To understand how to yield to the Holy Spirit, we first have to know who the Holy Spirit is. The person of the Holy Spirit is the third head of the Trinity, who was sent by God after the advent of Jesus.
He was to come and serve as a comforter, a companion to us, a helper. The Holy Spirit carries all the tool kits needed for a believer to thrive and enjoy the fullness of God.
In this article, we will be navigating how to yield to the Holy Spirit, our consistent helper. How do we exercise our spiritual ears to be sharp enough to hear the Holy Spirit clearly? The truth is, He’s always speaking, but are we listening?
Also, in a world filled with many voices speaking on social media, our insecurities, our fears, our natural understanding and instincts, how do you hear the sweet, still voice of
the comforter?
Only those who have learnt to submit and yield to the Holy Spirit will hear his voice. Jesus said, “My sheep hear my voice and they know it…” John 10:27.
We will be exploring how to yield to the Holy Spirit to help us grow into spiritual maturity.
1. Repentance
How to yield to the Holy Spirit begins with us purging ourselves of all unrighteousness and everything that will stand to stop us from having a relationship with the Holy Spirit.
The Bible makes us understand that our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit, and we must not defile our bodies with sin.
The Bible also makes us realize that it is possible to grieve the Holy Spirit, to quench the Holy Spirit in our lives.
This was said in Ephesians 4:30-31: “30 And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. 31 Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:” verse 31 explains the kinds of things that grieve the Holy Spirit.
These things should not be found in the temple of the Holy Spirit. So it is imperative that we consistently repent of these things if we find ourselves entangled in them.
It is important to consistently use the blood of Jesus for the remission of our sins to keep us clean from all these, and to decide not to make a habit of them.
2. Consistency In Prayers
The Bible says in Jude 1:20, “But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit,” prayer draws us closer to the Holy Spirit.
It is a time of communication with God, and we all know that any kind of relationship is built on proper communication. Jude 1:20 explains that we build our faith by praying in the Holy Spirit.
This makes us understand that when we rely on the Holy Spirit to pray the will of the Father over us, we are automatically yielding to the Holy Spirit. In prayers, when done properly and not amiss, can foster intimacy with the Holy Spirit.
We unlock our minds to receive information from the Holy Spirit. When we pray, our hearts are connected to God as we divulge all our requests to His ears, then we also speak in the Holy Ghost to further increase our faith in God and pray to the will of the Father.
Prayer should not be done just once, but incessantly, without ceasing, in seasons. This way, intimacy is fostered and maintained in relationships by consistent communication. The more vulnerable the conversation, the closer we become to each other.
Also, prayers keep us in line and in shape spiritually. It aligns our mind with that of the Holy Spirit and makes us open to hearing what the Holy Spirit has to say.
Every time I have intimate times of prayer, I notice that I receive instructions from the Holy Spirit, and it becomes easy for me to stay away from sin and not just to hear but to obey instructions from the Holy Spirit.
3. Consistency In Studying The Word
When we study the Word, we gain insights from the Holy Spirit. I gained an understanding recently that whenever I want to study the Word, I should ask the Holy Spirit for insight first.
I started, and honestly, I’ve seen beyond the words and gotten so much understanding. Someone told me something so profound, he said, the Holy Spirit cannot bring the Word of God to you that you have not studied.
That is why the Word says, he brings to remembrance the things Jesus has said and opens us to all things.
The Holy Spirit uses the Word of God to communicate the will of God to us. Sometimes, if he wants us to see something from the Word, He will show us the Word of God if we actually open the Bible to read.
This is the time to dust those Bibles on those shelves and open them to study. There is a place for reading, but there is also a place for studying, where we aim to get in-depth information from the words we study.
While doing this, we trust the Holy Spirit to reveal truth to us. By studying the Word, we understand how to yield to the Holy Spirit, to yield our understanding to take the words the Holy Spirit has to say to us for our transformation.
The Bible carries information that can transform us into becoming like God through the Holy Spirit guiding us. This makes us have a sound relationship with the Holy Spirit, and that relationship keeps us yielded to him.
4. Sustaining A Love Walk
Have you ever heard of the Word love walk before? This is our journey to showing love wherever we go as Christians. I mean showing love to people around us.
Showing love is not just giving gifts to people. It is our ability to be patient with even the hardest and meanest people, it is in communicating respectfully, being kind even when we don’t feel like it.
It is in patiently tolerating people we know and do not know. This can be frustrating, especially when you are having a bad day or something happens that ruins your day.
It is in times like these that it gets so difficult to be kind to people around us that the Holy Spirit comes in. The Holy Spirit gives us strength in times like this to be kind and patient.
I told someone that when Jesus talked about the power to become a son, he wasn’t just talking about healing the sick and doing miracles, but also to carry a capacity beyond the flesh to submit our emotions, our minds, our souls to the Holy Spirit.
