By T.J. Cheux
“So it is good to wait quietly for salvation from the Lord.” (Lamentations 3:26 NLT)
In God we live, move and have our being (Acts 17:28). As Maria Tattu Bowen notes, the Holy Spirit is dwelling within us, in us, animating our lives and our world, when we are conscious of it and when we are not. However, many Christians today still remain unaware of how to gain access to the Holy Spirit. We have a deep longing, a need and a desire to pursue the presence of the Holy Spirit.
In order for us to be able to have access to the Holy Spirit, we as individuals must first discern what it means to be in the presence of the Holy Spirit. What is discernment of the Holy Spirit? Paul saw the discernment of spirits as a manifestation of the Spirit, a gift given to some in the Christian community for the good of all (1 Corinthians 12:7–10).
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“The traditional pursuit of the Holy Spirit is as important as new and challenging methods to discern the Holy Spirit that are being practiced today.”
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Theologian Denis Edwards defines four practical steps as to how we can first pursue the presence of the Holy Spirit. These are based initially in discipleship following Jesus day to day. Second, we can read Scripture and follow Jesus’ teachings to love God with all we have and to love our neighbor as ourself. Third, we can stand with those without access to power and resources (food and shelter), and, finally, discern the Holy Spirit through practical outcomes. Edwards stated you will know the nature of the Holy Spirit by fruits — good fruits or bad fruits as noted in Matthew 7:15–20.
This can be done more practically through praying and reading aloud Galatians 5:22-23. Ask God in prayer to help us receive these gifts of the Holy Spirit and to share “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control” with ourselves (on a daily basis) and our neighbor (living together daily in community).
To fully understand how to discern the Holy Spirit, it is important that this article defines what assumptions it rests upon. When referring to spirituality, we are talking about Christian spirituality. For the purposes of a definition for spirituality, we may refer to the traditional church definition given as the “practice of worship, devotion and prayer, which enables an awareness of the Holy Spirit” (Eric James, “Spirituality for Today”).
When we speak of God, we are referring to the Christian God — a Trinitarian God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The Christian Holy Spirit is a part of the Trinity. To fully understand the Holy Spirit, we need to have a personal relationship, presence and experience of the Holy Spirit.
Our personal relationship with God and the Holy Spirit establishes our call to serve the kingdom of God. How we define this calling is personal. We are personally responsible for our own development and relationship with God. This personal calling may not simply be preordained or predestined. It can be subject to change over time.
Theologian Anne Carr sees the pursuit of the Holy Spirit as a life of prayer and struggle for justice as an authentic part of Christian spirituality and spiritual growth. The traditional pursuit of the Holy Spirit is as important as new and challenging methods to discern the Holy Spirit that are being practiced today.
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“We need to also discern how our interior relationship is with the Holy Spirit.”
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Discerning the Spirit
Bible scholar John Pilch states that if no human person can be identified as the source of a spirit, then a spirit is either good or bad. New Age understanding of spirituality means it is harder to distinguish the Holy Spirit. This movement has created obstacles for Christians. Confusion has been raised about our outlook and certain biases toward what is a good or bad spirit. This can be perceived as our personal lack of understanding and may lead us to naive and imbalanced conclusions of what is a good or bad spirit.
Edwards defines three traditional methods as a practical way of discerning the Holy Spirit. First, weigh a decision through specific pros and cons. Second, discern interior movements or promptings of the Holy Spirit. Third, discern based on the experience or an encounter with the Holy Spirit. A weighing of a decision can be done simply through recognizing God’s call as clear and unmistakable. It is usually when you are not pulled in different directions or left overanalyzing and evaluating all your options.
Through prayer and petition, we are clearly able to define God’s call on our lives.
We need to also discern how our interior relationship is with the Holy Spirit — essentially if we are feeling pulled toward God or away from God. Perhaps we suffer from a state of consolation or desolation. This can be a disruptive or sweet pull in a different direction, a sense of evil or evil energy, and more often than not, it can be a good feeling representing a bad spirit. This is why it is so important not to react on impulse. Especially if we are feeling neglect or loneliness, this could all be happening during a trial period or while we are going through purification. Therefore, the practice of contemplation and prayer can be all the more important.
