Since we have opened up this site, we have received many questions from people all across the world. If I had to rank one question that might be one of the most frequently asked questions, it might be the actual title of this article – exactly how am I to be led by the Holy Spirit – and exactly how does the Holy Spirit communicate to all of us in this life?
As we all know, the Bible very clearly says that the sons of God are led by the Holy Spirit in this life. Once again, here is this most important verse:
“For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.” (Romans 8:14)
Now that we know that the Holy Spirit will lead us in this life because the Bible now tells us so, exactly how does He do this? This is where you have to take some other verses from Scripture on this topic and put them all together like you would pieces to a jigsaw puzzle. Once you put these additional Scripture verses all together on this topic, then you will see very clearly the different ways that the Holy Spirit will use to help guide us and communicate to us in this life.
For the record, based upon the revelation that are in these additional verses, we believe there are 8 basic ways that the Holy Spirit will use to not only guide us in this life, but to also directly communicate to all of us from time to time. In other words, you can learn how to hear direct from the Holy Spirit Himself.
If the Bible calls the Holy Spirit our Guide and Teacher in this life, then this means He will attempt to communicate to all of us from time to time. Otherwise we will never be able to pick up from Him exactly what He is trying to teach us or tell us to do.
But before I get into these 8 basic ways that the Holy Spirit will use to communicate to us and lead us in this life, I want to make one more comment on this subject matter. If there are two subject matters that are rarely discussed in many churches today, it has to be in the area of spiritual warfare like we discussed so many times in our articles in that section, and in the area on how to hear from God and how to be led by the Holy Spirit.
My best guess on why most pastors do not attempt to educate their flocks on how the Holy Spirit will lead us and communicate to us in this life is either because they themselves do not have a full understanding on this subject matter, or they are too afraid to open up this subject matter to their flocks for fear that it will open up a door to the spiritual realm, and from there, they could possibly make contact with demonic spirits who will try to masquerade as the Holy Spirit or God Himself.
In other words, they look at this subject matter as being a kind of pandora’s box. They are afraid if they open up their flocks to supernatural communication from the Holy Spirit, then they may also open them up to communication to demonic spirits as well.
Granted, this is a possibility, but just because demons can attempt to counterfeit what God does, does not mean you have to throw out all of the supernatural ways that God will use to communicate to His people.
For example – per the 9 gifts of the Holy Spirit, demons can counterfeit the gift of tongues. But just because demons can counterfeit the gift of tongues does not mean that the gift of tongues from the Lord is still not real and that many of His people can still receive it in this day and age. We just have to be careful and learn how to discern when something is coming in from God and when something is coming in from demons.
Demons can also give false visions, false dreams, false healings, false prophecies, etc. But again, just because demons can do this does not mean that we should totally shut down God in those areas of our life, and refuse to accept the supernatural ways that He still likes to use to communicate to all of us.
Again, if there is one major area that many Christians are weak on because they have never been taught much about it, it has to be in the area of spiritual warfare, and in the area on how to be led by the Holy Spirit and how to hear directly from God themselves.
If you really study the Bible from cover to cover, God was supernaturally communicating to His people on a fairly regular basis. And if God is still the same today as He was yesterday, then this tells us that He still wants to communicate to all of us in those same supernatural ways.
We just have to learn what those different supernatural ways are – and then learn through a process of trial and error when it really is the Lord communicating to us, when it is demons, or when it is just our own natural imaginations and feelings talking to us.
I will break down these 8 specific ways God will use to communicate to all of us under the following 8 captions so you can keep all of these different ways properly sorted out. But before I do, I want to give you some very key verses from Scripture on the Holy Spirit Himself so this part of the walk will not scare you or intimidate you.
Key Scripture Verses on the Holy Spirit
The following verses I will now give you are major key verses on the Holy Spirit Himself, and they will all set the stage for you to be able to receive direct supernatural communication from Him from time to time.
Again, I know some pastors are afraid to open up this supernatural realm to their flocks, but these verses all are all straight forward and they are meaning exactly what they are saying.
