(Reinstating an old series, here’s the next installment of “Q&A” – questions people ask that Google answers by bringing them here.)
“What does the Holy Spirit feel like?” Interestingly scripture never mentions this. It talks a good deal about what the Spirit inspires people to do, such as prophesying or preaching, but the spotlight always falls on the Spirit-inspired actions and not on the Spirit Himself. Having said that, I think the question is still answer-able — partly from scripture, and partly from the experience of believers.
Many passages in the Bible include the words “…and the Spirit of the Lord came upon him/her/them…”. However this quotation is never followed by anything like “…and the people said, ‘whoa, what was THAT?’” Generally speaking, when the Spirit speaks, people recognize the message as coming from God. So the first thing I’d say is the Holy Spirit feels like truth.
The Spirit is described in various parts of scripture as fire, power, faith, peace, joy, fullness, or holiness (the seal of God’s promise in and on us). All these things come from God and when the Spirit makes His presence known we usually feel at least some of these things in some way or another.
In most cases in scripture the arrival of the Spirit is followed immediately by someone speaking God’s word or prophesying. The Spirit of God brings God’s word, and when the Spirit inspires, it feels impossible to keep quiet about the Word.
The Spirit is, truly and literally, God within us. Sometimes a person can sense the presence of a Being far greater than can be imagined; I’m sure when the Spirit touches us, He holds back a great deal otherwise we’d be completely overwhelmed.
In conjunction with healing and other miracles, the presence of the Spirit is often described as “warmth”, “a tingling sensation”, “electrical” or “breathtaking”. These sensations do exist (and they’re quite pleasant) but they should not be looked for as “proof” that a person is feeling the Spirit. Every believer receives the Holy Spirit when becoming a Christian, and always has the Spirit in him or her whether His presence is felt or not. What the Spirit does give daily is deeper insight — eyes to see and ears to hear — or as Jesus said “I have come that they may have life, and more abundantly”. The Spirit gives a deeper, more meaningful life in every sense of the word.
Above all, the relationship between the believer and the Spirit is just that — a relationship, a community of two, in which the Spirit feels like the embrace of a friend, brother, or soul-mate. One then becomes aware that the Holy Spirit has the same community-of-two relationship with every believer on the planet, which defines the family of God, the community of faith, the true Church. And in that sense, the Spirit feels like home.
Amen.
Amen and amen.
I’d always called myself a Christian, but never really tried to follow YHWH our God, or even let him work in my life. I’ve always faced hardships and the memories of the good times I’ve gripped tightly. Recently however, I’ve given up, having nothing really to live for, I just said “Father, do what you want with me…” And I’ve never felt more joyous, more excited, or more alive than I have in the last three months since doing that. I longed to feel his presence, but never really let him in. If any of you wish to feel the Holy Spirit, then I say you should let go of the problems and stresses that you hold so firmly and give it to him. Instead of trying to plan your life out for yourself while leaving him in your back pocket, put your plans there, and let him guide you. Give yourself to him, read his word, and worship him. THAT is how I’ve finally have begun to really feel the spirit in me.
If you’ve read the parable of the sower (one of my favourites), I once was the footpath. Then the footpath grew thorns and was less travelled by. But the farmer sent one of his workers to tear out the thorns and the soil beneath had loosened. The plant then began to grow well.
Epiphany – Amen! Thank you for a beautiful post, and for the reminder to put God in the driver’s seat of our lives and let Him take the wheel. I needed to hear that yesterday, and I suspect other readers will be blessed by it too.
Hi,
Epiphany’s post is somewhat similar to what I have experienced. I was a lukewarm at best Christian, I talked to God, but never really pursued going to church, and finally I told God – I can’t get this right – (I was drinking all the time) and I said, use me… and he has. Now, I have to say I would also describe the actual sensation of the Holy Spirit as a rushing warm sensation down the back physically, but sometimes I have read something and felt a *Jolt * like electricity right in my head. Now that I have started going to church and reading the Word more, I have experience all kinds of fun and interesting things. Thank God for Jesus, and Thank Jesus for saving us so we can have this wonderful relationship!
