Don’t Be Ashamed of the Holy Spirit

The Ark of God’s presence entered the city, and King David danced in celebration. But his wife wasn’t too happy about how foolish she thought he looked.

“16 But as the Ark of the Lord entered the City of David, Michal, the daughter of Saul, looked down from her window. When she saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord, she was filled with contempt for him. 20 When David returned home to bless his own family, Michal, the daughter of Saul, came out to meet him. She said in disgust, “How distinguished the king of Israel looked today, shamelessly exposing himself to the servant girls like any vulgar person might do!”” - 2 Samuel 6:16 & 20 (NLT)

David didn’t apologize, back down, or attempt to adjust his attitude of praise. Instead, he doubled down: 

“21 David retorted to Michal, “I was dancing before the Lord, who chose me above your father and all his family! He appointed me as the leader of Israel, the people of the Lord, so I celebrate before the Lord. 22 Yes, and I am willing to look even more foolish than this, even to be humiliated in my own eyes! But those servant girls you mentioned will indeed think I am distinguished!”” - 2 Samuel 6:21-22 (NLT)

Historical context considered, we can still find a takeaway principle: don’t apologize for that which is holy, even if others think it looks foolish.

Far too many believers shy away from demonstrations of the Holy Spirit’s power because others criticize them for being too showy. While I understand that sometimes people add unnecessary hype to moves of the Spirit, we must recognize that God’s power is a spectacle - it’s supernatural and spectacular. 

When someone gets healed, that’s a reason to celebrate. When a miracle happens, are we to keep it a secret? When we feel God’s presence and power, are we to just remain stoic just because some have a personal preference for what makes them more acceptable to the world’s intellect? When someone is delivered, should we just do a nice little golf clap so that we can be perceived as sophisticated? Often, what people claim is Biblical balance is actually just their personal preference. Claiming to want improvements to the move of the Spirit, many just want to create a movement in their own image.

Listen, I get it. Sometimes, what people call the spirit is actually just the flesh. But we have to be aware of how subtle this is. Pastors and leaders, especially, I encourage you to don’t fall into this trap of stifling the move of the Spirit in the name of balance. You can be biblically grounded and filled with power. Balanced does not mean dull, lifeless, and powerless.

The move of the Holy Spirit, the demonstration of His power, is loud, vibrant, wonderful, and perfectly offensive to the natural mind. So don’t tone it down; raise the volume. Now is the time to lean into the move of the Spirit, not to apologize for it or explain it away. Go all in. Double down. Be like David, who said, "Yes, and I am willing to look even more foolish than this.” Be bold. We are not ashamed of the power of the Holy Spirit. We say, “Welcome, Holy Spirit!”

For more on this topic, you can watch my teaching, “If you’ve never heard the Holy Spirit clearly, watch this (2025),” on YouTube by clicking here.

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How to Make Spirit-Led Decisions

Is it God or just your own thinking? How can you know if the decision you’re making is of God’s will? I’ve been there too. On one hand, you don’t want to be stuck or waste time. On the other hand, you don’t want to be presumptuous and move ahead with a decision that isn’t Spirit-led. So, what are you supposed to do if you don’t have an indication in either direction? 

Afraid to make a bad decision, many become spiritually stuck. So I want to give you a couple of truths that will help rewire the way you think so you can be decisive, while also being obedient to God.  While there are several keys to recognizing and responding to the voice of God, I want to focus on giving you two simple thoughts.

First, we, as believers, hear God primarily through His written Word. This isn’t to say that God doesn’t speak to us directly. Of course, He does. However, this does mean that if you’re not in the Word, you will more often find yourself stuck in indecision. To receive the Word is to develop wisdom, and wisdom is the foundation of decisiveness. Wisdom is divine reasoning. Wisdom is the problem-solving approach given to us by God. 

“The instructions of the Lord are perfect, reviving the soul. The decrees of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple.” - Psalm 19:7 (NLT)

Second, don’t trust in your ability to hear God. Now, at first, this directive might seem unusual, especially for Christians. I don’t mean that we shouldn’t desire to hear God or that we shouldn’t be glad when we do. I simply mean that when your trust is placed in your ability to hear God, you add unnecessary tension to your walk with the Lord. You see, Christians who trust in their own ability to hear God live with the perceived burden of having to make God speak, which nobody can do. 