As a result, I believe these verses should be taught by the churches so their people will at least know what the Bible has to say about this subject matter, and from there, each person can then make up their own mind as to whether or not they want to tread into these kinds of deeper waters with the Lord.
If God did not want this kind of information and knowledge in our lives, then He would have never put these kinds of verses in the Bible. But since He did, this tells me that He wants His people to have access to this revelation and from there, they can then decide if they want to try and develop this part of their walk with the Lord.
Now onto some very key Scripture verses on the Holy Spirit that will set this kind of stage up for you.
1. You Can Develop a Personal Relationship With the Holy Spirit
The very first thing you will need to know if you want to learn how to be led by the Holy Spirit is that you can develop a direct personal relationship with Him just like you already have with God and Jesus.
If the Holy Spirit is going to start to supernaturally communicate to you in a wide variety of ways, then the first thing you are going to want to do is to make direct personal contact with Him, since you are now going to be working very closely with Him if you want to develop this part of your walk with the Lord.
Here are two very key verses from the apostle Paul telling us that we are allowed to have direct communication and direct fellowship with the Holy Spirit Himself:
- “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.” (2 Corinthians 13:14)
- “Therefore if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit …” (Phillippians 2:1)
The two key words in these two verses are the words “communion” and “fellowship.” And both of these two key words are being tied in direct to the Holy Spirit Himself. In other words, the apostle Paul is telling us that we can have direct communion and direct fellowship with the Holy Spirit Himself.
Put those two key words together and they spell one thing – personal relationship. Not only can we develop a close personal relationship with both God the Father and Jesus Christ, but these two additional verses are telling us that we can also develop a close personal relationship direct with the Holy Spirit Himself.
These two verses will now set the stage for the next two verses.
2. The Holy Spirit is Our Personal Guide and Teacher in This Life
Before you can believe that the Holy Spirit can guide you, lead you, and teach you in this life, you will need the specific Scripture verses showing us that He does have this kind of personal ministry with all of us. And these next set of verses are going to give you that specific revelation. Here they are:
- “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.” (John 14:26)
- “However, when He, the Spirit of truth has come, He will guide you into all truth …” (John 16:13)
When the Bible tells us that the Holy Spirit will “teach us all things” and “guide us into all truth,” this tells us that the Holy Spirit has the ministry with each one of us as being our personal Guide and Teacher in this life.
And if He is going to be our personal Guide and Teacher in this life, then this means He will start to communicate to us so He can teach us what He wants to teach us. And our part will then be to learn how He will communicate to us so we can pick up that communication when He does start to release it to us.
Put these two verses together with the first two verses above about having direct fellowship and direct communion with the Holy Spirit, and you can tell that God is letting all of us know loud and clear that we can enter into this supernatural realm with the Holy Spirit.
If God is telling us that the Holy Spirit will be guiding us and teaching us in this life, then we can comfortably enter into that realm with Him so He can then begin to do that kind of deeper work with each one of us.
3. Do Not Resist, Rebel, Grieve, or Quench the Holy Spirit
These last set of verses I will now give you will put the icing on this entire cake. Not only does God want us to establish a direct personal relationship with the Holy Spirit, along with allowing us to be led and taught by Him in this life, but now God is going to take it one more step further.
These next set of verses are now going to tell us that we are not to resist, quench, rebel, or grieve the Holy Spirit. In other words, once the Holy Spirit starts to become very active in your life, and He then starts the process of guiding you and teaching you in this life, from there, God will want you to work very closely with Him. God will not want you to resist Him, quench Him, grieve Him, or rebel against Him.
