Monday: Holy Spirit Promptings
Daily Lesson for Monday 1st of June 2026
As he thought about the distance between himself and his wife, he knew that he had been wrong. He’d been unkind and harsh and had said some things he’d regretted. Yet, his next thought was, Didn’t she deserve it, even a little bit?
Is this thought process familiar to you? It’s easy to flip from a sense of remorse to a justification of our thoughts and actions. It’s not always easy to say, “I’m sorry . . .” when we have done wrong, yet this is so essential to rebuilding or strengthening any relationship.
Image © Deb Minnard at Goodsalt.com
The same is true of us and God. The Holy Spirit often prompts our minds to think about the sins that we commit. Our hearts are moved because of these promptings, but it can be easy to push away that still, small voice as we justify why we acted a certain way. One of the roles of the Holy Spirit is to “ ‘convict the world of sin’ ” (John 16:8, NKJV). What an incredible gift from God (Luke 11:13), for we need such convictions to repair the distance that can creep into our walk with Him!
Read Hosea 6:1-11. What specifically do you notice here about how God describes Himself in His appeal for repentance?
Consider the role of the Holy Spirit in the process of grafting us back onto the Vine (John 15:4). “We often sorrow because our evil deeds bring unpleasant consequences to ourselves; but this is not repentance. Real sorrow for sin is the result of the working of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit reveals the ingratitude of the heart that has slighted and grieved the Saviour, and brings us in contrition to the foot of the cross. By every sin Jesus is wounded afresh; . . . we mourn for the sins that have brought anguish upon Him. Such mourning will lead to the renunciation of sin.”—Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 300.
The truth is, we can’t grow in our relationship with God when chosen and cherished sins stand between us and Him. We’ve all fallen short of the glory of God, but we can—and should—repent of our sins when the Holy Spirit brings them into our minds (Ephesians 4:30).
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When did you last hear a rebuke or a call to repentance? How did you respond? Spend some time right now in prayer, asking God to soften your heart and open your ears to His voice in His Word this week. |
The Holy Spirit speaks to us in different ways; through the Holy Scriptures, through circumstances, through the inner prompting of His voice, and through the counsel of godly people. We benefit not only from listening but also from obeying. Obedience is the key that unlocks the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Just as a switch turns on a light, a valve releases a flow, and a trigger ignites a fire, obedience activates God’s work within us. Though obedience is not always easy, it is essential. It requires faith, courage, and humility, but it leads to spiritual growth, personal transformation, and divine blessings. As Jesus said, “If you love me, keep my commands” (John 14:15). Likewise, “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says” (James 1:22).
The Holy Spirit is a precious gift from God, a divine presence that dwells within believers. His presence is not passive or dormant but active, dynamic, and powerful. He is like a river that flows, a wind that blows, and a fire that burns. The Holy Spirit transforms lives when we surrender to His work. We must understand that the Spirit is not something we can control or manipulate for our own purposes or pleasure. Rather, He operates according to the will of God. While we cannot command or direct the Holy Spirit, we can align ourselves with Him, position ourselves in His flow, open our hearts to His influence, and yield to His guidance. “For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God” (Romans 8:14). Therefore, “Walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh” (Galatians 5:16).
When I think about the prompting of the Holy Spirit, Acts 10:19–20 often comes to mind:
For me, however, the voice of the Holy Spirit came through the most unlikely person at the most unlikely event. By then, I had strayed from the church and the beliefs I had learned from my childhood. As a third-generation Seventh-day Adventist—my grandfather a pastor and my parents faithful believers—I walked away from my faith at the age of 19, and the world gladly received me.
For over 20 years, I lived the party life. Then one night, during a wild party, an argument broke out about the two trees in the Garden of Eden. Both sides sounded inaccurate to me, so I joined the discussion and pointed them to Genesis 2:9, explaining that both trees were in the middle of the garden. A Bible was found, and I even went on to explain how the tree of life appears again in Revelation 22:1–2. The argument ended, but a mixologist who had been watching called me aside and quietly said,
I left with those words on my mind. The next Sabbath, I returned to church. By the next camp meeting, I was baptized, and I remain in the church to this day. I never even learned his name, yet that stranger became the voice that made me think. Would I be wrong to believe that this was a prompt from the Holy Spirit? The fact that his words remained with me suggests the Holy Spirit was at work.
I praise God, for He seeks those who have fallen and leads them back home when they respond. That experience became a catalyst for my commitment to God’s service. If God cared enough to intervene in my life, then I should always be ready for His use. Praise God, for His ways are always beautiful.
Great story Stanley – thanks for sharing.
Thank you Brother Stanley, your message gives me hope for family members who have lost their way. God is so good and I know that he will save us all from our sins. Praise God for his mercy and grace.
Beautiful. Thank you Stanley.
Amen brother Stanley.Am always blessed by your words.Very inspiring.
So amazing ” Don’t you think you are in the wrong place??”There is use for you somewhere else. You need to follow your purpose.
Thank you Brother, the holy spirit/ Spirit of God speaks to us through different agents, places to a much more extent someone you couldn’t have imagined 🤔🤔 ( Mixologist) , no matter your location, what’s important is to know that your God wants and reaches out for you and you need to follow your purpose/ His call 🙏
Praise God for your conversion!
Thank you for sharing. It gives me hope and faith that with God everything is possible.
The Holy Spirit is not simply a prompter but an enabler. Spiritually good acts are not just assisted by human actions, but Spirit-generated life expressed through human response. The Spirit does not merely help the old nature do good; He creates new life that then produces good. Spiritual good is impossible apart from divine initiative. Nothing good spiritually originates from the fallen human nature. The Bible says:
• John 15:5 — “Apart from Me you can do nothing.”
