Many people want to know what walking in the Spirit is all about. They misunderstand it as something mystical or think they have to be a supernatural superhero or something. It really is simple if we understand God’s plan.
When I was 7 years old, I became obsessed with the idea of being filled with the Spirit. My brother had just received the Spirit that summer at church camp and I began to desire that for myself. I would ask my mom to come pray with me every night because I wanted to receive the Holy Ghost. I was afraid Jesus would come back during the night and I would miss the rapture!
After a couple weeks of seeking the Lord, one night He filled me with His Spirit and I sat there in my bed bouncing up and down speaking in tongues. I still remember by blue afghan, the big round ceiling light, and my mom and brother praying and rejoicing with me. The joy and love He filled me with were more than that little body knew how to handle at the time. There is nothing like being filled with the Spirit.
Then, I felt like I had arrived—I could now talk in tongues like people at church. I had been born of the Spirit and I was “in” now. What I did not understand at the time was all the growing the Lord intended for me to do.
Talking in the Spirit
It is a miracle for the Lord to give a person a new way of talking as He fills them with His Spirit. It is another miracle as they learn His new way of walking. While the Spirit infilling was an unforgettable moment, it was simply a moment. What I thought was a permanent fix was to be the beginning of a new me.
I would be introduced to pornography, dirty-mouthed neighbor kids, and many other things I did not see coming in my future. I did not realize I needed the Spirit for those times, not just to get to heaven. The Spirit was given to get me through earth.
Pentecostal churches emphasize talking in the Spirit. We also have to be sure people know the reason for this phenomenon: so we can walk in the Spirit. Scripture commands us to be continually walking in His Spirit so we overcome the desires of the flesh (Galatians 5:16; Romans 8:13).
Seeking more than the sensational
I know a couple guys who have children with women they do not even know. They were not sober when they impregnated them at parties, several years back. Someone might say those young guys had been intimate with those young women. However, they do not know them and never have been interested in getting to know them. Sadly, if children had not come from those events, they might not even remember that moment.
Too many people have sensational moments with the Spirit, too. Yet they really do not have a steady relationship with the Lord. I ask people often, “When did you come to know Jesus personally?” Typically, people will answer with sensational moments from their spiritual journey—a powerful church service, their Spirit baptism, or some supernatural encounter they had. Often, such moments are no more personal than those guys getting women they did not know pregnant at a party.
It was many years after being filled with the Spirit that the Lord became personal with me. I began to hear from Him. I began to talk to Him. My whole world changed as I started listening to His voice. He told me I would represent Him. He told me I would write for Him.
Walking in the Spirit
I have participated in running, jumping, and dancing in the Spirit. It has been the walking in the Spirit, however, that kept me from suicide, adultery, or addiction. It has not been the sensational moments but the quiet ongoing dialogue with my Savior that has grown me. My walk with the Lord had to grow out of the church building and into my daily life.
A true disciple keeps pace with the Master. Are you walking with Him? He walked me by the hand through sickness, through parenting challenges, out of a financial wasteland, and much more. I love it when God is dramatic, but He wants to lead us in little things because they amount to big things. Jesus pulled His disciples away from the miracles and the sensational so they could get to know Him in the mundane—this is where 95% of life happens. I have to know Him in the fine print, not just on the billboards.
The question is not if I know Jesus in a historical sense. The question is how do I know Jesus today? What is He saying? How is He leading me to manage my emotions? Who is He wanting me to speak to today? Those who are led by Him are His true children (Romans 8:14).
What have you learned about walking in the Spirit? I would love to hear about it. Comment below, please!
15 thoughts on “Walking in the Spirit–how to de-sensationalize the faith”
So much truth in this article. My pastor use to say receiving the Holy Ghost was just the first step. We needed to go on to sanctification. We needed a relationship to know him. I enjoyed this very much.
Yes–it is the beginning of the spiritual walk!
Thank you for your comment.
A great reminder. Sometimes we seek after a sense of spirituality rather than the spirit. This is why so many Christians are not living fruitful lives.
True! It’s important to distinguish the two.
