Walking in the Spirit part 2

          Going deeper with  HEAD TO HEART GUIDE 24

These sections go with Walking in the Spirit (Main Healing Lesson 24) and are included our workbook for personal transformation, "Matters of the Heart." All 24 lessons will be helpful to the person seeking restoration and freedom and have been posted on this web site. They are available as a complete set in our workbook which can be purchased as a download or ordered through the mail. The lessons are also available on CD and DVD as 24, 1/2 hour teachings. All scriptures are from the NKJV unless otherwise noted.
 

Exercise

You have received guidance many times
Recognize and acknowledge what God has already been doing in your life. Don’t be shy about admitting the truth that the Lord has been speaking to you and showing you things all along. You have been "walking in the Spirit" much of your natural life, whenever your actions were graced and blessed with the Lord's peace. Wise King Solomon advises us to learn to acknowledge Him—give Him credit for what He is already doing—and He will direct our paths. One meaning of this is that if we will learn to see the ways He has been guiding us since childhood (by Hand and Voice), we will be that much better prepared to recognize, acknowledge and follow Him in the future.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths. Proverbs 3:5-6

Mark this check list if you have encountered God in these ways, even without realizing it at the time, and then add some of your own to it.
 
__A little bird whispered in my ear.
__I have a gut feeling this will work.
__It’s just a hunch, but have you tried…
__Something just doesn’t seem right.
__I’ve got a bad feeling about this…
__The thought just dropped in out of the blue!
__That same thought just occurred to me too!
__All of a sudden I remembered…
__This idea just stays on my mind…
__It’s a feeling I just can’t shake off.
__That gave me chills and goose bumps!
__What an incredible coincidence!
_________________________        
_________________________
 

Discussion questions

Guidance is an art, not a science
Because of this, it really helps to share stories of guidance. This enables us to “listen in” on the ways God has been speaking to and guiding others and the ways they have been listening to and observing His directions. So go ahead—don’t be sheepish. Share your stories of how the great God of heaven has been guiding you on earth into fun, into fruitfulness, or out of trouble! Celebrate that you are heaven directed people!

1) How do you usually “hear” from the Lord?
2) What are some of the things He has spoken to you—and how did you hear it?
3) What are some of the things He has shown you to do—and how did He show you?
4) What enabled you to receive guidance: was it your quietness or desperation, or what?
5) When you know you need guidance how do you (effectively) go about seeking to receive it?
 

Main points

1) God has been guiding you all of your life (by Hand and Voice)—without your noticing it.
2) Acknowledge His past ways of guiding you and you will notice present ways better.
3) Guidance comes by His Word, His Example, His Voice and His Spirit (most intimate).
4) Five “voices”: scripture, conscience, inward impressions, wise counsel, circumstances.
5) Scripture is the most powerful voice: it must be followed above all the others.
6) In major decisions listen for harmonious agreement of all 5 voices. Never force it!
7) Heart peace comes through trusting; “foot” peace comes through obeying. Get both.
8) The path of trusting obedience eventually becomes a mighty river of peace!
 

Digging deeper

Guidance is different than obedience

With obedience it is trust Him and do it
     (what is required is already clearly known).
With guidance it is trust Him and try it
     (it is a “hunch” to be followed by steps of faith).

Difficulties with guidance
Trying to be guided is like trying to be good. If you try too hard, you will foul it up by not trusting. Just as His goodness is already there for you to abide in, so is His guidance! Being overly self-conscious is disastrous in anything especially when graceful execution is required.

Requirements for effective listening

Willingness to hear and obey      
Honesty     
Time with Father; time with Jesus/ time with Holy Spirit
Willingness to wait (patience)    
Quiet spirit    
Time with Father; time with Jesus; time with Holy Spirit
 

Sword and shield

I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with My eye. Psalm 32:8

For this is God, our God forever and ever; He will be our guide even to death. Psalm 48:14
 
Nevertheless I am continually with You; You hold me by my right hand. You will guide me with Your counsel, And afterward receive me to glory. Psalm 73:23-24

Happy is the man who finds wisdom, and the man who gains understanding… Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace. Proverbs 3:13, 17

