"Listening to the Holy Spirit"

Quenching the Holy Spirit

Its possible for a believer to quench the Spirit. Quenching the Spirit is suffocating, extinguishing or suppressing the influence of the Holy Spirit in your life. Quenching the Holy Spirit can happen when you hear him speak to you but you don't translate that into action.

Do not quench the Spirit;- 1 Thessalonians 5:19

The easiest way to quench the work of the Holy Spirit in your life is by applying reasoning and using logic on anything he says and selectively using only parts of it.

Fear:
When you fear anything but God, you are giving room for the Holy Spirit to be quenched. You need to remember that the God you worship is greater than any person, situation, demonic force and satan himself. There is a good chance that your fear will prevent you from doing the Will of God.

Unbelief:
This attitude can also put off the Holy Spirit. It is when you do not believe what God is capable of. You trust God exists but are not sure if He can do what He claims. Its futile to selectively believe only what you want to believe and and doubt other things when it comes to God.

Control:
The mark of a good christian walk is to allow God direct and control your life as opposed to you telling God what to do. It is in our nature to try to control everything be it people, situations, events and outcomes. You have to learn to trust God and believe that He has your best interests in mind. The moment you take back control from God and start doing your own thing you quench the Holy Spirit

Unwillingness to yield:
You always have your free will, at any point of time you can choose to do whatever you want with your life. Many times what you want and what God wants for you are going to be different. Choosing what you want over what God wants is a sure way of quenching the Holy Spirit. You need to understand that God knows the past, present and future. He also know the hearts of others and uses all this knowledge when deciding something for you. It is simply impossible for you as a human being to think at that level. You need to yield your life to God for Him to be able to make a serious difference.

REAL LIFE INSPIRATION

There was a man who was Spirit filled and loved God. He also loved the world, and pleasures of the body. He was once able to speak clearly to God and was guided by God almost in every step of his life. Deep down he began taking this for granted, although God was patient with His sin issues, God wanted him to repent.
This man was addicted to pornography, he used to spend a good amount of time watching pornography both from tapes and on the internet. He also was in the habit of visiting prostitutes. Although God was willing to help him overcome, he secretly liked what he was doing. He ignored repeated warnings and calls to change. God was patient and guided him in spite of all this for a long time.
Then one day about 25 years later, he woke up and realized that the joy inside his heart had gone. He no longer felt the peace he once had and he could feel that the Holy Spirit was no longer with him. The emptiness was too much for him to bear. His life lost meaning, he tried hard to get back in fellowship with God but he no longer gets a response. He has shared his testimony with people, prayed and pleaded with God and was willing to repent but silence is all he got.The fact that he is still convicted of his sins shows that he is not completely forsaken. He still has a chance to get back with God, but it is a hard and painful lesson he had to learn. Losing fellowship with someone as precious as the Holy Spirit is one of the saddest thing that can happen to you in this life.

LIFE APPLICATION

*Make an effort and realize when your actions quench the Spirit
*Be willing to be challenged by God and step outside your comfort zone
*Realize that God is always in control and learn to let go and stop trying to be a control freak.