This podcast episode delves into the role of the Holy Spirit as a source of empowerment in our daily lives and ministries. We explore how the Holy Spirit intercedes for us in prayer and enables us to minister to others, particularly those who may not yet know Jesus. By yielding to His leadership, we can turn our ordinary conversations into powerful vessels of love and life. The discussion emphasizes the significance of being sensitive to the Holy Spirit's promptings, as they can lead to meaningful encounters that bear fruit in the lives of others. As we navigate our spiritual journeys, we are reminded that the Holy Spirit's presence not only enriches our interactions but also affirms our identity as children of God, guiding us towards a deeper relationship with Him.

Takeaways:

1. The podcast emphasizes that the Holy Spirit empowers us to live our daily lives and serve others effectively, demonstrating God's love through our actions and words.
2. Listeners are encouraged to recognize the importance of yielding to the Holy Spirit's prompting in conversations, as it can lead to meaningful connections and ministry opportunities.
3. Understanding the Holy Spirit's role involves acknowledging His presence and actively seeking guidance in everyday decisions, fostering a deeper spiritual relationship.
4. The episode highlights that every word spoken carries the potential to bring life or death, thus underscoring the necessity to speak in accordance with the Holy Spirit's inspiration.

Links referenced in this episode:

1. livingtheselahlife.proton.me

The content shared on Living the Selah Life is for spiritual encouragement, personal reflection, and informational purposes only.

It is not intended to diagnose, treat, or replace medical, psychological or professional advice of any kind.

Please consult a licensed healthcare provider or qualified professional for any physical, mental or emotional health concerns.

The views expressed are those of the host, Kimberly Lockanor, and are based on personal experience and Biblical insight, not clinical training.

Welcome back to Living the Selah Life, a podcast that invites you to slow down, breathe deep, and reconnect with the presence of God.

I am your host, Kimberly Lockanor, and this space is for anyone longing to become more familiar with his presence.

Whether you're just discovering what it means to pause with God or or you've been walking this path for a while, I am so glad that you're here.

Each episode is an intentional pause, a moment to reflect, realign, and remember that God meets us when we create space for Him.

So take a breath.

You are right on time.

Let's live the Selah life together.

So welcome back, you guys and gals to Living the Selah Life.

Today we are going to have a part two of our conversation about the Holy Spirit that we started on last week.

I hope you guys enjoyed that conversation.

I felt like it was incomplete.

So again I said we will talk about one thing and we're talking about something else.

So how about I'm going to stop saying what the next episode is going to be because if the Holy Spirit changes it, guess what it's going to be what he changes it to.

So today we are going to explore how the Holy Spirit empowers us for daily life and ministry, how he intercedes for us in prayer, and how he uses us to minister to others, including those who don't yet know Jesus.

The Holy Spirit empowers our daily lives and gives life to our words.

When we yield to his leadership, he transforms our regular conversations and prayers and interactions into vessels of his love and power.

So we will move into this week's teaching, which is Spirit and Life is what I'm going to call it.

So I have a prayer that I have prayed regularly for a long time and I want to share it with you because it has shaped how I understand the Holy Spirit's work through us.

Super simple prayer.

And that prayer is God, I do not want to be out here speaking words that have no life in them and lack power to change people's lives.

Let the Holy Spirit make my words spirit and life.

I will say that again.

God, I do not want to be out here Speaking words that have no life in them and lack power to change people's lives.

Let the Holy Spirit make my words, spirit and life.

And so this prayer came after realizing that our words in and of themselves, by themselves, are just breath and sound.

When we go to church and we sing and we hear good preaching, the Word is able to land on hearts because of the Holy Spirit.

So moving on in services without him being present, moving on in our lives without him being present, like moving on in the commission that Jesus assigned us to do, is not possible without him because it is him that gives our words life.

And when I say land, the Word is able to land on hearts.

I mean, I'm talking about leaving a service, actually being able to implement what you heard in that service into your life.

This is the work of the Holy Spirit.

None of us have the power just by ourselves to change people, to change ourselves.

And this is why you often see him working through people we might not think he would ever work through.

He will work through anyone to get his point across.

When the Holy Spirit breathes on our words, they become something completely different.

And oftentimes we do not see the fruit of what they've become, if we ever do, until later our words become carriers of his life and power.

The Bible says in 1st Samuel, chapter 3, verses 19, that no word Samuel spoke ever fell to the ground because the Lord was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground.

So God backed up Samuel's words.

And that is my belief and desire for my life and for yours.

By praying this, I am aware of the Holy Spirit's desire to use me as part of God's overall plan.

So I govern my words accordingly.

At least try to.

And so Jesus said In John, chapter 6, verses 63, it is the Spirit who gives life.

The flesh profits nothing.