If you extend your soul to the hungry and satisfy the afflicted soul, then your light shall dawn in the darkness, and your darkness shall be as the noonday. The LORD will guide you continually, and satisfy your soul in drought, and strengthen your bones; you shall be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail. Isaiah 58:10-11

Will you not from this time cry to Me, 'My Father, You are the guide of my youth? Jeremiah 3:4

Through the tender mercy of our God, with which the Dayspring from on high has visited us; to give light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.  Luke 1:78-79

…when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth… John 16:13
 

Prayer focus

Are you willing to be led?
Willingness is the coin of the realm when it comes to walking in the Spirit. Have you ever seen someone trying to get a resistant dog on a leash to walk obediently in the direction the master wants to go—and at the pace the master desires to set? Some dogs are rebellious; some are easily distracted by cats or other dogs. Such dogs may not be taken out beyond necessity! Then there are other dogs who don’t even need a leash, who go everywhere with their masters.

I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with My eye. Do not be like the horse or like the mule, which have no understanding, which must be harnessed with bit and bridle, else they will not come near you. Psalm 32:8-9

If you would love to be readily and frequently guided, then the issue of living with a surrendered heart and a willing spirit is paramount. When Isaiah saw the Lord, he fully surrendered and became willing for anything (Isaiah 6:1-8). So let’s review what a surrendered heart is saying to the Lord. Then keep checking your heart to make sure your surrender and willingness stay intact. Let the acronym SAAW remind you to look to Him.

Father, according to Your love and wisdom,
S: send whatever You desire to send (of light and life).
A: allow whatever You have to allow (of free will and its consequences).
A: ask of me whatever You require (of inward or outward obedience).
W: withhold me from and withhold from me whatever is necessary.
Make me willing to be made willing to surrender everything to You.

Remember: even a twinge of unwillingness to surrender all is a step towards the Great Rebellion. If you see it in you, you have met the enemy! Carry that thought captive to Christ.
 

Renunciations and affirmations

Confess/renounce previous agreements with untruth; confess/believe Truth as your new Way of life.

Father, forgive me wherever I have thought or said that I have not heard Your voice or experienced Your guidance. I utterly renounce that false belief. The truth is that I am someone who knows how to be guided by You and who has been given ears to hear and eyes to see what You are speaking to me or showing me. I am learning how to listen for Your voice of Wisdom through Your Word, through my inner life, and through other people. I am learning to recognize YOu Hand—prompting, checking and guiding me.

Father, thank You that You have been speaking to me and guiding me all of my life. Help me to recognize and acknowledge You in all of these ways, so that my eyes can open wider to give You credit and to more readily perceive Your ways of leading me.
 

Putting feet to your prayers/stretch yourself!

Three easy steps
Try these 3 steps in seeking guidance as you practice walking in the Spirit.

1) Consecrate
Take your present concerns to the Lord. Surrender all. Confess all that He shows you, and accept by faith that you are in the center of His Will for you and that He is already working through you.  Acknowledge and believe that He is governing everything in your life according to His Good Will for you, that nothing happens by accident. Tell Him you only want to know and obey His Voice. Ask Him to make it plain. Purpose to obey whatever He reveals. Then abide in simple trust and begin doing the next right thing.    

2) Wait
Look and listen as you go about your day. Include quiet times for seeking wisdom. Seek the counsel of others; ask for their prayers. Wait for clear light to come about matters of specific guidance. In the meantime accept by faith that you are now in the center of His Will and that He is working through you to will and to do His pleasure. Continue to abide in simple trust and obedience (doing the next right thing as you understand it). The peace of Christ is never static, it desires to move us—so learn to go as the peace leads you.

3) Act
Whenever you are reasonably sure about a step of specific guidance, yield an immediate obedience. Not to act, when guidance is received, darkens the path. Delays only make obedience more difficult later on. 

Step out in faith!

Interested in going deeper?

For further study and for help working these truths into your heart and life, explore all of the Main Healing Lessons and Head to Heart Guides, plus the Life Applications, Illustrations and other Healing Articles posted on this site or available in the store.

Or better yet, let us minister to you in person
     --at one of our Savannah Seminars...