When you trust in your own ability to hear God, you leave yourself vulnerable to the fear that you might not be doing enough to hear Him and, therefore, might be missing His instructions. You become stressed about making sure you’re using all of the correct tactics to hear Him. Of course, we, as believers, ought to live in the stillness of readiness to hear the Lord. We must learn to quiet mind and emotion, so that we might not mistake our own thoughts for God’s voice. And, yes, we should seek the Lord and seek to hear His voice. Yet, ultimately, your faith cannot be in self or in your own faith. We trust not in our ability to hear the Holy Spirit but in His ability to speak to us. If God could get through to Pharaoh and Saul, He can get through to you.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.” - Proverbs 3:5-6 (NLT)

We can find relief, and then joy and peace, as we live ready and eager to hear Him while trusting that He’ll speak when He’s ready. 

To become decisive, ground yourself in the Word and then learn to trust that He knows how to get through to you.

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The Holy Spirit's Still Small Voice

Standing on a mountain in the presence of God, Elijah the prophet learned a profound truth about the nature of God’s voice. 

1 Kings 19 tells us that Elijah encountered a wind, an earthquake, and a fire. Yet God was not heard in the wind, the earthquake, or the fire. Instead, Elijah heard the voice of God in a whisper.

And after the fire came a gentle whisper. 13 When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. (1 Kings 19:12-13, NIV)

Had God revealed Himself through that mighty wind, Elijah would have been unable to prevent himself from being moved. Had God spoken through an earthquake, Elijah would have had no choice but to be shaken. Had God made Himself known in the fire, Elijah could not have prevented himself from being burned. But because God chose to speak in the whisper, Elijah was given the choice to respond. 

Today, God is still speaking to you in the whisper of the Holy Spirit. If you live a life too rushed, too distracted, too busy, you’ll never move slowly enough or be quiet enough to hear his gentle leading. 

This is not to say that the Holy Spirit doesn't, at times, speak with great force and volume. This is to say that He expects us to be so attentive to Him that we learn to respond to His whispers. 

We should desire to hear so clearly in the spirit that even the Holy Spirit’s whispers are as clear as shouts. To hear that clearly, we must live in an awareness to, in a sensitivity to His still small voice.

And remember this: sensitivity to the voice of the Holy Spirit isn’t just about how clearly you can hear Him but how quickly you respond when He speaks.

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Following the Voice of the Holy Spirit

So Jesus explained, “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself. He does only what he sees the Father doing. Whatever the Father does, the Son also does. - John 5:19 (NLT)

I don’t want to just obey the voice of the Holy Spirit from commitment to commitment. I want to obey His gentle leading from moment to moment. That’s exactly how Jesus did it.

Jesus did nothing unless He saw His Father doing the same. “Nothing” really means “nothing”. Jesus did not a single thing outside the will of God. Every thought He thought, every word He uttered, every act He made, every miracle He performed, every step He took – it was all part of the will of God.

Jesus walked in perfect obedience. He lived in the fine center of the will of God, and He did this by the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus was anointed with the Holy Spirit to carry out the will of the Father.

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released,
that the blind will see,
that the oppressed will be set free,
and that the time of the Lord’s favor has come.”
– Luke 4:18-19 (NLT)

Can you imagine that? Jesus lived in the will of God right down to the millisecond! He missed not a single opportunity or appointment. He touched every life He was supposed to touch. He traveled every journey He was supposed to travel.

You read that Jesus wept, that Jesus taught, that Jesus fled, that Jesus ate, that Jesus slept, that Jesus prayed, and so forth. But not once will you read that Jesus hurried. Jesus never hurried. And Jesus never hurried, because Jesus was never late; He walked in the perfected will and timing of God.

You too can walk in the perfect will of God by simply daily obeying the voice of the Holy Spirit. Daily obedience to the voice of the Holy Spirit results in a life lived unto the glory of God. Aren’t you glad it’s so simple?

Of course, this does not mean that you should be carried away with fear, as many believers are. Often, believers will come to me and express their paranoid concerns about missing the perfect will of God. You need not worry, for the Holy Spirit will make sure that you stay within the will of God.

Don’t be overwhelmed with the constant fear of stepping outside of God’s will. And don’t be caught up in the emotional hype of superstition. Instead, be joyfully aware of the abiding Guide Who lives within you. Walk in the awareness of the Holy Spirit’s presence and be attentive to His instructions. Like Jesus, you too can walk in the will of God. You too can find divine appointments, godly opportunities, and sovereignly opened doors.

It’s so simple. You don’t need to rush. You don’t need to delay. You don’t need to fear. You simply need to yield. Do as the Holy Spirit instructs you. And if ever you stumble, don’t stay off track. Be quick to repent and slow to wander. Cling to the presence of the Holy Spirit. Listen for His voice and walk in the perfect will of God.

