Question:
How do you know when the Spirit is leading you? Does the Bible talk about the Spirit leading people to do things?

Answer:

Let me begin by quoting two excerpts from Short Papers by C. H. Mackintosh on this subject:“We do not doubt that God can speak to men now by means of a dream or a vision of the night; but we consider that the true and proper way for a child of God to be guided, is by the Word and Spirit of God. It is very unsafe ground indeed to be merely guided by dreams or by the impressions of a man’s mind. We vastly prefer the solid imperishable Word of God….It is greatly to be feared that very many mistake their own inclinations for the moving of the Spirit of God—a terrible mistake! It needs much brokenness, self-emptiness and singleness of eye to discern and follow the precious leading of the Holy Ghost. As a general rule, we should say that where the glory of Christ is the exclusive object of any act to which we feel led, we may conclude that it is the Spirit of God that moves us.”

I will leave it to the reader to digest Mr. Mackintosh’s thoughts, but let me emphasize two points that he brings out:(1) The Spirit of God leads us by the Word of God. If we believe we are being led to do something and we find that our course of action conflicts with the Word of God, we ARE NOT being led by the Spirit. (2) We must have a single eye, one fixed on Christ and desiring to glorify Christ in all that we do. The question recently came up at a young people’s meeting:How do you know if the Spirit is leading you in a remembrance meeting? I believe the answer lies in having Christ before you, thinking of Him as Scripture presents Him to us, and desiring to glorify Him in that meeting. Then, when we feel we are being led to give out a hymn, or to pray, or to read and comment on a portion of Scripture, we can rest assured that we are being moved by the Spirit of God, Who loves to occupy us with Christ and to glorify His Name (see John 14:26; 15:26; 16:13,14).

For the second question:“Does the Bible talk about the Spirit leading people to do things?” I would refer to the following Scriptures:Romans 8:14; Galatians 5:18,25; Acts 8:29; 10:19,20; 13:2; 16:6,7; 20:23; 21:4,11; 1 Corinthians 12:1-11; Philippians 3:3.