Here are four key verses giving us these four specific words:
- “But they rebelled and grieved His Holy Spirit; so He turned Himself against them as an enemy, and He fought against them.” (Isaiah 63:10)
- “Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies. Test all things; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil.” (1 Thessalonians 5:19-22)
- “You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you.” (Acts 7:51)
- “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.” (Ephesians 4:30)
When you really study the intense wording of these verses, you can tell that God the Father is telling all of us loud and clear that once the Holy Spirit starts to move in on you and your life, that He will want us to work in cooperation with Him. God does not want us resisting Him, quenching Him, grieving Him, or trying to rebel against Him. If you rebel and resist the Holy Spirit, then you are rebelling and resisting God Almighty Himself and His Son Jesus Christ. And that is not a place you want to be in with the Lord.
The other thing to pick up on these verses is that they are more proof that the Holy Spirit does have a specific ministry with all of us and that He can become very active in our daily lives.
If the Holy Spirit did not have the job and the ability to become very active in our daily lives, then the Bible would not be using the words quenching, resisting, rebelling, or grieving the Holy Spirit.
If you are quenching the Holy Spirit, then this means He is already moving in on you to try and help you out. Otherwise, there would be nothing to quench. Same thing with the other three key words – resisting, rebelling, and grieving. If the Holy Spirit was not becoming very active in your daily life in the first place, then there would be nothing to resist, grieve, or rebel against.
All 4 of these words are very strong words, once again showing that the Holy Spirit is not only living on the inside of each one of us, but once He is in there, He wants to become very active in our daily life so He can help us complete our divine destiny with the Lord, along with helping us to become the kind of a person God wants us to become in Him through the sanctification process He wants to do with all of us.
You cannot fulfill your true purpose and calling in this life, and become the true sanctified saint God is wanting you to become in Him unless you have the Holy Spirit helping you out with all of this. This is why the Holy Spirit is called “The Helper” in the Bible. This is why Jesus has said that without Him, we can do absolutely nothing in this life.
Bottom line with these first three captions – the Bible is telling all of us very clearly that not only do we have the Holy Spirit living on the inside of us as a result of accepting Jesus as our personal Lord and Savior, but these verses are also giving us additional information that the Holy Spirit has a specific ministry with all of us – and that specific ministry is to guide us, lead us, and teach us in this life.
And if the Holy Spirit has the job of guiding us and teaching us in this life, then this means He is going to try and supernaturally communicate to all of us from time to time. And your job will then be to learn the different ways He will communicate to you – which will now take us right into the next section – the 8 different ways that the Holy Spirit will lead us and communicate to us in this life.
In part 2 of How To Be Led By The Holy Spirit, I will show you The 8 Different Ways the Holy Spirit Will Use to Communicate to Us in This Life
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How to be led by the Holy Spirit
Opening prayer:
Praise and Worship: 10 minutes:
Testimonies: 5 minutes
Review: How to be led by the Holy Spirit
In review, a spirit is the very character of a person that influences their mind, will and emotions. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of the Father and Christ Jesus. It is love. Love gives, is compassionate, is merciful and never keeps any record of wrong. When we look at Jesus and his attitude towards man, we see His Spirit. We see what guided Him. He came to save all of us. The only people He got upset with were the religious leaders of the day who tried to put a lot of religious requirements on people. That is an evil spirit. An evil spirit is the idea that we must work and perform in order to be pleasing to God. But the Holy Spirit is the principle that we are now being treated as one with Jesus. God will never again look at us based on our actions; He will be guided by the principle that Jesus was the One Man that perfected us all.
So being led by the Holy Spirit means being guided by the idea that we are one with Christ. We can believe that Jesus is serving us, healing us, providing for us and protecting us. This is what a person would do who is in love. This is the Holy Spirit! He is love! It is believing that God no longer deals with us based on our own efforts; but believing He deals with us as joint-heirs with Christ Jesus. The very nature that moves the Father is His goodness, mercy and compassion. He will never deal with a believer in judgment ever again. So when we focus on how much the Father loves us, and realize we are completely innocent, righteous, and precious in His eyes, we are being led by the Spirit or nature of God. That belief that we are one with Christ will produce the very nature of God in our lives. When we live by the spirit we are simply believing the right thing; this will produce the fruit of the Spirit. When we live in the flesh we are trying to do the right thing in order to please God; this will always produce the works of the flesh. This is being guided by an evil spirit.
