6 Disruptive Ways To Hinder Holy Spirit Moving In A Service

Encircled, cosy and secure in a cloud of the closeness of our God. Tears made tracks on the cheeks of many women as they overflowed and ran freely down treasured faces. Fingers moved gently over the keys flowing in tune with how Holy Spirit was moving in our meeting. I was in the closing phase of my message to this group of God’s precious daughters.

Ready to commence a concluding prayer for them, I cast my eyes over the group and then paused. I know Holy Spirit well enough to mostly recognise when He is desiring to move and this was one of those moments. He was taking the word and working with it into the lives of many of these women, so I said, ‘We are going to pause for a few moments, in this time I ask for you to relax and focus on your God.’

In the pause, Holy Spirit was moving individually in each woman’s life.

Slowly the cloud lifted, women wiped their eyes, I prayed and then dismissed them for a coffee break.

Sometimes we can be so caught up in a meeting with all the things needing to be done and communicated; added to this is awareness of time pressure and the desire to ensure we preach the complete word that is burning in our hearts.

Our services are often run sheet scheduled from beginning to end, which is an exemplary procedure to have in place, only if we aren’t careful Holy Spirit pause moments can be scheduled out in place of all we are wanting to schedule in.

Holy Spirit can’t be scheduled into the run sheet. I can picture Him being present in a service planning meeting and being told, ‘Holy Spirit, You have three minutes in this time slot after communion and before the announcements.’ He must be welcome to move in a service whenever He desires and for everything else to move around or be shortened as we adapt to give Him space.

6 Disruptive ways we can hinder Holy Spirit from moving in a service.

1.  A church venue devoid of an atmosphere.

There is practically nowhere you will go today where you will walk into a silent environment. Silence can cause people to feel uncomfortable and generally church people will fill it with noisy chatter. Silence can cause an increase in nervousness felt by visitors who are unfamiliar with church.

Pre-service anointed worship music, either live or recorded, at a volume which suits your church culture, is both atmosphere setting and God focusing.

2.  Worship leaders, singers and musicians who do not have a worship relationship with their God.

It is a worshipper who has the ability to lead a congregation in worship, alternatively they are merely leading singing.

It is a must for a worship leader, singer and musician to have an up to date relationship with their God and to include times of worship into their personal devotional life. Worship is a language they communicate with God through and then in a service the language of worship flows through them rather than it being a Sunday gig they perform at.

3.  The AV person, whose responsibility it is to have the words of the songs projected onto the screens, is unfocused and easily distracted.

Being involved in consulting with Grow a Healthy Church means that on any given Sunday I can be in a different church service other than my home church.

Not being a regular attender in any of these churches puts me at the disadvantage of not knowing the words to their songs. In some services I have actually stopped singing in absolute frustration because the words on the screen appear so far behind what is being sung.

The AV person needs to be trained to be alert, to be attentive and efficient. AV is both a gifting and a ministry. The AV person plays a vital part in congrants being able to enter worship, engage and open their hearts to Holy Spirit.

4.  Distractive and disruptive movement by ushers during a pause moment when Holy Spirit is moving in a meeting.

Communion is an example of such a pause moment. One church I visited had two ushers arrive at the front of the auditorium with their trays of bread and grape juice, to then have a not so quiet discussion over who was meant to serve in which aisle. In another church one usher commenced serving from the back row and the other walked forward and started from the front row. They were meant to be positioned at either end of the same row. Much confusion abounded. Holy Spirit has difficulty moving where there is disruptive distraction.

Ushers need to be given clear instruction and training prior to the service. This creates confidence and competency to perform their given tasks and Holy Spirit can move without interruption.

5.  Long and waffly announcements between worship and preaching.

Or a long and waffly repeat of announcements which have already been explained in length on a video presentation.

People tend to switch off, their thoughts wander and they check Facebook. Holy Spirit, who is hovering, is kept waiting while the preacher recaptures the congregation’s attention before delivering the word. Holy Spirit is then able to bring revelation and understanding of the word to the people.

Keep any necessary announcements short, sharp and to the point.

6.  A culture of expectancy not having been createdfor Holy Spirit to be present and to minister to the people.

Invite and welcome Holy Spirit into your services. Sometimes we can take ‘when two or three are gathered together, I am in the midst’ for granted.

Being specific and purposeful to invite Holy Spirit into a service creates an expectancy for Him to be there, a greater awareness of His presence and an increased sensitivity to His moving.

In her book The Love Every Woman Needs – Intimacy with Jesus, Jan McCray expounds a list of benefits of having Holy Spirit in a service taken from John chapters 14,15,16.

Holy Spirit : Is comforter – He will comfort hearts that are tender, hurting or grieving. Is truth – and will guide a person into the truth. He will bring revelation from the word and adjust paradigms to align with the truth of the word. Is reminder – He will remind a person of that which Jesus has already spoken to them. Is testifier – He will testify of Jesus, reminding a person of what Jesus has done, accomplished and set in place for them. Is convictor – He will convict a person of sin in their life. Is convincer – He will convince a person to be upright in heart and the availability of God’s goodness. Is future hope giver – He will give assurance to a person of a hope filled future. Is glorifier of Jesus – He will point a person to a place of honouring Jesus.

‘Can anyone hide themselves in secret places, so I shall not see them?’ says the Lord in Jeremiah 23:24. ‘Do I not fill heaven and earth?’ And I would add ‘Do I not fill My church.’

I encourage you to invite, welcome and release Holy Spirit into your services. Also, to place your services under a magnifying glass to highlight any happenings that are disruptive, distracting and hinder Holy Spirit from accomplishing what He desires.