Amen, Wesley! It’s encouraging to read experiences of coming to know Jesus more deeply and experiencing His Spirit moving in your life. I echo your words of thanks!
I agree with all of your posts! There is no better mental or physical experience than that of the Holy Spirit. The enormous peace and joy that engulfs your mind and body is something that’s unexplainable; it has to be experienced by the believer. I’m told that it’s the same experience you have when you make your transition from this life into the next (following the light), and it’s so wonderful that no one wants to return or linger in the physical body. I can truly say that it’s a BLESSING to recognize my beautiful relationship with GOD, and affirm that for the rest of my life and into eternity, there’s nothing more important than walking with HIM; following HIS guidance and communicating moment by moment with this Holy Companion. Hallelujah!!
Amen Dorothy! Thank you for the beautiful description and for sharing your experience.
If anyone reading doubts the reality of the Holy Spirit, or is feeling too shy to get closer to God, read Dorothy’s words. You don’t want to miss this.
Question, I am a believer and I feel sometimes the Holy Spirit answering to my questions or showing me some truth.
But I still have a question, does for example when you get an answer, does this answer is forever OR this answer can change because of our change, another behavior, another attitude in the future and then later on, the Holy Spirit will give us a new answer (better answer or worst answer or still the same one?)
Thanks and God bless You
Greetings arnaud and my apologies for being so long in replying! Praise God for the work He is doing in your life and that you are sensitive to His Spirit and listening for His word.
I’m not sure I understand your question but let me give it a shot. Are you asking if, when God gives you an answer to a question, He might change His answer later?
If so I think my answer would have to be “I doubt it”. God usually gets things right the first time. And the only times in scripture I can think of where God appears to change His word (or change His mind), the results are never good. One example is in the Old Testament, when God gives the prophet Isaiah word that King Hezekiah will die, Hezekiah begs God for healing. God grants Hezekiah’s prayer and adds 15 years to his life, but in those 15 years Hezekiah does things that cause Israel to be invaded and exiled.
Besides I think it’s much more likely that in time, rather than God changing His answers we will be asking different questions.
Hope this helps!
Greetings and blessings to you and yours,
Peg
question! I’m a new christian, and everyone says listen and wait for God! and let Holy Spirit guide you! well how do i know he’s talking to me and its not just my mind doing some wishful thinking. and how to I get led by THE SPIRIT if i have no clue what it feels like or even where i’m supposed to be going. i read the Bible and every single book I can find on this topic, but the answers are all vague, and they say things like give everything to God. does that mean i shouldnt hope for, or pray about things. and no matter what i try it human to be concerned about things ie. money, marriage, children etc. please help!
Hi Holly,
Thanks for your questions! I’ll try to offer a few answers and suggestions that will help make things a little more concrete.
On the question “how do I know he’s talking to me and its not just my mind doing some wishful thinking?” – this is an excellent question! Every one of us is tempted at times to think that God’s will for us is whatever *we* want. Here are a few guidelines:
(1) The Holy Spirit will never lead us to do something the Bible says not to do, or to not do something the Bible says to do. The Spirit never contradicts Scripture.
(2) The leading of the Spirit often comes during or immediately after prayer. Try asking God about what you want to know about and then wait in silence for an answer. The Spirit does not *always* send leadings at this time but it’s an excellent way to begin. And if you don’t get an answer right away, keep on asking. Remember the parable of the unjust judge: even people who don’t respect God will give an answer if you keep after them every day.
(3) Many times the Spirit’s message or leading is something I would never have thought of in a million years! That’s one way I know it’s the Spirit and not me. God’s thoughts are far greater than our own.
(4) God doesn’t always tell us where we’re going, at least not in this life. The idea is to trust Him daily – pray each morning for his guidance and blessing for the day. “Give us this day our daily bread” – he never gives us bread for a month or a year but just one day at a time.