When you dwell on the fact that God has unconditional love for you, it will affect your mind, will and emotions. It will cause His very nature of love, joy and peace to be birthed in and through you. You will start to see His life flow out of you. You will see the manifestation of the gifts of the Spirit more and more in your life when you dwell on the fact that He is in you and is always good and loving to you. You will no longer be led by that idea that you need to be good enough to enjoy all of Jesus. That is operating under the law and will always produce guilt and condemnation. But you will be guided by the idea that God will always deal with you and love you as His son. It is part of your inheritance. That is how the Spirit can lead you. Praise God!
Prayer: 10 Minutes:
If there is any situation in your life that needs prayer, ask the Holy Spirit to pray through you for that situation. The Holy Spirit makes intercession for us according to the will of God. It is the perfect prayer and is always answered!
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Psalm 23:6 “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” Amen
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“This is the mystery of Pentecost: The Holy Spirit illuminates the human spirit and, by revealing Christ Crucified and Risen, indicates the way to become more like him, that is, to be ‘the image and instrument of the love which flows from Christ.’” (Pope Benedict XVI, June 4, 2006)
Dear Father, in the name of my Lord Jesus Christ, I ask you to stir up within me the fullness of Your Holy Spirit. Help me to grow in my relationship with the Third Person of Your Holy Trinity and to live in His power and use His gifts.
Lord Jesus, You promised, “The Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you” (John 14:26). Help me to remember that I don’t know everything, and that this is okay, because the Holy Spirit understands it all. Fill me with the Holy Spirit and His understanding of everything that is happening in my life.
O Holy Spirit, Jesus asked the Father to give me the Spirit of Truth (John 14:17). Help me to recognize You in the scriptures. Open my mind to understand Your truths, and open my heart to accept Your truths in faith even before I gain right understanding.
O Holy Spirit, Jesus said, “The one who receives the seed that falls on good soil hears the word and understands it. He produces an abundant crop” (Matt. 13:23). Be the gardener of my life. Nourish the seeds of heaven that You have already placed within me and make it grow so that Your love, Your ways, and Your kingdom will always grow within me and produce much good fruit for others.
O Holy Spirit, Jesus said, “Do not worry about how you will defend yourselves or what you will say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you what you should say” (Luke 12:11-12). Help me to trust in You always. Help me to remember that with You, nothing is impossible, and that You work everything according to what is good and right and timely, even if it doesn’t seem so to me.
O Holy Spirit, Jesus said, “Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and everything else you need will be given to you as well” (Matt. 6:33). Help me to let go of all my earthly attachments. First help me to recognize what I am attached to that is not of You, and then hold my hand as I walk away from the things of the world. Give me the determination and the strength to let go so that I have no other gods before me. I want only You.
O Holy Spirit, You are the Comforter. Help me to let go of the losses in my life. Heal my heart. And help me to face my sinfulness and to feel genuine sorrow for the damage ~ both intentional and unintentional ~ that I have inflicted on others and in so doing have inflicted on Jesus. Comfort me as I mourn my need for forgiveness, and give me Your spirit of rejoicing over this new growth in me.
O Holy Spirit, Jesus freely chose to suffer and die for me because of His tremendous love for me. I have pains in my life ~ hurts, wounds, sufferings, trials, difficulties ~ and I want to run from them. Strengthen me to follow in Jesus’ footsteps so that I can walk my road to Calvary without fearing evil, and lead me into my new life of victory and resurrection.
O Holy Spirit, Jesus said that He would not leave us orphans, but would send You to us (John 14:18). How often I have wept or complained because it seemed like You were not with me in my sorrows and sufferings! Help me to recognize Your presence in ALL situations. Help me to turn to You and find You, for You never leave me nor abandon me. You care even more about me and my problems than I do. You are working a plan for my benefit, to make good come from everything that happens to me. Help me to discover Your presence in every moment of my life.
