Why believers should be sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit

One of the major roles of the Holy Spirit in the lives of believers is guidance. Jesus did not leave His disciples alone. He sent them another comforter who advocated, helped, and guided them in all their endeavors.

The Christian walk is spiritual. Our God is a spirit and those who worship Him must do that in truth and in spirit (John 4:24). The major challenge of most believers is how to migrate from the physical to the spiritual. It is the desire of every genuine believer to operate in the supernatural but most often we find it difficult to do so simply because we lack the proper knowledge and spiritual discernment.

The foundational step towards becoming sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit is to receive Him first. Jesus did not allow His disciples to venture into ministry without first receiving the Holy Spirit and they had to wait until they were endued with power from on high. He knew that they would have operated absolutely in the flesh and would have messed up their ministerial career without the presence of the Holy Spirit in them. “The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit” (1 Corinthians 2:14).

It is obvious that sometimes we find it difficult to understand the leading of God, and other times we find it difficult to distinguish fleshy prompts from that of the Spirit. Accepting that we are mere limited mortals and asking the Holy Spirit for direction and guidance are surefire ways of escaping the consequences of bad decisions and unguided actions.

In my opinion, the church in Antioch was more sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit than the church in Jerusalem. God used persecution to force them to obey His mandate to spread the Gospel. But the church in Antioch was sensitive enough to hear the Holy Spirit and obeyed immediately by sending Paul and Barnabas on a mission trip. “While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, ‘Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them’” (Acts 13:2). Without hearing from the Holy Spirit, the church in Antioch would not have evangelized Asia Minor.

If believers are sensitive to the Holy Spirit, many calamities and disasters could be avoided. When Paul wanted to go to Bithynia the Holy Spirit stopped him (Acts 16:6). He then went to Macedonia and preached the Gospel there. He was able to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit who led him to understand the will of God for his ministry at that pointing time.

Sadly, many believers have deviated completely from God’s purpose and vision due to fleshly thinking. Sometimes we are led by the flesh but ignorantly claim that we are led by the Spirit. A quiet time in the presence of the Holy Spirit daily and constant awareness of the need for the Holy Spirit’s directives in all we do will inevitably help us to develop our spiritual nervous system which will enable us to respond positively to the Spirit’s prompting. After all, only the children of God are led by His Spirit (Romans 8:14).