What Does The Bible Say About The Guidance Of The Holy Spirit?

When It comes to the Holy Spirit many of you may be asking what does the Bible say about the guidance of the Holy Spirit?

¹³ But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.

John 16:13

Your success as a believer is tied to your relationship with the Holy Spirit. 

Story On The Guidance Of The Holy Spirit

A poor man had wanted to go on a cruise all his life. As a youngster, he had seen an advertisement for a luxury cruise, and ever since, he had dreamed of spending a week on a large ocean liner enjoying the fresh sea air and relaxing in a luxurious environment.

He saved money for years, carefully counting his pennies, often sacrificing personal needs so he could stretch his resources a little further.

Finally, he had enough to purchase a cruise ticket. He went to a travel agent, looked over the cruise brochures, picked out one that was especially attractive, and bought a ticket with the money he had saved so long.

He was hardly able to believe he was about to realize his childhood dream.

Knowing he could not afford the kind of elegant food pictured in the brochure, the man planned to bring his own provisions for the week.

Accustomed to moderation after years of frugal living, and with his entire savings going to pay for the cruise ticket, the man decided to bring along a week’s supply of bread and peanut butter.

That was all he could afford.

The first few days of the cruise were thrilling. The man ate peanut butter sandwiches alone in his room each morning and spent the rest of his time relaxing in the sunlight and fresh air, delighted to be aboard the ship.

By midweek, however, the man was beginning to notice that he was the only person on board who was not eating luxurious meals.

It seemed that every time he sat on the deck or rested in the lounge or stepped outside his cabin, a porter would walk by with a huge meal for someone who had ordered room service.

By the fifth day of the cruise, the man could take it no longer. The peanut butter sandwiches seemed stale and tasteless, he was desperately hungry, and even the fresh air and sunshine had lost their appeal.

Finally, he stopped a porter and exclaimed, “Tell me how I might get one of those meals! I’m dying for some decent food, and I’ll do anything you say to earn it!”

“Why, sir, don’t you have a ticket for this cruise?” the porter asked.

“Certainly,” said the man. “But I spent everything I had on that ticket. I have nothing left with which to buy food.”

“But sir,” said the porter, “didn’t you realize? Meals are included in your passage. You may eat as much as you like!”

When you become a Christian you automatically have access to the Holy Spirit and his guidance but many people fail to know this and live lives on their own strength and their own wisdom.

This is why you should study what the Bible says about the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

The Importance Of The Guidance of The Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit can pull you out of things that you can’t pull yourself out of on your own.

It’s like Alcoholics Anonymous who realize they need existential assistance besides my own to overcome certain things. 

That truth not only applies to overcoming habits, hang-ups, cycles and addictions.

That truth also applies to thriving, progressing and advancing. 

We need more than an existential force to lift us out of uncomfortable and inconvenient situations.

We need an existential force also to give us insight, that we can not get based on our own human intellect and ingenuity. 

Today we see lots of Christians becoming unequally yoked simply because they have been following the advice of following your heart.

The heart is a terrible guide.

There is a joke that says the brain starts working the day we are born and stops working the day we fall in love.

If we want to thrive we need the Holy Spirit to be our guide

Why Do We Need The Holy Spirit To Guide Us?

We need the Holy Spirit for grey decisions. 

There are gonna be spaces and places where you and I have to make decisions and the options are not black and white and I would need the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

It’s gonna be important to know what the Bible says about the Guidance of the Holy Spirit.

There’s gonna be spaces where we gotta make choices, and some of those choices aren’t limited or relegated to the options of good and evil, healthy unhealthy, helpful  unhelpful 

Sometimes some Decisions are grey right, there are many opportunities that you’re gonna be presented with or that you are presented with currently that are grey opportunities. 

This is not necessarily good, this is not necessarily bad. 

Sometimes you gotta decide between good and great. 

Or sometimes between good and good. 

Sometimes it’s good but you got to decide if it’s good for me. 

So what do you do when you gather all of the data, you get all of the counsel that you can get? Bounce it off thinking partners and you gotta make a decision. 

What do you need in spaces like that? 

It would be best if you had the Holy Spirit for this.

We need the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

How Does The Holy Spirit Guide Us?

You may have your 5 senses that everyone lives with but we believers have an advantage over the 5 senses. 

We have the Holy Spirit that doesn’t ignore the 5 senses but transcends the 5 senses and helps you make decisions taking into consideration something that others can’t and won’t take into consideration.

People without the Holy Spirit can only make decisions based on the data. 

People with the Holy Spirit can make decisions being prompted and nudged by the divine. 

Some of the significant moves whether it’s in your life or your relationships or your leadership.

Some of the most significant moves that you’re going to have to make or are making should be moves taking into consideration the guidance of the Holy Spirit. 

Not ignoring the 5 senses but this transcends the 5 senses. 

I am sure that there were times in your life when someone wanted you to do something and it looked like a good something but yet something prompted you not to do it and looking back now you can see that that was the best decision you ever made by choosing not to do it.

That was an intelligent move not to do it. 

It was intelligent to pay attention to, to have your decisions guided and governed by the ultimate expression and epitome of intelligence which is God. 

The Holy Spirit. 

That prompting that you received was not from something but from someone.

He is the Holy Spirit. 

If God gave me life then he can give me insight on how to live it. 

We try to make decisions based on our intellect but God is the ultimate intellect. 

What important decision do you need to make today?

For some of you, it may be a career shift, for some of you it may be a business decision you need to make

Some of you are wondering whether you need to go back to school.

Whatever the decision you need to make

Ask The Holy Spirit to help you to make the right decision.

This is why it is good to know what the Bible say about the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

If we want to thrive we need the Holy Spirit to be our guide.

5 Bible Verses About The Guidance Of The Holy Spirit

1. He guides through the Word of God

“As for me, this is my covenant with them,” says the Lord. “My Spirit, who is on you, will not depart from you, and my words that I have put in your mouth will always be on your lips, on the lips of your children and on the lips of their descendants—from this time on and forever,” says the Lord.

Isaiah 59:29

2. He guides in Prayer

Romans 8:26–27 (NIV)

²⁶ In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. ²⁷ And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.

3. He guides through Spiritual Gifts

1 Corinthians 12:7–11 (NIV)

⁷ Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. ⁸ To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, ⁹ to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, ¹⁰ to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues,  and to still another the interpretation of tongues. ¹¹ All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.

4. He guides in Christian Living

Romans 8:14 (NIV)

¹⁴ For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God.

5. He guides in Ministry

Acts 16:6–7 (NIV)

Paul’s Vision of the Man of Macedonia

⁶ Paul and his companions traveled throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia. ⁷ When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to.