The Spirit can sound like a mysterious thing that gets talked about in Church because you can’t see it but somehow it’s moving all around us and filling us up… You can imagine trying to disciple a non-christian in understanding this could be quite hard.
But it’s one of the most exciting parts of following Jesus. Because of the Spirit we can see physical healing, we can forgive others, God can speak to us through one another in prophetic ways and, ultimately, we can be transformed to be more like Jesus. The Holy Spirit is amazing!
So, where do you begin introducing someone to the Spirit? The best model is shown in the book of Acts, when people decided to follow Jesus they would be prayed for to be filled with the Spirit. Loads of things would then happen from speaking in tongues to prophesying and some even went to share the good news with others. Sometimes it can look completely different and someone might feel a deep sense of peace or joy. However it looks, a great way to begin is by simply making time to pray for the person you're discipling.
Another thing to think about is how we can understand who the Spirit is and how we relate to it. Going through Bible passages that specifically talk about the Spirit, like in the Book of Acts and the Gospels, can be really helpful for providing a framework of understanding how we practice engaging with the Spirit.
Worship is another great way of meeting with the Spirit (I’ll also talk about this in the fourth blog of the series which is on prayer). It’s not that the Spirit only moves when we worship and pray but these are ways we can focus our attention on God, giving him our praise and allowing space for him to move. So, introduce your friend to worship music and find some songs that help them focus on making space for the Spirit to move.
I mentioned praying in tongues, prophesying and physical healing. These are some of what we’d call Spiritual Gifts. There are a huge range of gifts that the Spirit gives us from Leadership, Discernment and Faith (see 1 Corinthians 12 and Romans 12). Sometimes the best way to learn about these things is to practice them. If someone wants to learn more about the prophetic, help them practice how to prophesy. If they want to see physical healing, see if you know any people who want to be prayed for. The Spirit is alive and moving. Living with the Spirit is one of the most exciting things about being a Christian so as you disciple someone, help them practice living with the Spirit.
