God the Holy Spirit, Mentor's Guide, MG14

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G O D T H E H O L Y S P I R I T

The Role of the Holy Spirit in Spiritual Guidance (continued)

(2) The role of attention.

I make it my business to persevere in his Holy presence, wherein I keep myself by a simple attention and a general fond regard to God, which I may call an ACTUAL PRESENCE of God; or, to speak better, an habitual, silent, and secret conversation of the soul with God, which often causes me joys and raptures inwardly, and sometimes also outwardly, so great that I am forced to use means to moderate them and prevent their appearance to others.

~ Brother Lawrence quoted in Dallas Willard. Hearing God .

(3) A Prayer from Saint Anselm of Canterbury (1033-1109).

Teach me to seek you And as I seek you, show yourself to me, For I cannot seek you unless you show me how, And I will never find you unless you show yourself to me.

Let me seek you by desiring you, And desire you by seeking you; Let me find you by loving you, And love you in finding you. Amen.

IV. For further reading:

Richard J. Foster. Chapter 12. “Guidance.” Celebration of Discipline: The Path to Spiritual Growth . San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1998. Gordon T. Smith. The Voice of Jesus: Discernment, Prayer and the Witness of the Spirit . Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2003

Charles Stanley. How to Listen to God . Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1985.

Mark Water. Knowing God’s Will Made Easier . Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1998.