How to Be Led by the Holy Spirit

The world today is staggeringly complex. We are assaulted by all kinds of messages about how to be happy, how to be successful, how to be healthy, what to think about all the crazy issues in the world, and a million other things. It can be exhausting and anxiety-inducing.

In addition, we have more options now than we ever have. On the one hand, that’s great because it means we aren’t locked into some narrow path of life that we’ll hate. On the other hand, it can be challenging to choose from all the myriad options. Sometimes, I’ll pull up Netflix or another streaming service, and there are so many choices that I can’t pick anything. I’ll keep reading descriptions until it’s time to go to bed.

During the Cold War, sometimes Soviet defectors would go to America. There are fascinating accounts of their first trips to the supermarket. Often, they were overwhelmed by the sheer amount of food and all the varieties. Many reported “choice paralysis.” They couldn’t pick what to eat because there was too much freedom.

The good news for Christians is that we aren’t without guidance. However, given the vast amount of options we have today, we need a clear strategy for leading by the Holy Spirit. Jesus told us that the Holy Spirit would “guide us into all truth” (Jn 16:13). As we read the book of Acts, it’s clear that Jesus’s promise came true. The Holy Spirit constantly led people, showed them where to go and what to say, and empowered them to share the Gospel.

A great example is in Acts 16:6-10. Paul and his companions had been traveling through Galatian preaching the Gospel. The Holy Spirit gave them this assignment earlier in Acts 13. They had many options of where to go, but the Scripture says the Spirit “forbid” them from going to Asia. Instead, Paul saw a vision that called him over into Macedonia.

This story vividly illustrates what it means to be led by the Spirit. Paul received a clear but broad directive: “Go preach the gospel and start churches” (Acts 13:1-3). Despite the vagueness of this calling, they began their mission. God provided clearer instructions on what, when, and where to act as they progressed. They followed what they knew and expected further revelation as they obeyed.

Following God often starts broadly, but clarity increases as we heed the Spirit’s guidance. A key question arises: how does this revelation occur? What does it imply when the Scripture states the Spirit forbade them? Luke doesn’t specify, seemingly assuming readers understand or can learn about being led by the Spirit through other writings.

I’ve learned many principles through the years that help me, but I’m just going to share my favorite today. If you can get this, it will help you overcome choice paralysis and live with conviction. It’s not a magic formula that solves every problem, but I’ve used it to make most of the significant decisions in my life, and it’s been beneficial. Here it is:

One of the easiest ways to be led by the Spirit is to follow God’s desires in our hearts.

Let me explain. Psalm 37:4 says that as we delight ourselves in the Lord, He gives us the desires of our hearts. That doesn’t mean that God gives us whatever we want. Instead, it seems to mean that as we spend time with Him and enjoy being with Him, it alters what we wish to so that we start to want what He wants.

That shouldn’t be too surprising. Hanging out with any passionate person tends to make what they care about contagious. My wife is passionate about muscles. Before she went to school to be a physical therapist, I probably never thought about muscles daily. However, hanging out with her and seeing her passion got me interested. I began to see the beautiful and fascinating ways God designed our bodies to function well.

It’s the same way with God. When we spend time with Him, reading His word, worshipping Him, praying, and listening to good teaching, we start to pick up some of what He cares about. His heart starts to become ours.

That’s probably why Jesus said in Mark 11:24, “Whatsoever things you desire when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you’ll have them.” The things I want when I’m praying are different from the things I want when I’m watching Netflix. That doesn’t mean I can’t ever watch Netflix, but it means I shouldn’t make major life decisions after watching several Suits episodes.

Instead, when I need to be led by the Holy Spirit in some decision, I will take time and pull myself away from the pressing need to make the decision. I’ll get my eyes off the problem and worship Jesus. I like to sing and sometimes dance because it helps me get out of the flesh and makes me more aware of His presence.

Then, I watch the state of my heart. I’ll think, “Do I feel connected to God? Do I feel at peace? Do I know that I’m loved?” If the answer is no, I’m not in a good place to make big decisions, and I need to keep praying and worshipping. Over time, as my heart softens towards God, I’ll notice that fleshly desires start to fade away, and I’ll be excited about the things of God. I know I’m in a good position to hear God when that happens. Then I ask, “What do I want to do?”

It’s not “What do I want to do at any time?” It’s, “What do I want to do when I’m aware of the presence and love of God?” The answer is usually a great way to hear from God. The Holy Spirit loves to speak to us through these desires.

Here is a practical example. Years ago, Molly and I had a car that needed an expensive repair. I thought it would be better to get a new one. I went and test-drove one and liked it. My flesh wanted to buy it because it was better than our car. However, I didn’t want to decide out of my flesh. So, I did what I advised above. I prayed and worshipped, not specifically about the decision, but just receiving the love of God and reflecting it on him. As I did that, I stopped wanting to buy the new car. The desire was gone. I knew that was God telling me not to get it.

Instead, we found another car repair place that gave us a much better deal. We could keep our paid-off car and not go into debt. A little later, we were in a better position to buy a bigger car that we needed because we started having kids. This wasn’t a make-or-break issue, and we would have been fine either way. However, listening to the Spirit put us in a better financial position and gave us a better car in the long term. We can do this kind of thing in any area of our lives. We are genuinely grateful for the guidance of the Holy Spirit!

If you’d like more teaching on this topic, check out my 5-part series, Hearing God and Making Good Decisions: