At the moment, I am trying to lose weight and stick to a tight financial budget.

The two things are tricky for me; I often spend money when I am feeling out of control, when I am feeling bored, or when I am feeling rushed off my feet. Plus, I tend to eat when I’m stressed, or feeling guilty.

It would appear I am emotionally driven, on a regular basis.

The ‘Emotionally-Driven’ Cycle

Here’s the cycle: I feel tired and overwhelmed by my to-do list – I go to Tesco – I spend money, which I’ve not budgeted to spend – I get stressed about the overspend – I eat cake – I feel guilty for eating cake – I try to use willpower to not eat another piece of cake – pretty soon, all I can think about is cake (!) – I eat another slice.

I know that this cycle isn’t good for my soul. But when I’m in it, I just can’t seem to get out.

I don’t know if you have ever played the game ‘mouse trap’? It is a board game whereby you have to get your little ‘mouse’ across various obstacles without getting trapped. I sometimes feel like I am trying to dodge various thoughts, using my willpower to resist temptation to eat or spend. Yet, my willpower isn’t good enough to overcome negative thoughts and dodge the trap of temptation.

I need the Holy Spirit.

Who is the Holy Spirit?

Here’s the thing: God is three in one. Father, Son and Spirit.

God the Father is creator of the universe. The Great I Am. Your Heavenly Father who knows every detail about you. Your proud dad; He is like any good dad who gushes over their precious child.

Jesus the Son is a best friend. So much so that He died on a cross to save you from guilt, shame and condemnation. He took the wrath so you wouldn’t have to. Like a loving sibling, He stands right next to you when things get messy, holding your hand.

Holy Spirit is described as an advocate (John 14:26, NIV). A helper. The bible comments that your body is a temple for the Holy Spirit to dwell in (1 Corinthians 6:19 NIV) – that means, Holy Spirit lives on the inside of you, if you ask Him to.

He can prompt you, convict you, give you gifts and fill you with the presence of the Lord. Amazing!

What can cloud the voice of the Holy Spirit?

So, if there is this empowering Holy Spirit on the inside of me, why do I struggle with my ‘mousetrap’ thoughts?

Here is the truth: all too often I forget who the Holy Spirit is.

It’s like this: I have a wonderful, loyal friend that lives about 70 miles away from me. If that friend didn’t speak to me at all for 2 months straight, I would contact her wondering whether she is OK.

Then, if I saw a happy picture of her on Facebook – knowing that she was using her phone to post on social media, but not to contact me – I would perhaps wonder what I had done to offend her. I would question: Are we still friends? Maybe she is mad at me?

Simply put, I would want my friend to speak to me. I would write texts, leave voicemails, visit her house. I would do all I can to have a conversation with my lovely friend, and keep the relationship alive.

But isn’t it odd that God gave me the biggest cheerleader ever, the greatest comfort and help on the inside of me – yet, I can go months without staying connected to Him, the Holy Spirit.

Quite simply, I forget that Jesus sent me a helper, a person to live on the inside me and fill me with life. I forget to ask for Holy Spirit to help me. I forget to stay connected to the one who gets me. The one who searches me, prompts me to live well and gives me what I need to overcome my old, negative thoughts and ways.

Getting to Know Holy Spirit

There is a movie called ‘The King and I’ (1956). My mum absolutely loves this movie. It’s about a widow called Anna that accepts a job as a live-in governess of the King of Siam’s 15 children.

In the movie, there is a song that Anna sings with the 15 children called ‘Getting to Know You’. It goes a bit like this:

Getting to know you
Getting to know all about you
Getting to like you
Getting to hope you like me

Getting to know you
Putting it my way
But nicely
You are precisely
My cup of tea

I wonder if we need to ‘get to know’ Holy Spirit, on a daily basis. Just like a friend, I think we need to get to know all about him.

How can we get to know Holy Spirit Using the Song ‘Getting to Know You’?

1. Read the Bible.

OK, so let’s think about the song ‘Getting to Know You’ from the movie ‘The King and I’. In the song, a governess sings to her brand new pupils, commenting that as she is getting to know them, she is getting to ‘like’ them.

I think we need to first get to like the Holy Spirit. Not see him as a weirdo, but our greatest supporter. The one who quite literally helps us out of mess, when we cannot scramble out ourselves.

So, how can we start to see the Holy Spirit as a likeable person rather than a spooky being?

I would suggest we simply need to see what the bible says about Holy Spirit.

• The Holy Spirit is Your Advocate.

But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. (John 14:26 NIV)

An advocate is someone who publically supports or recommends another person. In other words: the Holy Spirit is your biggest cheerleader. He knows everything about you. When you are sad, He will remind you that God is near to the broken hearted (Psalm 34: 18, NIV), when you are feeling self-critical Holy Spirit will remind you that you are fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139: 14 NIV).

Simply put, Holy Spirit is the kind voice inside of you, reminding you that God loves you. How amazing is that?

• Your Body is a Temple for the Holy Spirit.

Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own, (1 Corinthians 6:19 NIV).

Holy Spirit wants to fill you. God sent His son Jesus to die on a cross, to take away all of our sin. After Jesus paid the price for our sin, God raised Jesus to life through the power of the spirit. The resurrection means that you and I can come before God without any sin or shame in the way. There is nothing stopping you from connecting to God right where you are, today.

In fact, if you believe in Jesus Christ, you can ask the Holy Spirit to dwell in you – and believe me, there is nothing like it! Oneness with God is incredible. I can’t tell you how many hours I’ve spent over the years just sitting, dwelling in God’s presence, asking Holy Spirit to fill every part of me.

