The leadership of the Holy Spirit

We embrace the full work of the Holy Spirit as essential for transformation and fruitfulness. We are surrendered to the Holy Spirit’s leadership and committed to instant, joyful obedience!

The full work of the Holy Spirit is something YWAM Lancaster sees as a crucial part of our day-to-day lives. We believe that the Holy Spirit is an individual who is part of the Trinity. He works in unity with the Father and Jesus, and He, just like them, is His own individual.

We recognize that the way He “works” is typically very different from how we would choose to operate on our own. This is why we find it extremely important to yield to His direction instead of rushing forward with our own plans. This value impacts our corporate moments, different ministries, and our personal lives.

Corporate moments. 

Our entire community comes together for times of worship throughout the week. During these corporate gatherings, we individually ask the Holy Spirit if there is anything specific He wants to do or show us that morning. This can influence the songs we sing, the Bible verses we read, and how and what we pray for. 

It can be all too easy to arrive with our own thoughts or agendas, but the mornings are so much better when we step back and allow Him to lead. As we desire to encounter God, the Holy Spirit guides us in how to get there.

Ministry teams. 

After our worship times, our campus transitions into its various ministries. No matter the meeting, workspace, or role, we prioritize pausing to ask the Holy Spirit if there’s anything He wants to speak, add, or change in our plans for the day. 

Often, He brings unexpected insight. Each day, we strive to invite Him into our work and partner with Him in all we do.

Personal time. 

These examples barely scratch the surface of the personal, moment-to-moment thoughts and decisions each person can invite Him into throughout their day. While corporate and ministry moments are vital for partnering with the Holy Spirit, the time spent alone with Him is even more essential. In these quiet moments, we cultivate intimacy with God, learn to be aware of His voice, and practice simple obedience—an intimacy and responsiveness we can then carry into every other area of life. 

Jesus’ partnership with the Holy Spirit 

We can actually see a clear example of the Spirit leading Jesus when He went into the wilderness for 40 days:

“Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.” —Matthew 4:1

Jesus, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, was led by another. This is significant because one might assume that Jesus was capable of doing things on His own. Instead, He chose to work in partnership with the Spirit, whom He trusted enough to lead Him, even into temptation by His greatest enemy.

​​The Holy Spirit can be an intimidating topic in the church because many imagine Him as wild, crazy, and riding solo. However, contrary to those assumptions, we see throughout the Gospels that the Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit all work together in perfect unity. The Holy Spirit is moved by compassion and operates in harmony with the other two.

In John 16:13, Jesus says, “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears (from Jesus) he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.” 

So let’s cast aside any fear of the Holy Spirit and remember that Jesus is working closely with the Spirit to bring all of us to Himself and the Father. If you trust Jesus, you can trust the Spirit as well.

Gifts of the Holy Spirit 

At the beginning of this blog, you read that we embrace the full work of the Holy Spirit. You learned how we make space for Him to lead us, speak to us, empower us, and change our plans. We know that without the Spirit, we can only go so far, but with His empowerment, the ministry of Jesus moves forward, and the spread of the gospel is advanced.

We fully believe in 1 Corinthians 12:4-11 and desire that the Holy Spirit would feel free to show up on any occasion, giving His gifts to His people.

“Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.” Let’s break down the rest of the chapter:

“For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom.” 

Have you ever had a mentor or know someone who seems wise beyond their years? This is a gift from the Lord! When others may not know what to do in a certain situation, He gives someone the gift of wisdom to know what to do or say. It’s not their own wisdom but one that comes from God. 

“To another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit.” 

We all desire to be seen by God. When God gifts someone with knowledge, it is an act of God speaking something to that person about someone or a group of people that they had not previously known. Why is this one of the gifts the Spirit gives? Because He is so personal and loves to show us that He sees us.

“To another faith by the same Spirit.”

Faith is the direct opposite of worry, which Jesus tells us not to do in Luke 12. Faith is having confidence that God will show up in times of need. It’s “the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen,” according to Hebrews 11. 

