–10 minutes)

Primary Passage: Acts 4:23–31

Have someone in the group read this aloud:

"And being let go, they went to their own companions and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said to them. So when they heard that, they raised their voice to God with one accord and said: 'Lord, You are God, who made heaven and earth and the sea, and all that is in them, who by the mouth of Your servant David have said: Why did the nations rage, and the people plot vain things? The kings of the earth took their stand, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against His Christ.' For truly against Your holy Servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose determined before to be done. Now, Lord, look on their threats, and grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word, by stretching out Your hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of Your holy Servant Jesus. And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness." (Acts 4:23–31, NKJV)

Observation Questions:

1. What words or phrases stand out to you most in this passage?
2. What do you notice about how the early church prayed — not just that they prayed, but the content and posture of their prayer?
3. What questions does this passage raise for you?

MAIN DISCUSSION QUESTIONS (30–40 minutes)

Sermon Understanding

1. Pastor Scott said that prayer is not the church's last resort — it is the church's first response. Looking at Acts 4, what had just happened to Peter and John before this prayer meeting? What makes it significant that the church's immediate response was to pray rather than strategize or panic?

2. The early church prayed for boldness rather than safety. In your own words, why do you think that distinction matters? What does it reveal about how they understood their mission?

Personal Application

3. Pastor Scott described unity as something that requires a daily, active fight — not something that just happens when everyone is nice to each other. Where do you find unity most difficult to maintain — in your family, your friendships, your church community? What tends to get in the way?

4. The sermon made the point that opposition does not mean God is absent — in fact, it often confirms you are moving in His direction. Is there an area of your life right now where you have been tempted to interpret resistance as a sign that God is not in it? How does Acts 4 speak to that?

5. Pastor Scott asked a question that is worth sitting with together: What are you facing right now that you have been trying to figure out on your own instead of bringing to God? Without pressure to share anything too personal, is there a category of life — a relationship, a decision, a fear — where you tend to carry the weight alone rather than bring it to prayer?

Spiritual Growth

6. The passage shows that the people filled in Acts 2 needed to be filled again in Acts 4. Pastor Scott said it plainly: yesterday's filling is not enough for today's assignment. What does it look like practically to keep returning to the presence of God rather than coasting on a past encounter? What does that rhythm look like — or need to look like — in your own life?

7. If Oasis — and your small group specifically — took Acts 4 seriously as a blueprint, what would change about how you pray together? What would a genuinely unified, bold, Spirit-filled prayer life look like for this group?

PERSONAL REFLECTION (5–10 minutes)

Invite the group to take 2–3 minutes of quiet, individual reflection. Let them know these questions are for personal use — no one is required to share, but you will invite anyone who wants to.

Reflection Questions:

1. When you pray, are you more often asking God to remove the difficulty or asking Him to increase your boldness in the middle of it? What does your honest answer reveal?
2. Where have you been treating prayer as a last resort rather than a first response in your daily life?
3. What would it look like this week to return to the presence of God and ask to be filled again — not because last season's encounter wasn't real, but because today's assignment requires fresh oil?

After 2–3 minutes, gently invite anyone who wants to share what came up for them. Keep this unhurried.

GROUP ACTIVITY (10–15 minutes)

Activity Title: One Accord — A Prayer of Surrender

What you'll need: Paper and a pen for each person (or phones for notes)

Instructions:

1. Give each person 2–3 minutes to write down one honest answer to this question: What is something I have been facing — a situation, a relationship, a fear, an assignment — that I need to stop carrying alone and bring before God? This can be written as a single sentence or just a few words. It does not need to be shared with the group.

2. Once everyone has written something down, invite the group to hold what they wrote and pray together — out loud, conversationally, one voice at a time — specifically about what they wrote. This does not have to be long or polished. Even one sentence per person counts.

3. Close the prayer time with the leader praying a simple prayer of agreement over everything that was brought before God.

Purpose: This activity moves the group from discussing prayer to actually praying — together, in one accord, about real things. It mirrors exactly what the early church did in Acts 4: they reported what they were facing, and then they prayed together. This is the sermon lived out in the room.

CLOSING PRAYER (3–5 minutes)

Leader, close your time with a prayer like this, or let it flow naturally from what came up in the group:

Lord, we don't want prayer to be something we talk about — we want it to be who we are. Like the early church, we want to be a people who run to you first, who pray bold prayers, and who trust that you are still sovereign over everything we are facing. Fill us again. Give us fresh boldness for the assignments in front of us. Unite us around your voice and your purpose. And Lord — shake the room. In Jesus' name, amen.

TAKE-HOME CHALLENGE

This Week: Pray Bold, Not Safe

The early church did not pray for comfort. They prayed for courage. This week, your challenge is to identify one specific situation in your life where you have been praying for relief — and intentionally reframe your prayer to ask for boldness instead.

Here's how to start:

• Identify the situation: a relationship, a fear, a decision, something you have been avoiding or carrying alone.
• Write it down somewhere you will see it — your phone, a notecard, a journal.
• Each day this week, pray one sentence over it — not "Lord, take this away," but "Lord, give me boldness and keep my eyes on your purpose."

Why this matters: Pastor Scott reminded us that yesterday's filling is not enough for today's assignment. Every time you return to God in prayer this week, you are doing exactly what the early church did — coming back to the presence of God for fresh oil, fresh perspective, and fresh boldness.

At your next meeting: Be ready to share one thing that shifted — in your circumstances, your perspective, or your heart — as a result of praying this way.

Guide prepared for Oasis Church Small Groups | Based on Acts 4:23–31 "When the Church Prays" | Pastor Scott