What Is the Spirit Convicting You About These Days?

One question, Professor Gary Maxey says, shows whether a believer is moving forward on the Highway of Holiness. "What are the deeper dealings of the Holy Spirit in your life? What is he convicting you about these days?"

He notes that people who are not listening to the Spirit usually have no quick answer.

Three right responses

In his book on the Highway of Holiness, Professor Maxey gives a short guide for responding when the Spirit shines light on something unlike Jesus.

The first is to keep an open heart. He points to David's prayer to be searched by God. Keeping an open heart, he says, means we do not let negative feelings keep us from listening to God.

The second is to seek God's face with understanding. We are to serve God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. He warns against blind seeking, or assuming the Spirit's work is only about strong emotion. If he is convicting me of anger, jealousy or pride, I must look at those things and pray about them directly.

The third is a specific confession. Once the Spirit has shown me the weight of what is within me, I will want to be rid of it, and I will confess in precise terms. He gives a sample. "Oh God, I confess my spirit of jealousy against my brother, and I ask you to remove that spirit from me." This can take far more than a five-minute prayer. It may be uttered in agony.

What the choice decides

Professor Maxey says that if I ignore what the Spirit shows me, my spiritual life will slow, and perhaps eventually end. If I give the right response, it will rise to greater heights than I have ever known.

Not about emotion

He is firm that this is not a search for emotional release. Some people are highly emotional by nature, others more melancholy. God knows each of us and deals with us as individuals. The aim is purity and power with God.

Try the question

This week, ask a trusted friend the question above. Be ready to answer it for yourself first. If you have nothing to say, ask the Spirit directly, and then wait without hurrying.

Drawn from the teaching of Professor Gary S. Maxey.