The words that I speak to you are Spirit and they are life.

Jesus's words carried life because they were spoken in the power of the Holy Spirit.

And that same Spirit who empowered Jesus's words lives in us.

So let me tell you what this looks like in our daily life.

There have been so many times when I've been talking with someone and I'll sense the Holy Spirit highlighting something they said or prompting me to share something specific with them.

And it's usually something that I wouldn't just normally randomly share without his prompting.

And in those moments, I've learned to pause and follow the leading.

After I respond, the person will often say, wow, I was just praying about that to you.

It was just a nudge that you might not even recognize as him.

But to them it was an answer to a prayer.

And sometimes we don't even get the wow, I was just praying about that response to confirm that what we said was actually his nudging.

We just have to follow those nudges.

It could be a word of encouragement that I wouldn't have thought to say.

Sometimes it's a scripture that comes to mind that perfectly addresses what they're facing.

Sometimes it's simply sensing that I should listen more and speak less, creating space for the Holy Spirit to minister to their heart directly.

I have also been in situations where I have no idea what to say and I'll ask Him in that moment.

And sometimes I. I still have nothing to say after asking.

So I encourage them based on what they told me and leave it there.

It wasn't for me to do anything else.

One waters, one plants, but God brings the increase.

So Romans 8:26 tells us.

Likewise, the Spirit also helps us in our weaknesses, for we do not know what we should pray for as we ought to.

But the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.

The Holy Spirit's ministry through us extends far beyond what we might think as a traditional ministry.

He wants to use us to reach people who don't know Jesus yet.

And this sounds so common sense, but when is the last time you led somebody to Christ?

When is the last time you shared your faith with somebody in an effort to lead them to Christ?

And that's just an honest question.

He has a heart for the lost, and he uses believers who are willing to be led by him to demonstrate God's love in ways that draw people to salvation.

So the Holy Spirit has a ministry to unbelievers that often happens through believers who are sensitive to his leading.

God once told me that some people will never receive him from a preacher over the pulpit, but they will by witnessing him in the life of someone they know.

And guess what, my friends?

We are that someone.

The Holy Spirit knows exactly what each person needs to encounter God's love.

And he will use you and me to deliver it.

If we're willing to follow his guidance.

We just can't be the ones to decide what is what and who deserves what and why.

We just have to be the light.

We mind our Father's business and let God be sovereign.

So basically, what I'm trying to get across is that every word that we speak has the potential to carry life or death.

When you speak words that are led by the Holy Spirit, you're giving life to something.

You're releasing his power into situations, situations in people's hearts.

This is one of the main reasons why learning to recognize the Holy Spirit's voice and yielding to his leadership is so important.

He wants to use your mouth, your prayers, your presence, to minister his love and power wherever you go.

The Holy Spirit specializes in using regular shmegular people to do extraordinary things.

He takes our willingness and multiplies it with his power.

I have personally on many occasions, asked the Holy Spirit to lead my conversations.

Before I even start talking with some people, I'll say something simple like, Holy Spirit, speak through me.

Give me your words for this person.

Let my words carry your life in love.

Then I trust him to guide what comes out of my mouth.

You have to believe that he will lead you in real time.

This is probably the biggest hindrance that I have observed to people acknowledging that they are acquainted with the Holy Spirit.

Somehow we're able to believe that we receive Christ as our Savior and now think that everything is on us and nothing could be further from the truth.

So after this podcast episode on the Holy Spirit Part two, we're going to go into a series on the fruit of the Spirit, which is also produced by the Holy Spirit.

Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control.

You know, all those good things, and these are not qualities that we can generate in our own strength.

They are supernatural expressions of God's character grown in us by the Holy Spirit.

He empowers us to live a life that reflects God's heart and a life that is marked by these qualities.

And he also gives us spiritual gifts, unique abilities to serve God and others.

And these gifts are not for our own glory, but for the building up of the body of Christ and for the demonstration of God's love to the world.

The Holy Spirit empowers us to use these gifts for his purposes.

So living the selah life is about creating space for God to work in us.

And the Holy Spirit is the one who does that work.

He transforms us from the inside out, making us more like Jesus.

He is the one that enables us to pause, to listen, to receive, and to respond to God's presence in every moment.

He is the source for our spiritual growth, the one who makes it possible to live a life that truly honors God and blesses others.

The Holy Spirit is not only active in our present.

But he is also our guarantee for the future.

He is referred to as the deposit guaranteeing our inheritance according to Ephesians 1, chapter 14.

And this means that the Holy Spirit living within us is God's down payment, his seal of ownership, and his promise that everything he has prepared for us in eternity will indeed come to pass.

And this was a game changer for me.

This brings immense hope and assurance, especially in the world that we live in that's filled with so many things that are not sure.

