Dmitriy Leo, senior pastor of Father’s Blessing Church, shared a message: “An Important Word About Communing with the Holy Spirit.” An excerpt from the online “Healing, Freedom, Breakthrough” service dated November 27, 2021
An Important Word About Communing with the Holy Spirit
Like many other people, I practice spending time in the secret place. And when you have been doing this for a long time, you try to improve the time you spend with the Lord so that it will be effective. So the question I have been asking for the past two weeks is one of several questions: “Father, what will help me hear the Holy Spirit better?” That is how I phrased it.
What will help me hear the Holy Spirit better? What?! Because I can come and worship. If that will help me hear the Holy Spirit better, I will come and worship. I can come and remain silent, waiting and contemplating. I can come, start reading the Word, and wait for the Holy Spirit to begin speaking. I can come and simply pray in tongues, pray, pray, pray until the Holy Spirit speaks clearly. So the question for the Lord was: “What will help me hear the Holy Spirit better?” And for two weeks I received no answer.
I already know that if there is no answer to a question for a long time, the question is wrong. And this is very important.
Take note of this. I eventually receive answers to many such questions, but I understand that the answer did not come immediately because I was waiting for a specific answer.
And then, after two weeks of asking questions on this subject, I received the answer: “Do not look for the best way to do this. What matters is not HOW you do it; what matters is WHAT you do. Come and commune.” And I was completely satisfied with the answer. Because I was asking, “How? Which way is best?” But the Lord showed mercy and answered my foolish question after all. “How does not matter. What matters is the action. Come and commune.” Just do it. And He will speak in different ways, at different times, and in different circumstances.
I simply wanted to pass this on to you because it is very important. People say, “I keep asking and asking.” Or some say, “Is this the right way? Do I need to do this first?” Others say, “No, the right way is to do it like this; then you will hear.” Others say, “No, you have to start only with this.” I do not know how it will be for you; perhaps this will be useful to you, perhaps not. But I was told, “Do not look for how; do not look for a method. Just come and commune.” It took all the pressure off me.
When you close yourself away in the secret place, you think, “So, what should I do now? I can do different things right now.” Right? Different things! Which one is better? Here is what is better: commune!
And the second question I will answer now concerns communicating with the Holy Spirit. People say, “What should I do when there are thoughts, thoughts, thoughts?” You cannot do anything with your thoughts; they keep you from listening. Here is what I have found for myself, the way out, the solution: if I come into the secret place and try to listen to the Holy Spirit, but thoughts get in the way, I start interrupting them with prayer—praying either in tongues or in the Spirit.
After some time, I calm down. I do not pray endlessly. I came to listen. Then I calm down and try to determine whether I have quieted and subdued my thoughts. If everything is calm, the waves have subsided, the winds are no longer blowing—that is, there are no thoughts and my mind is at peace—then it is safe to listen to the Holy Spirit.
But if thoughts are still bubbling up like geysers—“I need to do this… I’ll go there… I’ll do that…”—then you need to write them down. After writing them down, pray again—pray in tongues, pray about something, intercede—and check again. If silence still does not come, and your thoughts are still bubbling up, then I have learned to say, “Don’t waste your time.” This means that today, this morning, is not your time to listen to God. So simply intercede and pray.
I spent a lot of time simply fighting my thoughts. Two hours passed, you leave your time of solitude, and realize that you have not received a single letter—you were fighting your thoughts. It would have been better to spend that time interceding for someone. How many problems do you have? There is plenty to pray about! Pray for people! He wants this! When you bless and pray, you change people’s lives. God hears you. Pray for someone, intercede, declare various good things over people’s lives, and declare the Word of God.
So here is the answer: if you feel that you cannot control your thoughts, then, so as not to waste your time of solitude, spend it in prayer, spend it in intercession, or pray in tongues. You will gain more from it. But if, on the contrary, you come and there is silence, your thoughts are calm—that is, nothing is bubbling up yet—then do not waste this precious time saying, “Lord, now let’s go through the list. I have this…” Do not waste your time. This is the most precious time, because you have silence. Your fleshly nature is still asleep. That is why getting up early is so good.
This is based on my experience; I am simply sharing it, and perhaps it will be useful to you. I come in right away and sit in my chair. I have a royal chair in my room of solitude. Do you know what it is? It is simply a stool you cannot fall asleep on. Because if you sit in a chair, you will fall asleep when you get up early—for example, at 5 a.m. Maybe you will not physically fall asleep, but you will doze off and stop paying attention to the Lord. On a stool, you have to maintain your balance, so you do not sleep.
So I immediately sit on the stool and close my eyes so they do not catch sight of anything. My secret place is in the dressing room. That way I do not think, “This needs touching up, those things need to be arranged neatly…” I close my eyes, and there is silence. And then it is the best time. The best time! You say, “Oh, Holy Spirit, I so want to communicate with You. I so want to learn something. Convict me, speak to me, correct me. I am so glad to hear You.” And there is silence. It is wonderful.
Then, when you hear something, you come out happy; you do not need money—God is speaking to you. So make use of the time when you have silence. And conversely, if everything is bubbling up, use that time effectively: pray through thoroughly, intercede, and you will come out of your time of solitude happy.
