How do you know whether that ‘sense of something feeling right’ is from the Holy Spirit or not? Stephen E. Parker explores that question in Led by the Spirit. First published in 1996, the 2015 expanded addition includes additional reflection at the end of each chapter, often updating the sources as new research has become available.

This study is one of the first pentecostal works to engage academic practical theology. Parker utilizes the mutual critical correlation theory and methodologies developed by pioneers like Don S. Browning, Edward Farley, Lewis S. Mudge, and James Newton Poling. In interdisciplinary fashion, Parker brings together an empirical study of a pentecostal congregation with psychology and the theology of Paul Tillich.

After deep engagement in all three fields, Parker concludes:

Discernment and decision making are understood as divine encounters in which the Holy Spirit directs the self, especially through a ‘sense of things feeling right’, into activities that enhance individual and community functioning. (202)

That said, it’s not sufficient to take every subjective feeling and label it with the Holy Spirit. It’s possible to confuse “overexcitement” and “personal desire” with the leading of the Spirit (217). In order to avoid such missteps, Parker recommends a four-step process for discerning the Spirit. These steps are not intended to be taken in a rigidly sequential manner.

1. Time should be given to attend to the “intuitive, affective dimensions” of discernment and decision making (213).
2. Time should be given to “attending to and describing claims” of Spirit-leading (213).
3. The description of the Spirit’s leading should be enriched by multiple perspectives (215).
4. Affective experiences should be evaluated (220).

Stephen E. Parker’s work isn’t the final word on discerning the Spirit (can anyone have the final word on the Holy Spirit?), but his integration of psychology and Tillichian theology provides wisdom and depth to a notoriously slippery topic.

Parker, Stephen E. Led by the Spirit: Toward a Practical Theology of Pentecostal Discernment and Decision Making. Expanded ed. CPT Press, 2015.