The Holy Spirit is the one that gives us a foretaste of heaven, a glimpse of the glory that awaits us.

He fills us with a hope that goes way beyond our present circumstances, a hope that is grounded in God's unfailing promises.

When we feel discouraged or when the future seems oh so shaky, the Holy Spirit reminds us of God's faithfulness and his ultimate plan for our lives.

He gives us the strength to persevere, knowing that our labor in the Lord is never in vain.

The Holy Spirit empowers us to live with an eternal perspective.

He reminds us that our true home is not here and that our ultimate reward is to be with Christ forever.

This perspective changes how we live our lives today.

It motivates us to live with purpose, to invest in things that have eternal value, and to live in a way that honors God in our decisions.

You cannot and will not have any real connection with the promises that come after this life without the Holy Spirit's help.

So how do we deepen our relationship with this incredible person, the kindest person that I know.

It requires simple, intentional steps and an invitation.

Just as with any relationship, it grows through communication, attention, and spending time together.

God once told me that he wanted me to pursue Him.

And the thought that came into my mind after that was when I was in my very early days of high school.

I would be on a landline phone with said boyfriend that I was never even allowed to have.

And because we didn't want to hang up the phone, we would literally fall on the phone, fall asleep on the phone, hearing each other breathe.

That is how committed we were to staying on that telephone.

You falling asleep and are you sleep?

No.

Are you sleep?

No.

And I couldn't do anything but laugh.

But I got the point that he was saying, I want you to pursue me like something that matters to you.

And when you do that, you are going to find me because I've been here all along.

So what are some ways, some practical ways that we can deepen our relationship with the Holy Spirit.

Well, first and foremost, we can acknowledge his presence.

The very first step is to simply acknowledge that he is there.

And he is there because the Bible says that he is there.

The Holy Spirit lives within every believer.

You can begin your day by acknowledging his presence.

Say, good morning, Holy Spirit, I welcome you today.

Throughout your day, remember that he's with you.

When you face decisions, hard decisions, easy decisions, acknowledge his presence and ask for his guidance.

And just by acknowledging him, that will change so many things in your perspective.

By listening and obeying his leading, the Holy Spirit speaks in so many ways.

Through Scripture, through nudges, through peace, through unease, through conviction, through wise counsel, through preachers, teachers, pastors, lawyers.

Learn to listen for his voice.

And this does take practice.

You can spend time in quiet reflection asking him to speak to you.

When you sense his leading, even in small things, choose to obey.

Obedience builds trust and opens the door for him to reveal more of Himself to you.

The more you listen and obey, the clearer his voice becomes.

Praying in the Spirit and this is another one of my favorites, the Bible encourages us to pray in the Spirit.

This can refer to praying with understanding, guided by the Spirit, or it can refer to praying in tongues.

Both are powerful ways to connect with the Holy Spirit.

When we pray in the Spirit, we are allowing him to pray through us, often expressing things our mind simply cannot fully grasp.

This deepens our intimacy with God and builds us up spiritually.

We can get to know him better by studying the Word.

The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth and he illuminates God's Word.

Spend time regularly reading and meditating on scripture, asking the Holy Spirit to reveal its meaning to you.

He will bring verses to life, connect truth and give you fresh insights.

I cannot tell you how many times I have read a scripture.

And we gonna just say in Genesis, read the Scripture a million times.

And the million and one time I read it, I'm like, that wasn't in there.

It was totally in there the entire time, just in that moment.

It was something that he needed me to see for my life right then.

The Bible is a living word and the Holy Spirit makes it alive to us.

He helps us to app its truths to our daily lives.

You can yield to his influence.

The Holy Spirit desires to change us, to make us more like Jesus.

And this requires us to yield to his influence.

It means that we're able to surrender our desires, our ways of thinking and our control, and allow him to lead.

And this sounds, when people say things like this, they say it like it's just easy to do.

If you've thought a certain way for a long time now, you can just unthink it.

And I not saying that what I've done when I realize that I need a paradigm shift, I need a mindset change that there's something that I've been thinking for a long time and I just think that I ask him to help me change my mind once he shows me that the way that I'm thinking is not correct.

Lord, help me, Holy Spirit, help me to change my mind.

And I promise you, he comes in and does just that.

When you feel a conviction about something or a prompting to do something, choose to yield.

This act of surrender helps you find your true self in him, and it allows him to cultivate what serves you and prune away what does not serve you.

And last but not least, and my favorite, you can practice Selah moments.

Selah moments are intentional pauses to reflect, realign and remember God's presence.

These moments are perfect for opportunities to connect with the Holy Spirit.

In your salah moments, invite him to speak, to comfort and to guide.

These pauses create that space for him to work and to speak and to make you different.

So we will move on to our Scripture spotlight and today it comes From Romans chapter 8, verses 14 through 16 and it says, for as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God.