(5) The arrival of a message from the Spirit is not always accompanied by “feelings”. Sometimes the leading just sort of arrives. Other times you might feel a feeling of awe, or of standing on holy ground.
On reading books: I highly recommend sticking to Scripture for awhile. There are a gazillion books out there but human authors offer different solutions/suggestions and tend to confuse the issue. I have often found that books are helpful *after* I’ve been through something, to help put words to my experiences, but are not particularly helpful when I’m actually *in the middle of* going through something.
In answer to: “they say things like give everything to God. does that mean i shouldnt hope for, or pray about things. and no matter what i try it human to be concerned about things ie. money, marriage, children etc.”
BY ALL MEANS we should pray about these things!! God knows how important they are to us, and it is important to Him that we work with Him in finding them. When we give these things to God what we’re doing is placing our needs and desires in His hands to be met by Him rather than by our own (lack of) wisdom. We can trust that whatever He leads us to will be the best for our lives and for our eternal future.
Holly, it sounds to me like you’re currently faced with some major decisions, or at least concerns, in your life. Is there anything in particular that’s on your mind? Any way I can pray for you? Thanks again for your questions – I think these are issues many people wrestle with and often don’t have the courage to ask.
Recently my son, who is 22, felt the Holy Spirit and has been completely changed. He is having all the feelings you have described above in “What does the Holy Spirit Feel Like” and I am so happy for him. The problem now is that he was engaged to be married when the Holy Spirit came to him and the wedding is in 5 months, all the plans in place, but he is now questioning the path God intends him to follow. He loves his fiance but I think he is questioning what God is wanting him to do, this has put a wedge in their relationship. I am a practicing Catholic and have strong beliefs but I myself having not felt the Holy Spirit as he has and I do not know exactly what he is going through or what he is feeling or hearing so I am unable to give them any direction. I think he wants to put everything in God’s hands but with the fiance is wanting answers and is having a hard time understanding why he is questioning his path. Have you heard of this happening to anyone?
Hi Leanne,
Thanks for writing! I think it’s not unusual for the Holy Spirit to lead people to change directions, reconsider plans, or warn that trouble is ahead. The feeling I get from your note is that your son has not said ‘no’ to the wedding but he has some serious questions, inspired by his experience of the Holy Spirit, about whether this marriage is what God intends for his life. This may or may not be a sign that the wedding should be called off or postponed — it might just be that there are issues the two of them need to work through before they get married.
What those issues are I would not hazard to guess, but I can ask a few questions that might help uncover them: Are your son and his fiancee planning on getting married by clergy? If yes, are they receiving premarital counseling from that clergy person or someone else on staff at the church? (If the answer to either of these questions is “no” I would strongly encourage them to consider making these things part of their plans.) What are their religious backgrounds, and what are their current beliefs? Is your son sensing the Spirit is asking him to change careers, or move to another city, or anything else that might be considered a major life change? What is he able to articulate about what he thinks God *does* want him to do? Is there anything in his past (or hers) that has not been shared and needs to be shared before the two can be married? Have there been difficulties with past relationships, or perhaps with other family relationships? These are just a few of the many questions that might need to be examined.
For your own part, the best thing you can do is stand by him and encourage him to listen to the Spirit and keep his eyes on Jesus. God knows what he needs and what his fiancee needs and He loves them both. They may be meant for each other… they may not… but whichever is true it’s far better to work through the doubts, with help from a member of clergy the couple trusts, so they can be sure before making such a major life commitment. (BTW re: choice of clergy – Catholic or otherwise, choose someone who understands the working of the Spirit.)
God’s blessings to you and the young couple! Let me know how things work out.
