Is it really possible to follow the witness of the Spirit? Let me begin with one of my favorite films as an example of a “yes” to this question.
Every year around the holidays, our family would gather in front of a roaring fire and watch, “The Sound of Music.” In the musical Maria, full of zest and spontaneous life, meets her exact opposite – a very orderly Captain von Trapp. And opposites attract! These two characters represent two very important aspects of our being: “intuition” and “reason.”
The Captain blows his whistle to assemble the children like a military battalion going off to war, whilst new recruit Maria, in all her free-spiritedness, dances around the bedroom in a rain storm. She and all the children dance and sing with the curtains as the rain pours in and they sing to “My Favorite Things.” There could not be a more unique example of “reason” vs. “intuition” between two characters in all of musical film history!
In my new book, Love Speaks: 21Ways to Recognize God’s Multi-Faceted Voice & Masterclass eCourse, I share that hearing God’s voice through the inner witness is the 3rd most common of 21 possible ways to have personal contact with God.
What Is The Inner Witness?
It is a spiritual “sense” of peace and joy in your inner spirit. It’s like a green light or “YES!” in particular guidance that originates from your inner spirit. It can also come as a spiritual sense of “tightness” inside. Similar to a “yellow” light or a “red” light witnessing a “CAUTION” or “NO!” to a particular guidance.
Here’s an example from recent history of the inner witness leading one of the world’s most beloved evangelists.
Billy Graham Called To Preach By The Witness
On a beautiful evening in 1938, on the edge of a golf course, young Billy Graham was in prayer.
He was asking God if he was being called to preach.
God answered him through the inner witness of the Holy Spirit. He shares the experience in his own words in his autobiography “Just As I Am,”
“I walked through the late-night hours, struggling with the Holy Spirit over the call of God to be a minister.
That was the last thing I wanted to be, and I had used all kinds of rationalizations to convince God to let me do something else.
The inner, irresistible urge would not subside.
Finally, I got down on my knees at the edge of one of the greens. Then I prostrated myself on the dewy turf.
‘O God,’ I sobbed, ‘if you want me to serve you, I will.
The moonlight, the moss, the breeze, the green, the golf course—all the surroundings stayed the same. No voice from above. But in my spirit I knew I had been called to the ministry.
And I knew my answer was yes.
From that night in 1938 on, my purpose and objectives in life were set. I knew I would be a preacher of the gospel.”
For Billy Graham, the inner witness of the Holy Spirit green-lighted an international preaching ministry that literally has affected millions of souls for the Kingdom!
To Follow The Witness = Spiritual Intuition
The Holy Spirit’s habitation and leading by intuition will become primary at times. Conversely, reason and logic become secondary as you seek His inner witness of confirmation.
“In seeking the mind of God we need the humility to move beyond our own powers of reason and to seek an intuition given Spirit to spirit.
The inner “yes” and “amen” of God is often a fleeting impression like the gentle breeze felt but difficult to grasp hold of.” -Andy & Jane Fitzgibbon
Today in prayer, dare to allow the Holy Spirit to give you a sense of confirmation. Ask the Lord some yes and no questions and begin to sense the witness. God has given you “reason” like Captain von Trapp. But He’s also empowered you with “intuition” like Maria!
And His love is the Sound of Music, playing everywhere.
So go ahead.
Follow the Witness!
This teaching is adapted from Chapter 3 of my book, Love Speaks, and based on some material in the teaching session in my new Love Speaks Masterclass, available now on the GOD TV eLearning Platform.
Enjoy this Preview of the Masterclass eCourse and enroll today!
Read Also: Love Speaks: Do You Hear Voices?