A person with a high ability to walk in faith is someone who, by the Spirit, can see not through their eyes or circumstances but through the lens of God’s good character, believing He is who He says He is. Ultimately, it’s a gift of deep trust in God—something others may find more difficult to do.

“To another, gifts of healing by the one Spirit.”

Jesus healed throughout the Gospels. He healed lepers (Matthew 8), the blind (John 9), the paralyzed (Mark 2), and the minds of demon-possessed men and women (Mark 5 and Luke 8). 

To this very day, through His Spirit, He can use people to do the same. Whether it is mental, physical, or spiritual, through His name, people have the power to heal.

 “To another the working of miracles.” 

Aside from the miracle of God creating the world and everything in it, He repeatedly takes something from almost nothing and makes something new that did not previously exist. We can see this in the story of Jesus turning water into wine (John 2), where He makes something new from a small thing. 

In Matthew 14, we see Him take five loaves of bread and two fish, ultimately feeding 5,000! These are miracles, and God will still work miracles through people by the gift of His Spirit!

“To another prophecy.”

Did you know that 1 Corinthians 14 says to desire the gifts of the Spirit, especially prophecy? This must be a gift that God loves to give! Why? Because the purpose of prophecy is to strengthen and encourage God’s people. God doesn’t want His church to be weak and tired but encouraged and strengthened because He loves us. 1 Corinthians 14:3 says: “One who prophesies strengthens others, encourages them, and comforts them.”

“To another the ability to distinguish between spirits.” 

Have you ever been in a situation—maybe in a church service or during a conversation with someone—and noticed that something seems wrong or not in alignment with God? This could be a gift of discernment. God helps us in situations like this by showing us what is going on in someone’s life or what spirits might be attacking them. He helps us confront or call out the works of the enemy over that person. 

Of course, we do this being led by God and with love in our hearts toward the person. God desires their freedom and uses your ability to discern to lead them into freedom. The enemy has the deceptive ability to communicate something out of alignment with God’s character that sounds good to people’s ears. If you notice something inside of you saying, “This isn’t God,” that would be a good time to ask Him what He wants to say and how you should respond to this discernment.

“To another, various kinds of tongues.”

Speaking to God in tongues is a way of connecting with Him and strengthening your own Spirit. Sometimes, we don’t know how to pray on our own and can be at a loss for words. Asking the Holy Spirit to show us how to pray may lead to praying in tongues, where He shows us how to pray even when we don’t understand ourselves.

Romans 8:26 says: “The Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.”

In 1 Corinthians 14, it says: “For if you have the ability to speak in tongues, you will be talking only to God, since people won’t be able to understand you. You will be speaking by the power of the Spirit, but it will all be mysterious. A person who speaks in tongues is strengthened personally.”

“To another the interpretation of tongues.”

Tongues can be spoken in corporate settings; however, we are given some ground rules within that setting. While some may perceive this aspect of the Holy Spirit as chaotic, we can read in 1 Corinthians 14:27-28 that with tongues, there is also order:

“If anyone speaks in a tongue, two—or at the most three—should speak, one at a time, and someone must interpret. If there is no interpreter, the speaker should keep quiet in the church and speak to himself and to God.”

This gift, once again, is meant to bring encouragement to the church.

Coming toward the end of 1 Corinthians 12, we are reminded that:

“All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as He wills.” 

So, we allow it. We make space and provide the opportunity for the Spirit to freely give us gifts that will better ourselves, our churches, and our community of believers. We should not pick and choose the parts of the Bible that make us most comfortable; instead, we should desire for our boxes of comfort to be broken so that we can encounter God in greater ways. If we pick and choose, we limit how much we can truly know God—to an extent He longs for us to experience. 

This is why we welcome His full work, even when it sometimes feels uncomfortable. He is trustworthy, and He gives us these gifts to love others, to grow in unity with each other, and to grow closer to God Himself. 

So be encouraged! Seek the Holy Spirit in your daily life. Trust Him and see how He leads you! 

Want to grow in your faith and experience the work of the Holy Spirit? Join our Discipleship Training School and step into a deeper relationship with God while being equipped for missions and ministry!