The Number One Way the Holy Spirit Leads Believers
Are you facing a situation that has been stubbornly lingering? Perhaps symptoms of sickness or pain in your body, or a financial need, or trouble in a relationship? And you’ve been standing on the Word of God, praying, listening to messages, and quoting scriptures—but there’s no change yet? Then you need answers!
The Bible instructs us on what to do in those situations:
Therefore put on God's complete armor, that you may be able to resist and stand your ground on the evil day [of danger], and, having done all [the crisis demands], to stand [firmly in your place]. Eph 6:13 AMPC
This tells us we are not to have any quitting sense! We are to continue to stand our ground and never give up.
However, it is imperative that while we are standing our ground we seek the counsel of the Holy Spirit about any changes that we might need to make to help us receive our answer.
If things are not changing over a reasonable period of time, then probably something has to change. The Bible says God never changes. So we need to humble ourselves and seek the Lord for instructions.
This is why I began a series on how to be led by the Holy Spirit. God is not withholding any good thing, but sometimes we fail to hear what He is leading us to do to receive our answers. I pray these short teachings help you learn to recognize and follow the Holy Spirit’s leadings.
I encourage you to go back and read the previous blogs, where I laid a foundation for what I’m about to teach today.
First, I want you to see that Jesus called the Holy Spirit the Helper.
And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever. John 14:16 NKJV
His greatest help comes in the form of guidance. For instance, He may lead you to stop eating a certain food, see a certain doctor, invest in a certain entity, or take a certain action regarding a relationship.
You may wonder, “How will I recognize these leadings?” I believe the number one way the Holy Spirit leads every believer is through the inward witness. If believers wait for some spectacular leading or an audible voice, they will be misled in life. The inward witness is reliable.
The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God. Rom 8:16 NKJV
One of the most important things that we need assurance of is our salvation, and we have that assurance through the inward witness. If this is the way we are convinced of our salvation, then it stands to reason it’s also the way we are assured for every other area of our life.
We have all had situations where we made a bad decision, and then later said to ourselves, “I knew I shouldn’t have done that!” How did we know? There was a witness on the inside trying to warn us not to do it.
Some have described the inward witness this way:
Yes or go ahead – a green light or velvety feeling in your spirit.
No or don’t do it – a red light, check, or stop signal in your spirit.
If we take some quiet time in prayer, we can simply ask questions that require a “yes” or “no” answer and look for the witness on it. As a child of God, we have the advantage of having a safe guide in our spirits. The devil can try to bring leadings from the outside, like through fleeces. But he cannot lead us through our spirit man. God does!
Some have thought they needed to seek a prophet for answers. In the Old Testament, people received guidance through the prophets because they did not have the spirit of God in them. In the New Covenant, though, we do have the spirit of God dwelling in us, so the ministry of the prophet now is mainly to confirm what people already have in their own spirits. Romans 8:14 says,
For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.
Notice the verse does not say as many as are led by prophets. I’ve seen people shipwreck their lives by following instructions from so-called prophets about major life decisions, instead of taking time to hear for themselves from the Holy Spirit.
I have a family member who married someone because a prophet prophesied they should. I tried to warn them, but they didn’t listen.
That marriage was an abusive nightmare that ended in divorce.
Never depend on another person to determine the will of God for your life, because you’re the one who must live with the results.
Another common way the Lord leads us is through the inward voice of our own spirit. This is like a still, small voice. Your spirit man has a voice and he will often speak short phrases or words to you from the innermost part of you. For example, if you need healing, the Lord may speak a phrase to you to help you receive it, like “Stop eating such and such a food,” or “Start praising Me throughout the day.”
I want to emphasize that these leadings are the most common way the Lord guides, and they are dependable. If you want to be led, learn to give attention to your spirit. This requires daily time in His presence, meditating upon His Word, praying, and then quieting your mind.
God wants you to receive. He will help you in that. So NEVER, NEVER give up!
I highly encourage you to get a copy of my daily devotional, Healing Nuggets: 31 Days of God's Word for Health, Wholeness, and Peace, to help you meditate day and night. I believe it will be a blessing to your life.
We pray that this blog post was a blessing to you! If you'd like to sow a financial seed into this ministry, or learn more about becoming a partner, please visit https://www.millerministries.org/partner. Thank you, and may God richly bless you!
Comments