Find your rhythm.

Last week we talked about how good we have it with Holy Spirit living on the inside of us. So how do we live our lives now that we have Holy Spirit living on the inside of us?

We are currently doing a series at my church called “Abide” where our pastors have been teaching us what abiding in Jesus really looks like. You should go have a listen, it will change your life!

John 15:5 says, “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.” And Psalms 16:7-8 says, “The way you counsel me makes me praise you more, for your whispers in the night give me wisdom, showing me what to do next. Because I set you, Yahweh, always close to me, my confidence will never be weakened, for I experience your wraparound presence every moment.” 

When we hear about abiding in Jesus or living our lives aware of Holy Spirit’s Presence with us, we can easily think this means we need to lock the doors, close the curtains or the blinds and spend our days laying face flat on the ground worshipping God. Nothing could be further from the truth. Jesus, in His earth journey, received Holy Spirit at His baptism and yet He did not spend the rest of His time laying face flat in worship. He went about doing what He had been called to do.

Likewise, we can still go to our jobs and do what we are meant to do. We can do other things outside the four walls of our church and in fact we are meant to. We can spend time with people (otherwise how else are we going to fulfil the great commission). We can have full lives. However, we can’t live as though we are doing life on our own. It comes down to being aware that God is with us wherever we go. It is taking a moment in your day to speak with God. It does not need to be half a day of prayer and fasting. This is not about religious duty but relationship.

For example, I am genuinely not a morning person, and it takes my brain a moment to wake up. Sometimes I wake up in the morning and I am like, “Good morning Papa God, morning Jesus and morning Holy Spirit. Thank You for today and bless the week ahead!” Monday morning was one of those mornings for me, but that is rare. For the most part it takes me a while for my brain to kick in then I start chatting to Holy Spirit. Sometimes this is when I am walking to the bus in the morning or when I am on the train heading to work.

I used to feel so bad when I’d hear people say, “Oh I wake up at 4:00am and do my daily devotions and read my Bible for an hour just to get me ready for the day.” I wake up at the last possible moment with just enough time to get ready and leave the house. I’m not a breakfast person either so this is easy. Is there anything wrong with waking up early and doing your devotions and speaking with Jesus? Absolutely not. But abiding in God is about relationship it is not a formula.

If you know your friend or your child struggles in the morning, you are not going to try have a deep and meaningful conversation with them first thing in the morning. You will wait until later in the day when you know they have the capacity to engage in the conversation. God is the same with us. I don’t think I have had any deep revelations in the morning. Nighttime is where I shine. But through the day I will have many micro conversations with God. Sometimes long ones depending on how the day is going. Stressful days usually mean a lot more back and forth with God because I need a lot more help on those days and, also, I do not trust myself to make good decisions when I am stressed or tired.

It is easy to feel bad about going to God when we need help as we can easily feel like oh, I only go to God when I need something. But my pastors shared how with parents and children, the children could be playing and the parent is watching over them, they don’t talk to them all the time but when something happens the children always run back to tell them what’s happening, or they call out for help if they need it. That is a lot like us with God. We go about our day, we go to work to do our jobs, we may not be praying and weeping and worshipping the whole time but from time to time we check in when something is happening.

This does not mean we do not pray and spend time with God. We still do. We can worship God on our commute to work or in the shower or wherever works for you. There is no one size fits all. What matters is that you pray, talk to God, listen to God and do life with Him. Prayer is a conversation not a monologue of you talking and God listening. Trust me, you gain more from hearing one word from God than you do from you talking for hours on end.

We can’t ignore Holy Spirit all day and expect to abide in Jesus and have a flourishing relationship with Him; much like we cannot ignore our spouse or our friends and expect to have a good relationship with them. Our relationship with Holy Spirit develops over time. Getting to know God’s voice and what He sounds like happens over time. Give yourself time to get to know Holy Spirit by spending time in His Presence, talking to Him and listening to Him.

It is all about relationship. Find your rhythm with Holy Spirit.

Love and blessings,

Melissa Tsingano.