{"id":6854,"date":"2015-08-28T01:49:07","date_gmt":"2015-08-28T01:49:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/?p=6854"},"modified":"2015-08-28T03:32:26","modified_gmt":"2015-08-28T03:32:26","slug":"is-it-just-me-or-is-it-the-holy-ghost","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/?p=6854","title":{"rendered":"Is it just me or the Holy Ghost?"},"content":{"rendered":"

And let the peace (soul harmony which comes) from Christ rule (act as umpire continually) in your hearts [deciding and settling with finality all questions that arise in your minds, in that peaceful state] to which as [members of Christ\u2019s] one body you were also called [to live]. And be thankful (appreciative), [giving praise to God always]. <\/em>Colossians 3:15, Amplified Bible<\/p>\n

Typically, the main way the Holy Spirit leads His people is via the inward witness\u2014that sense of peace or lack thereof concerning a decision they are making. Some people describe it as a \u201cgreen light\/red light\u201d that they pay attention to inside of themselves. Others call it a \u201chunch\u201d; some call it a \u201cred flag\u201d or a \u201ccheck\u201d when the guidance leads them away from an event or decision. You probably have followed these subtle signals, yourself, likely giving it little thought. For folks who spend time in the Word of God, this form of direction is generally very reliable.<\/p>\n

Prioritize the Word of God in your life, and the Discerner will direct you by His Spirit.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

However, people who insist on receiving more dramatic guidance from God place themselves in a vulnerable and potentially deceivable position, in my opinion. That’s because the Bible is \u201ca more sure word of prophecy<\/em>\u201d (see 2 Peter 1:19, KJV), \u201cto which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts<\/em>\u201d (ibid, NASB). Prioritize the Word of God in your life, and the Discerner will direct you by His Spirit.<\/p>\n

That said, at times the Holy Spirit may use more \u201ctangible\u201d methods to direct you. He may show <\/em>you something; He may speak words<\/em> to your heart; He may even direct you by giving you a \u201cfeeling\u201d<\/em> of something. If you receive His direction via any of these methods, it doesn\u2019t mean you\u2019re a more \u201cspiritual\u201d or \u201csanctified\u201d person; it simply means that the Holy Spirit has information He wants you to pray about or act upon. The more willing you are to follow through with His leading\u2014whether subtle promptings or more spectacular guidance\u2014the more sensitive you become to His guidance.<\/p>\n

I haven\u2019t heard about a lot of people who have been directed by \u201cfeelings\u201d or \u201csensations\u201d, possibly because it can get confused with normal human imagination or\u00a0emotions and written off as \u201cjust me\u201d. Let me share an experience that happened to me\u00a0to illustrate what I mean.<\/p>\n

In 1997 as I was driving home one night after a meeting at church, I experienced an unnerving sense of impact to my left temple as if I was about to be struck by gunfire. I found the nearest semi-truck and drove right next to it for cover from flying bullets! Thankfully,\u00a0as I precariously hugged that\u00a0truck, I realized that it was the Lord giving me an intercessory assignment for someone. I entered into prayer as I pulled back from the semi, entreating God for safety for myself, my relatives, my friends, my colleagues, and anyone else in danger of impact. The sense lingered, so I continued praying both in the Holy Spirit and with my understanding until it lifted.<\/p>\n

When I arrived home I called my friends from a neighboring church, John and Janet, who had joined us for the service earlier that evening. No one answered, so I left a message.<\/p>\n

The next day John called and told me that he and Janet were involved in a head-on collision on their way home from the meeting. He was fine and Janet would be released from the hospital that day. John explained that upon impact, Janet, who was not wearing a seatbelt, flew over him and shattered the windshield with the left side of her head!<\/em> She\u00a0fractured her wrist upon impact in an attempt to protect herself, but her head was unharmed. In fact, for the next few days as she combed her hair, she pulled out clumps of it, along with fragments of windshield, leaving an unscratched, <\/em>quarter-sized\u00a0bald spot on her left temple! Eighteen years later, she and John are alive and well and ministering in the Arctic Circle.<\/p>\n

The interesting thing about this leading of the Holy Spirit was that I almost blew it off as \u201cjust me\u201d! But I took the risk of praying about nothing<\/em> on the chance that it really was\u00a0something<\/em> vitally important\u2014life and death important.<\/p>\n

Have I ever prayed about nothing<\/em> when I\u2019ve experienced odd feelings? Probably. But ask Janet and John if it was worth it for me to risk praying about “nothing” that night!<\/p>\n

I want to encourage you\u2014if you have those odd, random feelings, just pray. Maybe it will<\/em> be nothing; but maybe<\/em> your prayer will be the fuel God uses to bring help and deliverance to someone else.<\/p>\n

Dorothy<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

And let the peace (soul harmony which comes) from Christ rule (act as umpire continually) in your hearts [deciding and settling with finality all questions that arise in your minds, in that peaceful state] to which as [members of Christ\u2019s] one body you were also called [to live]. And be thankful (appreciative), [giving praise to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[232,1,210],"tags":[229,228],"class_list":["post-6854","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-holy-spirit-leading","category-prayerperspective","category-sword-of-the-spirit","tag-holy-spirit-leading","tag-word-is-a-discerner"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6854","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6854"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6854\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6863,"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6854\/revisions\/6863"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6854"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6854"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6854"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}