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3 Keys to Clearly Hearing God

In scripture, when looking at the God’s mighty prophets and anointed ministers, you’ll notice that it was rare for any of them to doubt that they were hearing God. Sure, they sometimes doubted situations, and they were met with many of the same inner struggles that we face today. But those men were confident in their ability to hear God. Compare that confidence with the uncertainty of many of today’s believers, and you’ll be forced to ask yourself this important question: why do believers today struggle to hear God?

Dear reader, I want you to know this: it’s possible to hear God with such certainty, such clarity, that there will be hardly any room for doubt. The Christian is not supposed to struggle to hear God, yet that struggle is widely accepted as normal.

Hearing God is simple, and don’t ever let anyone tell you otherwise. His voice is unmistakable, completely unique.

In fact, the most shocking reality about God’s voice is this: He is already speaking to you.

“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:” - John 10:27

Jesus made it clear. If you belong to God, you hear His voice. So the real question you should be asking is not, “Can I hear God?” but rather, “Am I a sheep?”.

Even Samuel, when growing and being trained as a prophet, heard God’s voice without realizing that it was God speaking (See 1 Samuel 3). Samuel heard God’s voice, but he didn’t recognize it. And that, believer, is the key: recognizing the voice. You already hear it.

So how does one come to hear God clearly, to recognize when He is speaking?

So here are three basic Biblical keys to hearing God’s voice.

#1 Silence and Stillness

There are three voices that speak to you – the flesh, the demonic and the godly. That is the secular, the Satanic and the Spiritual. The secular includes your own flesh, worldly people and worldly thinking. The Satanic includes demonic lies, actual demons and manipulative influences (example: people who control you by guilt). The Spiritual includes scripture, the voice of the Holy Spirit and counsel from godly people.

To distinguish these voices from one another, we must submit ourselves to Silence and Stillness.

“But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private. Then your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.” - Matthew 6:6

Jesus instructed us to pray in private for two reasons. Firstly, praying in private eliminates the focus on the praises of men. Secondly, the privacy of prayer helps to cultivate an atmosphere of silence.

Silence is the putting away of outer distraction – turning the phone off, getting alone and removing distractions. Comparatively speaking, silence is the easy part.

The difficult part is stillness.

“Be still, and know that I am God!…” - Psalm 46:10

Be still… and know. Stillness precedes revelation.

If silence is the putting away of outer distraction, then stillness is the quieting of the soul.

Stillness is the silencing of inner noise – depression, fear, anxiety, worry, doubt, guilt, anger – and all forms of chaotic inner distraction. To find this stillness, one must look away from the troubles and concerns of this world and fix a gaze upon the countenance of Christ. Whatever has been revealed of Christ to you – let that be your focus, and you will find the stillness that brings about clarity.

#2 The Word

If I were to ask you to describe the voice of a friend or loved one, you might be able to lend me a few descriptions of their voice’s quality and cadence. However, despite what information I might be able to gather from your description, I would not be able to pick your friend’s voice from a crowd of speakers from your description alone. But you would be able to do so.

Because you hear them regularly, you become familiar with how they sound. And you wouldn’t just know how they sound. You would be able to find clues based upon the content of what is being spoken – the words and the ideas. Your familiarity with the sound of their voice and the content of their voice gives you a distinct advantage in identifying their voice.

So how might one become familiar with God’s voice?

This familiarity comes about through the reading of God’s Word.

“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness…” - 2 Timothy 3:16

As you read the Word, you will become more familiar with God’s voice – in quality, tone and content.

#3 Obedience

This is probably the most effective key I can give you when it comes to hearing God. Obedience to God actually causes you to become more keen on hearing His voice.

“The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way.” - Psalm 37:23

All throughout scripture, God speaks to sinners and even disobedient men. But they failed to obey God because they did not recognize God as Lord in their lives. Cain, after He slew his brother Abel, was immediately confronted by the presence and voice of God. But from God’s presence, Cain was banished. You see, God is everywhere at all times, but you must become aware of Him if you are to experience Him. The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord. In other words, God guides the obedient. So, simply obey the written and moral laws of God, and you will find your mind more clear. Sin blinds, but obedience clarifies. As you obey what you already know to be God, you will find yourself more able to receive personal communication from the Lord.

God offers His guidance to those who are godly, those who walk in obedience toward Him.

“The Lord directs the steps of the godly.He delights in every detail of their lives.” - Psalm 37:23

God will not tell you about step 3 if you haven’t obeyed Him in taking step 1. Sin doesn’t keep God from speaking; it keeps us from hearing.

Are you struggling to find direction at this point in your life?

Then obey what you definitely know to be the Lord for right now – whether you heard it through the Word or through the Holy Spirit directly to your heart. His next word of guidance will come after you’ve obeyed what He’s already spoken.

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