O Holy Spirit, by the cross of Jesus we are healed! By His resurrection we live in the new life of total, unconditional love. Help me to share that healing love with all those around me. Jesus commanded, “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.” Help me to declare with power the Good News of Jesus Christ. Send me to where You can use my gifts and talents to make a difference.
O Holy Spirit, You gave Yourself to the Virgin Mary and she said “yes” to becoming the mother of the Messiah. Help me to say “yes!” to whatever it is You are calling me to do. I want to serve the Father and make Jesus’ love more evident in the world around me.
O Holy Spirit, I have my own expectations about what I should and should not do. I now surrender to You my ideas, my limitations, my preferences, and my goals. Fill me, Holy Spirit, with all Your supernatural gifts! Empower me to accept and grow in the supernatural life as much as the early disciples did. I want to be useful to You. I want to go where You lead me. Holy Spirit, send me forth gifted and empowered to make a difference spreading the Good News of God’s forgiving love.
Come, Holy Spirit; renew me. In Jesus’ name, Amen!
© 2000 by Terry A. Modica
A Testimony from a reader of the Good News daily Good News Reflections:
Dear Terry,
Thanks for the beautiful reflection as well as for the link to the Prayers to the Holy Spirit. I saw this link about a year ago, printed it and use it very often during my prayers.
You mentioned about the Baptism of the Holy Spirit being a necessity in one’s spiritual life. Let me share a little on this subject. My wife and I were in quite a bad spiritual state (practically anti-God) when we were told that we could not have a child. The Lord in his mercy drew us to a prayer meeting where there were testimonies by people from various faiths including some priests and leaders from the local Charismatic Renewal. We listened in particular to two gentlemen, a father and son.
Their testimony was so powerful and it touched us so much that I went forward to be prayed over when the call was given and was prayed over by the older gentleman mentioned earlier. It was such a dramatic experience that it gives me shivers even when I think of it today, 30 years later. I was in tears, shaking and shivering, and I received the gift of tongues on the spot. My wife saw my experience, and she too went up and had a similar experience.
Life was completely different after that. We were able to tell the Lord that even if he wanted us to be childless, we would be happy, as his will was more important that our want. It is only after this acceptance that the Lord gifted us with a son ten years into our marriage.
The idea of this sharing is to inform those who have not had the privilege of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit to go ahead and attend a “Life in the Spirit Seminar” and I can guarantee you that it will be an experience that will overhaul your life.
God Bless
Ken
Next: See Lord Send Out Your Spirit
a Multi-Media Meditation at Catholic Digital Resources
Or use this Novena to the Holy Spirit
Or read: Who is the Holy Spirit?
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Reader Approved
Paul said in Acts 23:1 that he always followed his conscience. “Paul looked straight at the Sanhedrin and said, ‘My brothers, I have fulfilled my duty to God in all good conscience to this day’.”
And in I Timothy 4:2 Paul said that a sign of the last times is that people would not follow their conscience: “paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons, by means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron,…” (I Timothy 4:2)
Steps
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Recognize that the primary way that God will lead you is through your conscience and the Bible (Romans 8:14-16, John 17:17). Even Jesus followed His conscience (Mark 2:8).
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For your conscience to be a good guide, you must avoid associating with sinners or it will contaminate your spirit (2 Corinthians 7:1).
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Ask God for Guidance (Jeremiah 33:3, James 1:5, John 16:13).
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Be still (Psalms 46:10).
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You must be able to perceive the No’s before you actually get guidance (I Corinthians 14:10, Acts 16:6-7, Acts 27:10). Paul says that there are many voices in the world and they all have their significance. There is the voice of diet, exercise, education, mastering a trade, but what is God telling you to do? When I perceive a “No”, I usually do not feel good inside and God is trying to warn me that If I proceed, there will be danger or failure.
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The next type of leading is when God is silent. This is where I do not have any leading in my conscience. God is saying, “Wait it is not His timing or it is not His will.” In I Kings 13, the younger prophet lost his life when he proceeded without a leading from God.