• The Holy Spirit Waits to Be Asked Before He Moves in You.

If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!” (Luke 11:13  NIV).

Here’s the thing: we often make the mistake of thinking that Holy Spirit is intrusive. We’ve seen people shaking in church meetings and we think ‘that’s embarrassing, I don’t want the Holy Spirit to do that to me.’ But if you look at the bible, it makes it clear that God the Father will give you the Holy Spirit ‘to those who ask Him.’

Just as you have to ask to meet up with an old friend, you have to ask Holy Spirit to fill you, on a regular basis. He is so kind, He waits for your consent.

This week, my friend preached a message at church about the Holy Spirit. She reminded me that we have to pray to be filled with the Holy Spirit on a regular basis.

When she said this, I realised I hadn’t asked Holy Spirit to fill me for months!

So the next day I woke up and said, ‘Holy Spirit, fill me.’

That day, I was pushing my daughter in the pram, and God literally stopped me in my tracks to give me a helpful word about a project I was involved with, at church. When I shared the helpful word with my pastor at church, he confirmed it as from God and further equipped me to get ahead in this project. I don’t know if you’ve ever been stuck at work and then someone literally solves all your problems? That is exactly what it was like!

To top it off Holy Spirit reminded me of a promise God gave me 6 years ago. I felt encouraged, supported and renewed. But I had to ask Holy Spirit to fill me in the first place!

2. Trust His Goodness.

Going back to the ‘King and I’ movie, in the movie song ‘Getting to Know You,’ there is one line that Anna sings to the new children she is looking after. She says that she is ‘getting to hope you like me.’

Here’s the challenge: I think that we need to expect Holy Spirit to like us.

When I am in the shop buying something, I instantly feel like Holy Spirit hates me because I ‘didn’t listen to Him’. I then mistakenly think that the Holy Spirit is constantly out to correct me or make me feel like I am missing the mark.

That is a lie.

Yes, the Holy Spirit prompts you, and He can prompt you to purchase something.

But if you don’t do what Holy Spirit says, He does not then condemn you. The bible says:

There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. (Romans 8:1 KJV)

Start believing that Holy Spirit is on your side. If He’s asking you not to buy something it is usually because He has a better plan. If you buy the thing that Holy Spirit told you not to buy, He still very much loves you. Remember, God is love. He has mercy and grace for you in abundance, every day, (Lamentations 3: 22-23).

3. Receive Holy Spirit’s gifts.

Going back to ‘The King and I,’ Anna is a live-in nanny and teacher who tells to her new pupils that as she is getting to know them she discovers that they are: “precisely [her] cup of tea.” That means that she personally feels as though the kids are a good fit for her. They are exactly what she was hoping for. Her kind of people!

If you have a healthy relationship with the Holy Spirit, you will realise that He has tailor-made gifts for you. He is precisely your cup of tea!

What I am trying to say is: the same Holy Spirit lives on the inside of me and my husband, yet He helps us in different ways.

The Holy Spirit gives different gifts to individuals:

Now there are [distinctive] varieties of spiritual gifts [special abilities given by the grace and extraordinary power of the Holy Spirit operating in believers], but it is the same Spirit [who grants them and empowers believers], (1 Corinthians 12:4 AMP).

The bible continues:

To one is given through the [Holy] Spirit [the power to speak] the message of wisdom, and to another [the power to express] the word of knowledge and understanding according to the same Spirit; ⁹ to another [wonder-working] faith [is given] by the same [Holy] Spirit, and to another the [extraordinary] gifts of healings by the one Spirit; ¹⁰ and to another the working of ^[a]miracles, and to another prophecy [foretelling the future, speaking a new message from God to the people], and to another discernment of spirits [the ability to distinguish sound, godly doctrine from the deceptive doctrine of man-made religions and cults], to another various kinds of [unknown] tongues, and to another interpretation of tongues. ¹¹ All these things [the gifts, the achievements, the abilities, the empowering] are brought about by one and the same [Holy] Spirit, distributing to each one individually just as He chooses. (1 Corinthians 12:8-11 AMP).

For me, when Holy Spirit fills me I often find a get a prophetic word from God. I have also operated in the gift of healing before; which is a fancy way of saying I have prayed for people in Jesus name and they have been healed of their illnesses.

Once, I prayed for my husband’s throat to be healed as he kept getting tonsillitis and not only was he healed that day, he has never had it since! Thank you Jesus!

The point is: Holy Spirit has good gifts that are for you and will help you, personally.

No one else can have the relationship that you can have with the Holy Spirit. You need to come before Him and ask for His gifts. Meet with Him one-to-one and marvel as He does what you cannot do. It’s wonderful!

Conclusion

I want you to take one step – however small – to get to know the Holy Spirit.

Maybe you will read about Holy Spirit in the bible, or look up the verses I have referenced.

Maybe you will ask to be filled with Holy Spirit, right now. Just a small prayer is all it takes.

Or maybe you will ask Holy Spirit to give you one of His gifts. Maybe you will be able to speak wisdom over a friend’s tricky situation. Maybe Holy Spirit will give you wonder-working faith to see a breakthrough in your child’s life.

Whatever you do, don’t shut your computer off and think that this was just another nice, fluffy post about the things of God. Get connected to the Holy Spirit, get to know Him. Just like a friend, on a daily basis.

Feel free to send me any testimonies you might encounter as a result!