Developing A Hearing Spirit
Part 1
Joe Dejulio
Part of Developing A Hearing Spirit
May 14, 2024

Discussion Questions

  1. How do we know for certain that the Holy Spirit will guide us in all things and why is this knowledge important?

    • We are certain because God promised to give us His wisdom every time we ask for it. (See James 1:5-7) And we also must HAVE FAITH in order to receive this wisdom. For faith is required to receive ANYTHING from the Lord – and that includes His directions!

  2. If the Holy Spirit abides in us, why is it sometimes hard for us to detect His directions clearly?
    Answer: 4 common reasons…

    • Reason #1 - We haven’t gotten into a quite space with a calm atmosphere before we ask Him.
    • Reason #2 - We haven’t stilled our thoughts so they won’t break our focus on what the Lord is saying to us. Noisy minds can obscure and even totally block the Holy Spirit’s directions.
    • Reason #3 - We haven’t practiced the action of focusing on our own spirit which, by the way, isn’t a “natural” skill we are born with. It takes practice to perfect this spiritual skill and regular practice to maintain it at a high level. The phrase, “practice makes perfect” really applies in this area.
    • Reason #4 - We’re spending too much time filling our minds with worldly ideas that come from things like the TV, our friends, and worldly literature. The more worldly thinking we allow to dwell in our minds the more habitual that way of thinking will become to us. Worldly thinking becomes a habit and we need to break that habit through practice.

  3. Have you ever had an experience where you strongly sensed a direction form the Lord and then, when you acted on that direction you were protected or blessed? If so, please share your experience with your group. (Allow responses then ask the following question.)

    • If you’ve had such an experience, how did you feel afterward?

  4. The scriptures we’ve read revealed that God wants to lead us in making our decisions. And it’s obvious that having directions from the Lord is an invaluable benefit in life. So, what can we do to get better at detecting the Holy Spirit’s directions?

    • Being able to recognize directions from the Lord in our spirit is a learned skill similar to learning to read or write. And it takes practice to both learn that skill and then maintain it going forward. So the first thing we need to do is determine to work at improving our spiritual sensitivity as long as we’re on the earth.
    • We also need to spend time meditating daily on God’s Word for this will help us learn how the Lord thinks and how He talks. Meditating is not just reading a passage once and moving on. Meditation occurs when we spend time pondering the meaning of what we read and then asking the Holy Spirit to give us insight as we think about what we’ve read.
    • Now we should also spend time just reading the Word which will give us a reservoir of Biblical knowledge that the Holy Spirit can use to confirm what He has said to us. When you find it in the Bible - you’ll know its God speaking to you.