Peg:
I think a lot of his issues is all of the outside influences, me, my husband, soon to be in-laws, etc. I feel like all of us might be muddying the waters so to speak…he knows God intends for him to do something and by talking to him I sense that he isn’t quite sure what that is but that by getting married that might get in the way of what he needs to do. They were both brought up Catholic and both are practicing. The had planned to get married in the church by a priest so it isnt the way they were going to get married. It may have more to do with how and why the spirit came to him. Her Father is a staunch Catholic, sometimes over the top about it, but very strong faith and she lived with that strong upbringing most of her life. She rebelled during her college years and that is when she met my son. He calmed her roudy spirit and led her down a better path. He was attending College out of state where she lived and that is where they met. When he moved home, about 5 hrs away from her they realized they were to be together and so they go engaged and moved in together about 2 yrs ago. About 3 months ago is when the whole experience started…it was when she was out for the night, doing some drinking and came home late, he waited up for her but when she arrived she was not herself at all, totally out of character and as he describes it, like the devil was inside her. The way she was acting and talking scared the daylights out of him and he arrived at our home white as a ghost. The next day he was still so frightened by her actions that he prayed for 5 hrs straight for her and him and for mercy and that is when the Holy Spirit came to him. Since that moment he has been changed. I remember destinctly about 2 days after this incident him calling me on the phone with excitement saying “I am so glad that God is real, I am just so glad he is real”. He wants to read and learn about the Bible as much as possible and is even making his own prayer cards and distributing them to family members. He made a retreat and the priests told him he was very wise for his age. He said he thinks of God constantly. He told me that he doesnt want to work as a priest in a church because those people already love and know God, he wants to help people come to the church, people who have fallen away or have never believed. I think missionary work would be a great place to start for him to see if that is a calling, he thought of that the same day I brought it up to him. I do support him and will continue to. He has always been a compassionate child and now adult and I feel the Holy Spirit came to him for a reason at this time in his life…its just knowing what it is telling him. One big issue is my husband, his father, he was baptized Lutheran but not practicing and even has doubts about who the higher power is so he is having a tough time of all of this and I am not sure how understanding he will be if the wedding were to be called off and he were to go away on a mission trip. He does have a couple priests lined up to talk to and a nun that is actually a spiritual advisor so I hope that helps with some clarity. We shall see.
Hi Leanne – Thanks for the update! It sounds to me like your son is in excellent hands. And I have to agree, the word “missionary” popped into my head as well. Mission work doesn’t necessarily mean overseas… here in our own cities and towns, hospitals and prisons, there are great needs for Christian compassion and ministry. If his bride-to-be supports him in wanting to help others, and is willing to live without “upward mobility” (financially speaking) I see no reason why this should interfere with the marriage. One doesn’t need to take vows of celibacy to become a missionary!
I still think he and his fiancee should be in pre-marital counseling together (in addition to the clergy meetings he has already scheduled for himself). I’m not sure how the Catholic Church handles this, but I think in most cases it’s best for an engaged couple to do pre-marital counseling with a counselor who is married – someone who knows the marriage relationship from the inside. Perhaps one of the priests or the sister would be able to recommend a practicing Catholic who does marriage counseling? Speaking as a future clergy-person, I would hesitate to marry a couple who have not had pre-marital counseling or taken a pre-marriage class of some kind, even if they have already been living together. As you know, there is so much more to marriage! And with the divorce rate as high as it is I would want to give the couple the best possible chance of success at a lifelong partnership.
Apart from that, the scene you describe with his fiancee coming home drunk is troubling. If this has happened only once in the years they have been together, he will want to get to the bottom of it and find out why her actions and personality were so out of character that night. If this has happened more than once, that could be a red flag.
And spiritual experiences aside (or should I say “on top of all this”) your son might just be having cold feet. Hopefully his discussions with the priests and nun will help him discern how much of all this is Spirit-inspired and how much is simple reluctance to make such a permanent commitment. I don’t doubt his spiritual experiences at all — they’re clearly very real — but sometimes people take shelter behind such things when a difficult reality is staring them in the face. His clergy should be able to help him sort that out.
I am very glad he and his fiancee have you there to understand and support and pray for them! Hopefully the rest of the family will continue to hang in there and give the young couple as much space as they need to discover who they are (individually and as a team) and where God is leading them. And if it turns out they’re not meant to be together, it’s far better they find this out now than after the wedding ceremony. Keep me posted on how things work out!