I have many Christians approaching me and asking me lots of questions about communicating with God. “How do I know it’s God who spoke to me?” “How do I know if this dream/vision I had is from God?” “How do I know if this is God’s perfect will for me?” “Do you think this is the right job/business deal/relationship/house/church for me? Will God ever help me in decision making?”
When it comes to teaching people about relationship and communication with God, I love quoting Paul’s benediction to the Corinthians, “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion (Greek: kŏinōnia – partnership, to communicate, fellowship, companion) of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.” (2 Corinthians 13:14 NKJV) It expresses the wholesome relationship you can have with the triune yet one true God. As a believer, you receive the love of God and the grace of Jesus. But you also have the companion and communication of the Holy Spirit!
In the old covenant, God put His Spirit on the prophets so that they could hear from Him and convey His words to His people. In the new covenant, God pours His Spirit upon all believers of Jesus to abide in them (John 14:16-17). God wants to have personal relationship and communication with each of you, through His indwelling Spirit. He keeps His promise of not leaving you orphans but always be with you (see John 14:18; Matthew 28:20). Yes, God wants to help, guide and teach you for your own benefits (see John 14:26; 15:26; 16:13-15).
Essential Foundation
This is He who came by water and blood – Jesus Christ; not only by water, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who bears witness (Greek: marturĕō – to be a witness), because the Spirit is truth. For there are three that bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one. And there are three that bear witness on earth: the Spirit, the water, and the blood; and these three agree as one (1 John 5:6-8 NKJV)
This is He who came by water and blood – Jesus Christ; not only by water, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who bears witness (Greek: marturĕō – to be a witness), because the Spirit is truth. For there are three that bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one. And there are three that bear witness on earth: the Spirit, the water, and the blood; and these three agree as one (1 John 5:6-8 NKJV)
The most basic way the Holy Spirit would speak to you is by bearing witness in your spirit. He would normally give you a feeling of peace for the right decision or a feeling of uneasiness (no peace) if otherwise. It is a non-verbal communication. But it is the most essential and powerful foundation of all the communications the Holy Spirit has with you.
The sequence of involvement in the Holy Spirit’s bearing witness in one’s life is like what I'm going to share here. Yet it is His will to move differently in each believer’s life.
He convinces you of your need for salvation in Christ
“… He will convict the world of sin… of sin, because they do not believe in Me (John 16:8-9)
The Holy Spirit first moves in your heart the moment the gospel of Jesus is being preached to you. He testifies God’s love and grace in your heart. He convinces you to believe in the salvation grace of God. You resonate by praying the salvation prayer to receive Jesus into your life.
He assures you that you are a child of God
The Spirit Himself bears witness (Greek: summarturĕō – to testify jointly) with our spirit that we are children of God (Romans 8:16 NKJV).
The moment you pray the salvation prayer sincerely, He gives you assurance inside your heart that you are a child of God. He causes you to know deep inside you, without a shadow of doubt, though your analytical mind cannot comprehend, that you belonged to God. The Holy Spirit is the ‘guarantee’ of God, sealed in your heart (see 2 Corinthians 1:20-22).
He helps you grow and triumph in Christ
But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me (John 15:26 NKJV).
The Holy Spirit will always witness Jesus to you. He will not contradict Jesus – the Word of God because He is the Spirit of truth. He helps you grow spiritually by bearing witness about the things of God in your spirit.
He doesn’t just teach you the right things to do but He teaches you the ways of God. You can feel your spirit delighted and your heart liberated when you hear the teachings or songs about God’s love and grace. He will also bring into remembrance every scripture or prophecy that you have known and received, to help you triumph in your life’s circumstances.
The more time you spend communicating with the Holy Spirit and let Him guide you when you read the Bible, the more you will know God. Without you realizing it, you’d start thinking, talking and acting in His ways. That’s when the true transformation begins, from the inside-out!
He doesn’t just teach you the right things to do but He teaches you the ways of God. You can feel your spirit delighted and your heart liberated when you hear the teachings or songs about God’s love and grace. He will also bring into remembrance every scripture or prophecy that you have known and received, to help you triumph in your life’s circumstances.
The more time you spend communicating with the Holy Spirit and let Him guide you when you read the Bible, the more you will know God. Without you realizing it, you’d start thinking, talking and acting in His ways. That’s when the true transformation begins, from the inside-out!