For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out Abba.

Father, the Spirit himself bears witness with our Spirit that we are children of God.

Yeah, I love this passage of scripture.

This passage reveals three critical things about the Holy Spirit's work in our lives.

Led by the Spirit.

So being led by the Holy Spirit is the mark of being God's child.

This means the Holy Spirit's guidance in our lives is normal Christian living.

It is not super ordinary.

It is not super spiritual.

It is the mark of being his child.

If you belong to God, you can expect His Spirit to lead you.

This leading might come anyway.

Any.

Any.

It can come in numerous ways.

But you can be expected to be led by His Spirit, the Spirit of adoption.

The Holy Spirit doesn't bring us into bondage.

He brings us into the family of God.

The word Abba is an intimate term, like saying daddy or papa.

The Holy Spirit enables us to approach God with the confidence and intimacy of a child.

And he bears witness.

The Holy Spirit confirms in our hearts that we belong to God.

When doubts come about your salvation or your standing with God, it is the Holy Spirit whispers that reminds us of our identity.

He settles our hearts with the assurance that we are truly God's children.

This passage of Scripture shows us that the Holy Spirit's work in our lives is very personal and relational.

He is not just empowering us for ministry.

He confirms our identity and he's helping us to live as the children that we are.

So we will move on to this week's pause prompts.

And I'm going to say this every time.

Pause prompts are never meant to be condemning.

That is not the goal.

It is only to take inventory of where we are so that we can move onward and upward.

So here we go.

When you pray for others, do you ever feel led to pray for specific things that you wouldn't have thought of on your own?

And what was that experience like?

How do you typically respond when you sense the Holy Spirit prompting you to reach out to someone, pray for someone, or share something specific?

Do you act on those promptings or dismiss them?

If you believed that the Holy Spirit wanted to use your words to bring life and hope to others, how would that change the way you approach your daily conversation?

And last but not least, what fears do you carry about being used by God to minister to others?

Do you feel qualified or unqualified for the Holy Spirit to work through you?

So now it is time for my favorite part of the podcast and that is our Selah Moment moment.

So let us move on into that.

This is our opportunity to surrender our words and conversations to the Holy Spirit's leading.

So you can begin by placing your hand over your mouth and saying, holy Spirit, I invite you to speak through me.

Take a moment moment to acknowledge that your words by themselves cannot bring life or transformation to others.

Only the Holy Spirit can take your words and breathe his power into them.

Ask the Holy Spirit to give you sensitivity to his promptings throughout your day.

Pray for ears to hear when he wants to guide your conversation and a heart that's quick to obey his leading.

Breathe in the truth that the same Spirit who empowered Jesus lives in you.

You have access to wisdom, his love, and his power to speak life into every situation.

Make a commitment to follow the Holy Spirit's leading in your conversations today, even if his prompting seems simple or unexpected.

Trust that he knows what each person needs to hear.

And we thank him in advance for the ways he will work through your words today, even though you may not see all the fruit fruit of his work immediately.

So, Holy Spirit, thank you for wanting to partner with me in ministering to others.

I confess that sometimes I forget you want to work through my ordinary conversations and daily interactions.

Help me remember that you can take my simple words and use them to bring hope, encouragement and truth to people who need to hear from you.

Give me sensitivity to your promptings throughout my day.

When you want me to speak, help me speak.

When you want me to listen, help me listen.

When you want me to pray for someone, give me the courage to do it.

When you want me to share your love and practical ways, show me how.

Let my words carry your life and power.

Use my mouth to speak your heart to everyone I encounter.

Help me trust that when I yield to your leading, you will do far more through me than I could ever do on my own and it is in Jesus name that we pray and it is so we are going to sink into our Selah moment.

Well my friends, that brings us to the end of today's episode.

Thank you for listening to Living the Selah life.

If this moment stirred something in your spirit, share it with someone who needs to be reminded to pause and listen.

You can connect with me on Instagram, a Facebook group or YouTube at Living the Selah Life or email me your story to Living the Selah liferoton me.

That's livingtheselah Life at P R O T O N Me.

So until next time, remember that God is speaking.

He wants to guide you and direct you and give you his wisdom for your life.

Create space to listen.

Be patient with yourself as you learn and trust that the same God who spoke the universe into existence want to speak into your ordinary life.

May you go from this place rested in spirit, carrying the awareness that his presence is always near.

May you be rooted in the unshakable word of God, the Logos that ground you, and the rhema that guides you.

For man does not live by bread alone, but every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.

And may you keep rising into the life he designed for you, into purpose, into peace, into the fullness of his calling.

May your life become a living Selah, an intentional pause that reveals his presence in Jesus name.

Amen.

Selah.

Sam.

Sa.