God wants to build capacity in us, and that capacity will help us become like God, sons of God.
To be honest, it is not easy to be kind all the time. It is not easy to show love to impossible people, especially when you are not in the frame of mind to take certain things.
Jesus understands this, and that is why he left the Holy Spirit with us to strengthen us in times like these. This is how to yield to the Holy Spirit: we yield by submitting our natural will of selfishness to him in exchange for power to show love to people, no matter how we feel.
5. Obedience To The Voice Of The Holy Spirit
I’ve heard so many people ask questions like, How do I know the voice of the Holy Spirit? Because our intuitive thoughts can make us think certain decisions we make or certain thoughts we conceive are right.
It is easy to listen to our own voice and think we are hearing from God. The Bible says in Proverbs 14:12 that “ There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.”
I find this verse rather scary because it gives me an understanding that I can actually convince myself that a path is the right way, but that path will lead to death.
Only the Holy Spirit understands the way that is actually right, and it may not appeal to our flesh. So, how do you distinguish whether it is the voice of the Holy Spirit?
Here are some yardsticks I’ve learned over the years in my relationship with Him that could help you know it is the Holy Spirit speaking ;
A. It is not impulsive. It does not force you or push you
B. It does not bring fear and condemnation
C. His instructions bring peace and not anxiety. A special kind of peace that gives you hope even when the instruction seems too difficult
D. His voice would only say things that are in line with the patterns of God and His Word.
E. His voice will only say things that will produce the fruits of the Spirit in us and not otherwise
These are just a few things you can use to vet the voice giving you instructions in your heart. When we try to learn how to yield with the Holy Spirit, we need to understand that the best way is to know His voice and obey it.
It may feel very difficult, it may even hurt our feelings, but that is to shape us to become people of the Spirit and not people yielded to the flesh. Obedience can be very difficult, but to obey is better than sacrifice.
6. Consistent Consecration
The Greek Word for consecration is the Word hagiazo, which means to render oneself or to separate oneself to be joined to God.
Consecration is simply separation. In this context of how to yield to the Holy Spirit, we are aiming at separation from God, our heavenly Father. When we align with holiness and the things of God, it becomes easy to yield to the Holy Spirit.
We must keep ourselves away from sin and polluted things in our temple so that the Holy Spirit can freely work in us.
The Bible says God’s eyes cannot behold iniquity, meaning when we are entangled in sin, He can’t reach us or work with us.
For us to submit to the Holy Spirit, we must set ourselves apart and stay away from sin and anything that will make us unclean.
The Bible says in Psalms 1:1 “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.”
The entirety of this verse speaks of total separation from sin and the things that gratify the flesh.
7. Fellowship
The Holy Spirit desires fellowship and communion in us. This means that the Holy Spirit wants to spend quality time with us, not for his own good but for our own good.
He desires what the Father wants, which is for us to carry the status of sins. This can be attained by fellowship. The Bible describes it as “… the sweet fellowship of the Holy Spirit”.
When you learn to have conversations with the Holy Spirit at your most vulnerable, you build fellowship.
I told someone very close to me that you can’t live life without the Holy Spirit. Who else can you divulge all your vulnerability to that will not use it against you one way or the other?
God wants us to speak to the Holy Spirit about even the things that seem irrelevant, so we can build fellowship with Him. This is also fostered through prayers, fasting, and dedication to the work and Word of God, etc.
8. Daily Incense Of Worship
What is worship, and how can it teach a believer how to yield to the Holy Spirit? Worship is God’s meal.
It pleases God when we worship him, not just because we are asked to but with intentionality. Worship is beyond a song; it is definitely not a set of slow songs sung by the choir.
No, worship is a deep, heartfelt adoration of God. It could be sung, it could be danced, it could be meditated on, that is, casting our minds on the things of God.
It could also be simple gestures, but they must be heartfelt, deep, and our own way to express our love to God.
When we worship, we don’t just attract the presence of God but the personality of the Holy Spirit in our lives. He begins to shape out of us the will of us and keeps us in alignment. Worship is a way to cause our Spirit to conform with the Spirit of God.
9. Paying Attention To The Holy Spirit
We attain this by consciously partaking in activities that keep us focused on the Holy Spirit. We keep our responses to the Holy Spirit apt and sharp.
You pay attention to the Holy Spirit by studying and meditating in the Word of God. When we listen to sermons or play those sanctified worship songs on our phones, or conduct personal research on different aspects of the things of God.
We also do so by intentionally silencing the voice of the enemy and seeking out the still voice of the Holy Spirit in our minds.
10. Allowing Yourself To Be Led By The Spirit
The Bible says that those who are led by the Spirit are the sons of God, Romans 8:14. If you do not compel your flesh to yield to the Holy Spirit, you will become a slave to the flesh.