Finally, Edwards points out that we must be discerning the Holy Spirit based on our encounter and experience with the Holy Spirit. If we are experiencing consolation or desolation without previous cause, are we truly experiencing God’s sheer good grace, or are we experiencing a fresh revelation of the Holy Spirit?
Perhaps you have encountered revelation happening at every stage, at one stage, or even a one-off supernatural and potentially life-changing experience of the Holy Spirit. These all need to be considered with the reading of Scripture, prayer and meditation as we contemplate, discern and pray to identify the presence of the Holy Spirit.
Rationally speaking, we all revert to what is our familiar and comfortable experience of the Holy Spirit. Unless of course, we have a different experience! Bowen states that we should be aware of how our relationship with others forms our understanding of ourselves. She asks, “What kinds of data do we notice in our bodies, emotions and minds when we sense God’s presence and when we feel blocked from doing so?” It is first of all, like stated in our assumptions, important to identify what we mean by a “relationship with God.”
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“As we receive things from God like the fruit of the Spirit, we can then share God’s power, love and self-control through contemplation with others.”
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In their book “The Practice of Spiritual Direction,” William A. Barry and William J. Connolly define a relationship with God as being “established by the creation of the human person.” The relationship “exists even when the person is unaware of its existence.” So we are referring here to three types of relationship: with God, our neighbor and ourselves. For the purpose of discerning the Holy Spirit, we will be focusing on our relationship purely with God as the Holy Spirit through reflections on self-guided spiritual direction.
2 Timothy 1:7 states, “For God will never give you the spirit of fear, but the Holy Spirit who gives you mighty power, love, and self-control” (TPT).” The Holy Spirit who gives power, love and self-control can also be accessed through contemplative prayer. Through meditation, prayer, spiritual practice and discipline, we can gain access to God’s power, love and self-control. As we receive things from God like the fruit of the Spirit, we can then share God’s power, love and self-control through contemplation with others.
How do we do that? Barry and Connolly state that when the dialogue takes place between God and the individual through prayer and meditation, and then between the living Word and the responsive hearer, we can receive heavenly wisdom and share it with others.
Collect for Discernment
“Lord God, whose blessed Son our Savior gave His body to be whipped and His face to be spit upon: Give us grace to accept joyfully the sufferings of the present time, confident of the glory that shall be revealed; through Christ Jesus Your Son, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen” – Book of Common Prayer (1982 edition)
Prayer for Consideration
“Lord our God, O great and almighty One, whose Spirit fills heaven and earth! We thank You that You are our Father and that in You we have a refuge wherever we must go as we serve You on earth. We thank You that Your life can be revealed in us and can flow through us so that the world may be blest by You, our loving and caring Father. Protect us and strengthen us in times of trouble and sorrow. When we travel on new paths, give us Your Spirit to show us the way that everything may lead to the good and to Your honor. Father, through Your Spirit unite us in the unshakable hope that Your will shall at last be done on earth as in heaven. Grant that we may rejoice in the certainty that whatever happens, our paths are made level and firm by Your love and Your faithfulness. Amen.” – Christoph Friedrich Blumhardt
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T.J. Cheux — an elder in the Southeast Region Conference — resides in Charlotte, North Carolina, and pastors a quaint country church just outside metro Charlotte. He is the founder of Free and Fit that serves athletes with coaching and spiritual formation. He was called to spiritual ministry after beginning his career in inner-city London as a teacher. His experiences working with poor and marginalized communities, as well as affluent ones, activated his deep empathy for all kinds of struggles we face as humans in our modern culture. Answering the call to ministry, he has served as a youth pastor, ecumenical missionary, college campus pastor, high school chaplain, and more. He has a Master of Divinity degree from General Theological Seminary in New York City and a Master of Education degree from the University of Bedfordshire in the United Kingdom. He has certification in chaplaincy, coaching, spiritual direction and mental health first aid.
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