When you have been filled or baptized in Holy Spirit, you are given the supernatural ability to pray in spiritual languages (see Acts 2:1-4; 10:44-46; 19:6). Apostle Paul called it praying in the spirit or praying in tongue (see 1 Corinthians 14:15). When you pray in the spirit, you are praying the perfect will of God as only God’s Spirit knows the will of God (see Romans 8:26-27). As you develop your spiritual language by praying in it often, your spirit is being strengthened and built up (see 1 Corinthians 14:4a). As you are being strengthened in your spirit, you can easily differentiate if it's the voice of Holy Spirit or it's your fleshly desire that you have been hearing.
The more you ‘friend’ the Holy Spirit, the more you will know Him. The more familiar you are with His presence and His ways, the more precise your hearing and communication with Him will be. I am not teaching you a method to communicate with the Holy Spirit. Accurate communication and understanding is a natural process that blossoms from any intimate and mature relationship.
Ask any Spirit-filled grace-preachers, and they’d tell you they read the Word and pray with understanding diligently, but they also pray in the spirit. Apostle Paul is the best example. He said he speak with tongues more than others (see 1 Corinthians 2:14). It is not a co-incident that he knew and taught the revelation of God’s grace the most!
He Brings Genuine Transformation
“… He will convict… of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more” (John 16:8, 10 NKJV)
The Holy Spirit will always assure you of your righteousness in Christ if you allow Him. He will remind you of the finished work of Christ on the cross for you. Most of the time, self-condemnation comes in when you try to change yourself by your self-effort.
For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life (2 Corinthians 3:6b NKJV).
When you try to use your own mind to interpret God’s Word, legalism and religiosity creeps in. Many cause themselves and others to be miserable by ‘trying’ to be holy and godly. Also, knowing the grace of Jesus is not just by being good at using words or ‘jargons’ that some grace-preachers use! Only the Holy Spirit can give you the revelation and understanding of God's grace. It is by allowing the Holy Spirit to bring the understanding first in your spirit, next your mind, then your actions. That’s the only genuine way to see change and breakthrough in your life without having to strive with human efforts.
Ask any Spirit-filled grace-preachers, and they’d tell you they read the Word and pray with understanding diligently, but they also pray in the spirit. Apostle Paul is the best example. He said he speak with tongues more than others (see 1 Corinthians 2:14). It is not a co-incident that he knew and taught the revelation of God’s grace the most!
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law (Galatians 5:22-23 NKJV).
The Holy Spirit inculcates the ways of God in your spirit. He renews you in the spirit of your mind (see Ephesians 4:23). He renews your way of thinking and behavior.
Whatever spiritual background you come from, if you do not have personal relationship and teaching of the Holy Spirit, you are bound to be stranded with your own favourite ‘law’, self-excusing and yet judgemental towards others, or worse, self-condemning too.
Only the Holy Spirit can give you true godliness, minus legalism and religiosity!
He Grooms You Into God’s Perfect Will
Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord (2 Corinthians 3:17-18 NKJV).
The closer you are to the Holy Spirit, the more breakthroughs you will see in your life. He is the One who creates the genuine desire for the things of God in you without you consciously pushing yourself to ‘try to make things happen’. He will change your personality, value and character. That’s exactly what Jesus meant in John 15:7, and as you abide in Him, His desire becomes your desire and as you ask what you desire, it shall be done for you.
Thank God He doesn’t simply approve any 'ambitious' prayer that may cause one to end up in trouble. Before He gives you the promotion, He will groom you until you have the spiritual qualities needed to handle the greater prosperity, fame and power.
Through the work of the Holy Spirit bearing witness in your life, you will also realize your sense of security coming from God alone (& no other). You won’t get wavered easily by other people’s remarks. You won’t try to copy and imitate other people’s success. You won’t feel threatened and be ‘competitive’. You won’t pull down others in order to ‘move up’.
So, how do you get to know God more? By just reading about Him? Or by having an intimate relationship with Him? By now, you would have known the answer. If you can’t find anymore words to pray, then pray in the spirit! God loves to speak to you. God wants to lead you.
Know this, 'the work of the Holy Spirit bearing witness in your spirit' will always accompany your other means of communication with God and your functioning of spiritual gifts. Without this 'bearing witness', you won't be sure if what you are receiving is from God. So, get familiar with His guidance through the feeling of peace or a feeling of uneasiness (no peace). The more familiar you are with His leading or guidance, the more you will know it when you receive a word, dream, vision, or sign from Him. The Holy Spirit bearing witness in your spirit is the foundation of a supernatural partnership with Him, non-verbal, yet so powerful. And that’s how Christians are supposed to grow and mature, with the help of the Holy Spirit!