• 1 Corinthians 2:14 — the “natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God”
• Romans 8:7–8 — the flesh is “not able” to submit to God
• Ephesians 2:1–5 — we are spiritually “dead” and made alive by God
The Holy Spirit has the power to go beyond mere prompting, but to regenerate new life in the heart of a willing person. We can never save ourselves from the stronghold of sin. Sister Ellen G. White, Steps to Christ, chapter 3, “Repentance”, makes a very profound statement that, “Every right impulse is from God.” It is not a surprise for the Bible to say that the unforgivable sin is to grieve the Holy Spirit. The Saviour is constantly drawing men/women to Himself through the power of the Holy Spirit working in the world today. Our role as humans is to collaborate with Him.
“A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.” (
Ezekiel 36:26–27, KJV)
Gracious Father please be with each and every one of us through out this week. That we still have the holyspirit to be convicted. That we obey the functioning of the holyspirit for ourselves and others. Please help us to not forget what manner man we are and to be forgiving one towards another. We need you God today, forever, and through out eternity. Don’t leave us like orphans we cry Abba Father. May the holyspirit be here for us to comfort us.in Jesus name we pray amen.
Lord, please help me choose to listen to your prompts when I am being led away by my selfish desires.
If we see the Holy Spirit as a genuine friend we will listen. He wants the best for us and we should listen to His prompts and rely on His divine power.
Ephesians 4:30
And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
1 Thessalonians 5:19
Do not quench the Spirit. Despise not prophesyings.
The Spirit is grieved by things we do, sins we commit.
We quench the Spirit when we are prompted to act or when He is moving and we oppose His movement.
Our relationship with Him is harmed by our actions and when we fail to act.
As I considered today’s sub-theme for this week’s Lesson – the Holy Spirit’s Prompting – as it related to forgiveness and repentance. I thought about another angle to this topic { I scrolled down, but I did not see it mentioned further down in this week’s lesson} The matter of forgiving others as part of the process of realinging with God.
Matthew 6:12 NIV says- ” And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.” I have to some degree wondered at the psychological implications of this verse of Scripture especially as it relates to ourselves and God.
What I have discovered is this – If God is willing to forgive me; then I am willing to forgive you. When by His grace I forgive you; then my mind has the capacity to believe that God forgave me ; since by His grace I forgave you.
This is not semantics, whilst some of us can easily believe that God forgives us, we have a serious challenge even forgiving ourselves. The rational I use is similar – If God is willing to forgive me, then at least I should be willing to forgive myself; and if I am willing to forgive myself by His grace I should be willing to forgive you. And once we are willing by His grace we are enabled.
This matter of forgiveness is highly practical stuff. I have never been married but I can only imagine the quantum of forgiveness that has to be dispersed to this human being that is so close to you that at night they breathe in your face whilst the sleep.
What a thought, Steve! Thank you for your contributions.
“I have never been married but I can only imagine the quantum of forgiveness that has to be dispersed
to this human being that is so close to you that at night they breath in your face whilst they sleep.”
Only by the grace of God and His unchangeable love, I have been married to the love of my life for over 60 years. So many times we have had disagreements over those years before going to bed at night. Perhaps we had such a stressful day that may have contributed, I’m not sure, but ninety-nine percent of the time, my wife wakes up the next morning without even mentioning whatever disagreement that we had the night before. The fruit of the Spirit at work; patients, kindness, forgiveness, love, along with the much needed rest.
Steve, I wonder whether what you call “forgiving myself” is a matter of accepting God’s forgiveness by faith.
“When did you last hear a rebuke or a call to repentance? How did you respond? Spend some time right now in prayer, asking God to soften your heart and open your ears to His voice in His Word this week.”
The answer is found in Psalm 141. Pray for the end of wickedness in us, Psalm 141:1-5. Then, pray for the end of wickedness of the world. Psalms 141:6-10. Repentance comes by the choice of heeding(paying close attention to, taking notice of, or carefully considering advice, a warning, or a piece of information), and acting on God’s word, whether it be me, you, or the world.
On our deck in the Pacific Northwest, we put out peanuts, sunflower seeds, and millet for God’s avian creatures. You may have to see it to believe it, the BluJay’s swallow the peanuts whole, shell and all, then take another, as they fly away. Occasionally one BluJay cracks the shell and eats the peanut right on the on the deck. I suppose he is not as paranoid(he is more comfortable) as the others. Point is, yes, as you remember from a couple of weeks ago, don’t hoard your faith(belief), in case you did not get the point.
Is it possible that many Christians have not received/accepted the Holy Spirit, or do not know that He is available to guide us throughout our life by faith, helping us to live in the Kingdom of God? Whose voice do we hear when we pray, who do we believe and trust when following God’s Way by faith? Our comforter and guide is the Holy Spirit of God – John 14:16-17.
Living without the Holy Spirit is like the man at the wedding feast found without the wedding garment – Matt.22:1-14. How can we expect to live within the kingdom of God without the infilling of God’s Holy Spirit feeding/nurturing our new nature? Not wearing the ‘Garments of Jesus Christ’s Righteousness’ – still living by works inspired by self and self-righteousness -, how can we expect to live in His Kingdom?
We have been invited; we heard the Spirit’s prompting; we have followed the call to come to the wedding feast of the bridegroom! The question becomes: “do we take this invitation to join the King’s Son serious enough and ‘put on’ by faith the wedding garment of Jesus’ Righteousness? Many are invited to enter the Kingdom of God, but few are chosen to sit at the table at Christ’s and the Bride’s wedding feast. Mere invitation does not guarantee acceptance – Matt.22:14.
We are all going to stand before God alone and respond for our chosen attitudes. When a person’s choices cause much harm to others, much will also be laid upon this person. Lord, have mercy!