Contributor: Dolapo Olaoye
INTRODUCTION
Last week, we started to look at ways in which the Holy Spirit leads us. We learnt that the Holy Spirit is not an object that we can compare to a metamorphic symbiotic process but the Person of God Himself and His Presence. Today, we continue and look at it from an “inward witness” point of view -WHEN YOU JUST “KNOW”.
A View of the mechanisms of how the Holy Spirit leads us
Bible Reference: Romans 8:16 (NKJV): The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.
The word spirit above has been highlighted on purpose as people sometimes use the words "spirit" and "soul" interchangeably. But they are not interchangeable and trying to use it as if they are similar we can become confused. The Bible clearly tells us that man's soul and spirit do not refer to the same thing as it differentiates between them in Heb.4:12 - "The word of God is living, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the DIVIDING of SOUL and SPIRIT…."
The Word of God teaches that you are a spirit, you have a soul, and you live in a body. The Holy Spirit will witness to our spirits, not our minds or intellect.
In Your Spirit
Since God dwells in you, in your heart or spirit, that is where He is going to speak to you from. He does not communicate directly with your mind, because He's not in your mind; He's in your spirit. Think about it this way, remember it is your spirit that becomes a new creation in Christ when you are born again. When we are born again, we still have the same body we had before. The outward man doesn't change. But the spirit man on the inside has become a new man in Christ. Since God guides us through our spirit, it's important to allow that inward man to dominate our lives.
As the scripture says in Proverbs 20:27 (KJV), your spirit is a candle of the Lord – “The spirit of man is the candle of the Lord, searching all the inward part of the belly”. Meaning God will implant light in your spirit man, to lead and direct you on what to do.
Inward witness - explained
When the Holy Spirit speaks to your spirit, you do not hear an audible voice. This is what people call “the inner witness”. The voice of the Holy Spirit to your spirit creates a quiet assurance—a relaxed knowing about something.
Let’s look at it this way, say you pray about clear guidance for a certain direction you want to go in your life, and you get an unease or a red light in your spirit. Or to say it another way, on the inside of you there is something that tells you no or asks you to stop. On the inside - in your heart, you just don't feel right/good about going in the direction you're praying about. That check in your spirit is the Holy Spirit telling you not to go in that direction. However, say you pray about a something and you get a go-ahead signal or peaceful feeling in your heart, that's the witness of the Holy Spirit telling you to proceed.
God leads us by the inward witness (inward voice). With the inward voice, our own spirit speaks to us what it picks up from the Holy Ghost. When the Holy Spirit communicates something directly to you through the inner witness, it will be a knowing without any shadow of a doubt. This inner witness also guides us on several aspects of our lives – in ministry, business, marriage, career, daily decisions, etc. It can give us a green or red light about our plans. We are to obey when we sense this inner witness.
How many times have you heard people use the slang expression that their “gut” was telling them what they needed to do, and then later on it turned out to be right. Those “gut knowing” or “gut feelings” are many of the times the inner witness from the Holy Spirit. In fact, it seems this is the primary way God speaks to us, because this method of leading is available to almost everyone.
What differentiates the inner witness from an ordinary thought?
1. The inner witness is different from reasoning thoughts - It is not mental knowledge or logical reasoning. If what you are having is just a clever idea, then it’s probably not the inner witness.
2. The inner witness is not a physical feeling - You will not have a physical feeling so to say, since the inner witness is the voice of the Holy Spirit to your spirit.
3. The inner witness is best identified by eliminating other voices - A great secret to identifying the inner witness is to eliminate other voices. Ensure that it is not your flesh that wants to do something. Make sure that it is not just a reasonable proposition. There may be some good reason and some good feelings when the Spirit is leading you, but make sure it is not just that!
4. The inner witness is an impression of peace - The inner witness is an awareness of peace. It is the peace of God that is beyond (passes) understanding, reasoning, logic, and physical things. As you develop spiritually, you become aware of the peace of God as a method of direction. You will say, “I don’t have peace about this!” At other times you will say, “Even though it sounds odd, I have a peace about this issue. I know it will be well with me.” The inner witness is the peace of God there “to direct” and “to govern” - God uses peace to direct and govern you. “And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body: and be thankful”. (Colossians 3:15 – NKJV).
5. The inner witness is a strong conviction - The inner witness makes you certain about what the Lord is saying. You begin to have a quiet assurance and confidence about the will of God. As you cannot easily explain the faith you have! You cannot always explain the convictions you have!
6. The inner witness is repetitive - The inner witness is the repeated voice of the Holy Spirit speaking to your heart. As the Spirit continually cries, it creates an impression in you. You begin to have a conviction about certain things. You begin to know that you know.
7. The inner witness is an incomprehensible knowing - After you have heard the voice of the Spirit several times, you begin to know what to do. It creates in you “a knowing”. Before you take the next decision, you are going to take from now, watch out for that quiet assurance of peace in your heart. That is the Spirit of God, leading you into the will of God for your life.
Learn To Train Your Spirit
Jesus said, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out from the mouth of God" (Matt. 4:4).
A key principle to following the inward witness is to develop and train your spirit. How do you train your spirit?
1. Feed on God's Word.
2. Walk in love regardless of whether or not anyone else did.
3. Pray much in other tongues. Praying in other tongues is one of the best ways to develop your spirit man.
We get better at recognizing the inward witness leading of the Holy Spirit as we spend quality time in God’s Word daily, worshipping and meditating. Then our fleshy mind and intellect will have a lesser hold of us while our spirits come alive with God and recognize His leadings often.
CONCLUSION
Look back in your life and try to list a few inward witnesses that you followed and the ones you did not follow. Let’s surrender our hearts to God – ask him to please lighten your spirit and cause us to understand when He is speaking to us by the inward witness in Jesus’ name (Amen).