Verses 15-17 of that verse goes on to say that “The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship.
It is profound to know that the Holy Spirit is the one who guarantees our sonship when we yield to him. We must adjust our desires to alignment and allow ourselves to conform to the prompting of the Holy Spirit.
11. Serve Others
Living a life of servitude to others is a way of yielding to the Holy Spirit. This is not an exercise of slavery but of humility.
God exalts the humble; he finds it very easy to relate with the humble, but He can’t stand the proud. God has called us to the ministry of service to one another.
Jesus, at the tail of his ministry, tried to wash his disciples, and Peter refused. Jesus said He must allow him and also do it for others, or we are not his own.
How I view this is that God wants us to live as good leaders who serve others. Jesus wants us to be open to serving others with all that we have, as this is a way to show God how much we love him.
12. Practice The Fruits Of The Holy Spirit
Galatians 5: 22-23 clearly states the virtues we will manifest when we yield to the Holy Spirit. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
When we consistently work towards following the leading of the Holy Spirit in manifesting these fruits, we find ourselves growing spiritually and maturing in the things of God.
We can’t work with the Holy Spirit outside of his nature. We must follow it daily in the day-to-day running of our lives.
The more we learn how to yield to the Holy Spirit, the more we can easily yield to manifesting the fruits of the Spirit. The believer cannot do without the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit is the life force of the believer, and only by him can we truly walk with God.
The comfort you need in that horrible situation is in him, the guidance you need is in Him. He’s that ever-present help when we call upon.
The Holy Spirit is the believer’s advantage. Now that we have established the catalysts on how to yield with the Holy Spirit, we need to ask ourselves certain questions, like “how can I yield to the Spirit?”
How To Submit To The Holy Spirit
We submit to the Holy Spirit by surrendering to him at all times our will and promptly obeying every of his instructions.
We submit by trusting his guidance because we know and trust that he is speaking to us from God’s perspective at all times.
Also, we can be very intentional about asking the Holy Spirit questions. By being intentional about conversing with him.
For instance, “Holy Spirit, how can I get this done?”, “ Holy Spirit, I need your help to strengthen me, I feel very weak emotionally, and I can become a monster if I yield to these emotions.
“ Holy Spirit, help me understand what these people are trying to say.” “ Holy Spirit, I need your help. Guide me to know what path I should follow.
After asking questions like this, you need to be Intentional about waiting for a response and not walking away when it seems you have not gotten your result.
Sometimes he will make you wait in his silence so that you learn to hold on to him and also to build trust in your relationship with him.
Ways To Submit To The Holy Spirit
We do this by consistently trying to live a holy life. We do this by making sure we do not grieve him. Also, one of the ways to yield to the Holy Spirit is to pray to Him first whenever we are in need.
Consistently seek His counsel on everything. Keeping in mind that he is our only solution provider for every fix we encounter in our lives.
Aspects Of The Believer’s Life That Require Submission
The believer must submit his/her entire lives to the Holy Spirit. Nothing should be left out. We should not decide to keep some parts of our lives off limits from the Holy Spirit.
God is interested in every detail of your life, yes, even the most embarrassing and challenging. Even the ones that do not really seem like a problem, submit them.
We tend to leave some parts of our lives and determine that we do not need God there, but the Bible was clear, “… in ALL your ways acknowledge Him and he shall direct your path.” Yes, every aspect of the believer requires the Holy Spirit.
Prayer Points To Help You Yield To The Holy Spirit
A. Father, have mercy upon me for all the times I lived without the Holy Spirit and veered off your plans for my life.
B. Lord Jesus, I yield my will to you today, and I surrender my own understanding to you. Teach me how to yield to the Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit, come and guide every aspect of my life, leave nothing left out.
C. Holy Spirit, help me to be more submissive to you at all times. To be quick to yield to you at all times when I hear your instructions.
D. If there is anything that will not allow me to stay surrendered to you, Holy Spirit in my heart, take it away completely so that I can yield to you.
E. I receive the grace to stay yielded to the Holy Spirit, no matter the circumstances I face or the opinions I have.
F. I silence every raging voice in my mind speaking contrary to the voice of the Holy Spirit in the mighty name of Jesus.
G. I activate in me a new desire to submit to God, and I begin to walk in understanding at all times by the help of the Holy Spirit.
H. I recover the years I have lost in leaning on my own understanding and not submitting to the Holy Spirit.
Conclusion
The Holy Spirit wants to guide you; he’s not impulsive, and he will never superimpose himself over you. He’s such a gentleman who will wait till you usher him into your life.
Yielding and submitting to God empowers us to walk in the Spirit, and by walking in the Spirit, we become sons. The Bible says those that walk in the Spirit are the sons of God.
Those who don’t follow after the desires of the flesh are the true sons of God. Your identity in Christ is guaranteed when you walk in the Spirit.
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