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The next type of leading is the green light where I feel joy or peace or God’s presence. This is God saying, “Yes” and sometimes it comes with a revelation as to what to do (like Acts 16 and Acts 27), you just know supernaturally what to do inside your conscience.
Community Q&A
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What can I do for my mind to be focused only on things of God?
wikiHow Contributor
Read the word of God day and night and desire God with all your might. There are going to be times you when feel like giving up, and these feelings of doubt will start to come up, but humble yourselves, and do not stop.
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How do I get away from doubt?
wikiHow Contributor
For Christians, the only thing God in Triumvirate requires of you is to have faith. On a practical level, that starts with the understanding that doubt has no reality except in thoughts alone; and that thoughts are only that, and are not what you are or what value you have. Only you can determine, acknowledge, and let go of thoughts that disturb you. Practice thinking that affirms and supports you. Reading, studying and community with others in faith is your path.
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How can I understand the word of God and get revelations?
wikiHow Contributor
There is nothing in this world that can make you understand. Only God can work through the Holy Spirit and work through you. Pray to God daily, praying that he will reveal Himself to you, and you will surprised at how he may answer. Talk to your pastor or a spiritual counselor you may have. Once you get who God is, you can dive into the Word and find out who He is and just how great his love is for you.
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How would I know if God is talking to me? I ask him to actually speak to me, but he won’t. And is it ok if I learn his word through videos instead of reading the Bible?
Spicy_icy
God speaks to us today through his word, the Bible. This is the major way he uses, and sometimes he uses humans too. It is very important to confirm everything learned, even from videos, in the Bible, because it isn’t false or deceptive, neither is it misleading.
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I want to have a strong desire to read the bible, but when I do I don’t get an excitement or willingness to continue. Any tips?
wikiHow Contributor
The feeling or desire of the Holy Spirit comes and goes in periods — not one is better than the other, they’re just feelings. The important thing for you is to keep praying, keep trying. Being a Christian on your own is difficult. Find a church, and go often. Christianity is a community — we need each other. At church we read, listen and talk about the bible together, and it is much easier than trying to do it on your own all the time.
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I can’t feel guilt when I sin anymore. How do I heal my conscience?
wikiHow Contributor
Pray about it. The more you strive not to sin, the more you won’t want to.
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Is being led by the spirit and waiting on the Lord part of the same concept?
TreeofHolz
Yes, this is all a part of the same concept, as the Holy Spirit (Spirit of God), Jesus (Lord, Son) and God (Father) are all apart of the Trinity. To “be led” does not always mean to move, sometimes it means to wait until He prompts. Romans 8:14 “For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God.” Psalm 114:10 “Teach me to do Your will, For You are my God; Let Your good Spirit lead me on level ground.”
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What can I do if I am always feeling like I am far away from God?
Vanessa600
Pray! When you meet someone for the first time and you are interested in being friends then most likely you would speak to that person on a regular basis so that you could get to learn more about the individual, and if the communication stops, then the relationship weakens. Likewise is our relationship with God. By praying constantly and reading and meditating on his word, we will be able to build a strong relationship with him. So whenever you feel far away from God, just pray!
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Do I need to be in the Church of Christ to be saved?
wikiHow Contributor
No, you just need to accept that Jesus Christ is your lord and savior and that he is the one true God. You need to admit that you sin (do bad things), repent, and ask forgiveness.
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Tips
- You can pray for Wisdom (Ephesians 1:17). James 1:5 shows that God wants you to have Wisdom and He wants you to have it in abundance but you must ask in faith.
- Renewing your mind with the Word of God will help you to mature (Roman 12:2) and make better decisions.
- If you need guidance fast, you can get into tune with your conscience faster if you pray and fast (Galatians 5:17).
- Devotion to prayer helps a person who wishes to be led by the Holy Spirit. Some people use the Holy Rosary for certain prayers.
Warnings
- It is not good to seek spectacular signs like voices or visions because the devil can deceive people with exterior signs (II Corinthians 11:14). The inner witness in the conscience is not very spectacular, but it is accurate and supernatural.
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