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Trust the Holy Spirit and His Prompting

By: Dana Parrish

Posted: May 17, 2016

Category: Daily Devotional

As for Philip an angel of the Lord said to him,” Go south” down the desert road that runs from Jerusalem to Gaza. So he started out, and he met the treasurer of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under the Canda’ce, the queen of Ethiopia. The eunuch had gone to Jerusalem to worship and he was now returning. Seated in his carriage, he was reading aloud from the book of the prophet Isaiah.

The Holy Spirit said to Philip,” Go over and walk along beside the carriage.” Acts 8: 26-29

How often has the Holy Spirit nudged us to do something seemingly simple and we were left wondering why? In this passage the Holy Spirit tells Philip to simply go and walk beside the carriage. I wonder if Philip was wondering why. Or maybe Philip was so accustomed to following the prompting of the Holy Spirit he quit asking why and just did as he was told.

We must, as followers of Jesus Christ, become so accustomed to following the Holy Spirit that we stop asking why and just do it. My prayer is that I see God and his miracles and blessings so much that nothing seems impossible for God. I am reading a book by Pricilla Shirer “God is Able”. The premise of the book is that in our intellectual minds we know God can do all things, but we don’t live like he can do all things. This is a human problem that we all struggle with from time to time in our lives. God is able to do all things and if we believe that with our entire beings then  when the Holy Spirit prompts us to act on his prompting we will do it without question, trusting that God knows what he is doing even if we can’t see the plan.

“Philip ran over and heard the man reading form the prophet Isaiah. Philip asked,” Do you understand what you are reading?”

The man replied,” How can I, unless someone instructs me?” And he urged Philip to come up into the carriage and sit with him.  The eunuch asked Philip,” Tell me, was the prophet talking about himself or someone else?” So, beginning with this same Scripture, Philip told him the Good News about Jesus. Acts 8” 30-35

If Philip had hesitated about following the Holy Spirit he would have missed an opportunity to spread the Good News. May we never hesitate to follow the nudge of the Holy Spirit lest we miss an opportunity to spread His Word.  God gives us the opportunity to do all that he asks, all we have to do is be obedient.

Prayer

Gracious God. Help us to be about Kingdom things and not worldly things. Help us not to hesitate when we are prompted by the Holy Spirit and follow in simple obedience. We know that isn’t always easy, but it is simple. I pray for Your courage and strength to be obedient and never miss an opportunity to spread Your Good News.  In Jesus Name,  Amen.