I was inspired by this article. One thing that jumped out at me was a suggestion to pray throughout the day and ask Holy Spirit–what is God’s will for me? Also, there are some things we don’t have to ask the Holy Spirit about, including questions like, “should I have an affair.”
I hope you benefit from this fairly short article. How to Follow The Holy Spirit
How To Let The Holy Spirit Lead Your Life: This article had helpful suggestions.
I am a big fan of creating structures where the Holy Spirit can move freely. This article helped me fine-tune a structure for small groups that I have been thinking about creating. Creating Space For The Holy Spirit.
Leadership and decision making in the Christian Community (Acts 15) is an article to shows how the whole church came to consensus about whether or not the gentiles needed to be circumcised in order to become Christians. I thought it was a very helpful, insightful and inspiring account of how they came to this decision that can be a model for churches today.
An approach to good choices: A method of group decision making. I hesitate to share something from the Jesuits. They have a very checkered past. However, I do like some of their spiritual practices, and I found this method of discernment to be very practical as well as a way of following the Holy Spirit in decision making. Some day I hope to create my own process, but for now, this will do.
Clearness Committees: What they are and what they do. I remember finding this method of helping people be lead by the Holy Spirit by getting support from trusted people in their “meeting” as the Friends (Quakers) call their church. I felt very moved by and drawn to this method. I have yet to actually try it but I know that when people want to join the community, this is going to be a process that they will need to go through in the beginning and at intervals.
Beyond Consensus: The Quakers search for God’s leading for the group. I was drawn to consensus decision making around 1975 (I was 21) when I learned about the Intentional Communities movement. Cliff (my former husband) and I bought the very first directory, and we read wonderful articles about consensus. Many communities used a more secular version. I am glad to revisit this way of making decision by following the Holy Spirit–which I believe is the same as God’s leading.
I hope you were blessed by reading about how to be lead by the Holy Spirit both individually and in groups. I would enjoy hearing your thoughts about the topic
