Is The Holy Spirit Pricking You?

Jesus asked Saul on the road to Damascus why he persecuted Him (Acts 9:4).

 

You don’t have to be an unbeliever like Saul was for Jesus to ask you this question. 

 

Jesus also told Saul not to kick against the pricks in Acts 9:5 in the KJV and NKJV translations. This statement to Saul is not included in most other translations. 

 

The Holy Spirit knows our human nature. We are tempted to kick against the pricks of the Holy Spirit, guiding us toward what is best for our lives. Our natural mind kicks against His revelation of truth because the natural mind can’t understand it. 

 

The truth of God’s Word comes against what is not true. It reveals any untruth that is real within us. What we believe becomes who we are (Proverbs 23:7). If we believe anything that comes against the truth the Holy Spirit wishes to reveal to us, then the thing we believe is a lie on which we have based our lives. We can’t rationalize God’s truth with our natural minds. The only way we can understand God’s truth is with the spiritual mind that is ours in Christ (1 Corinthians 2:14–16).

 

Is the Holy Spirit pricking you about something you believe? Is He trying to reveal something new to you through God’s Word? Does this something challenge what you believe?  Will you pray about it? Will you test it with other Scripture? Will you be open to the Holy Spirit and not rush Him by needing an immediate answer? If what you believe is a lie, you want it out of your life. You can’t judge His Word with your natural mind. You can only understand it spiritually.

It is only when we allow the Holy Spirit to reveal to us the truth of God’s Word that we can know if what we believe is based on tradition or on His truth. If what we have believed is God’s truth, it will withstand the test. If what we have believed is not His truth, we need to realize that any change doesn’t happen quickly. Renewing our minds with God’s truth until we believe it in our hearts is a process. To be conformed to His image, we must intentionally, persistently, and continually seek His truth (Romans 12:1–2).

 

God can handle your questioning. Perhaps the Holy Spirit is pricking something you believe. God's truth will always prevail. But it will only prevail in your life when you allow it to challenge any belief you hold on to that is not His truth. 

 

God’s Word is the final authority, but it makes no difference if we don’t understand it. His truth only becomes our truth when we choose to believe it by faith—when we take possession of it and make it ours.

 

No matter how much head knowledge we may have, it can never be the revelation of God’s truth, taking root in our heart and changing us.

Dare to seek God’s truth. Dare the Word to challenge what you have always believed. Dare to become God’s revelation in His Word. His Word is final, finished, and unchanging. Yet, it is a living Word, breathed into you by the Holy Spirit. Don’t persecute His truth. Allow His truth to prick and challenge you. Allow Jesus to come to life within you.