Excellent reminder of the daily walk we need with the Lord. My concern is that we focus so much on fleshly demonstrations and loud speaking in tongues in our services, that the teaching we need is omitted. Could that be why we have some families who are dysfunctional and homes are breaking up? Seems that other denominations can see the need for more order in service and concrete teaching on how to live and treat others. Our services can scare visitors away. What if we had a little order and the visitors could hear the preaching and be saved? We can worship freely and not quench the Spirit, but still have effective services.
I can relate this message in that many thinking their time with God is limited to the Church house, Many only read at Church, Pray at Church, Worship at Church, Think they can only be touched from the Lord at Church. When in reality God wants us in constant contact and relationship with him daily. When we can learn to be aware of the Lord at all times, worship and pray and seek his face behind closed doors, when no one is watching, then it makes when we do come into his presence in his house so much more real. I believe with out an everyday walk with him we won’t be able to stand . But if we will serve and obey him every day in season and out , at church home or where ever we may be it will cause us to stand in this last day. Blessing in Jesus.
Coming from my background it was difficult but when I learned to just talk to Him sometime in English and other times through the Spirit, that was the beginning, I’d say set here on the bed with me and I’d pat it as I was crying and scared as I talked He’d listen quietly then He’d say be quite He’d wrap His arms around me and say bestill and listen. Or I’d say sit here on the chair and start talking could I see Him no but I could feel His present and His Word would come by reading it He guided me. That’s how real He is to me. I’ve had sensational but just talking to Him is oh so much better, not that I don’t do the other but the personal is were it’s at! Thank you for your bringing this around for me and others!
I find that sometimes just trying to be sensitive to what he would have me do and fallowing through is walking in the spirit, this just happened to me so I would like to use it as a illustration:
I felt to take the Bible that I usually use for my devotions to Church. I have two other Bibles in my car so I really didn’t need to take it but I took it anyway on the way out after service I bumped in a young man that backslid as a teen but came back a few years later. I stopped and showed him my prayer list showed him his name on it and let him know that I have been praying for him for years (I keep the list in that Bible) I thought it would encourage him and then I forgot about it.
A couple of days later I got a text from him asking me to call him. I called and found out that the Lord had been really dealing with him about prayer and praying for people, and what I thought was just something spontaneous on my side was really God working on him. He told me that it really Impacted him.
That is so exciting!
I’ve learned to love, to be angry and sin not, to not let the sun go down in my anger, to take my worries to Him and leave them there because He can handle my problems better than I can. I’ve learned to trust Him with my life, for its actually his. I was bought for a price and I am not my own. I’ve learned to walk by faith and not by sight. Also that nothing can separate me from him. I’ve learned to tame my tounge and cast down pride. To walk in humility. I’ve learned that he is God while on the mountain top and in the deepest valley. I’ve learned that my new life is just that. I was born again and maturity took time.
Thank you for your message Brother, I enjoyed it. Praise Jesus!
Awesome. Thank you for sharing!
Jesus loves my voice and I love His voice.
It has been a brand new experience every day is new when we walk with Him. To learn to listen and be obedient is a point that brought me to a whole new level winth the Holy Spirit. I always had conversations with Him even when I had no idea the pentecostal faith existed I grew up as a catholic, and I had many unanswered questions about waking in the Spirit. Living a life of consecration. So many times the Lord showed me He was there with me, and I have to admit he spared my life a few times. I am thankful that even when I couldn’t see it coming He was there by my side carrying me trough the valley. Is my daily walk not a one time thing that helps me to keep going back to the fountain for more, so I can lead others also.
Thank you.
That sensational moment you spoke of is just the foundation for what He wants to build upon as we grow in and with Him. I fear too many are still stuck at the foundation step. Once the foundation is done, the building goes up. I was glad when I finally woke up and realized I was still at the foundation stage (and had been there for a while. So thankful He didn’t leave me there. The revelation has been life altering and opened me up to hearing Him. As one preacher said, “God is always talking. The question is, are we listening.” Thank you for this post and all that you write for Him and for His glory! Blessings!
Thank you! Great insights.
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