The Holy Spirit and Prompting

            Prompting is used in behavior modification to increase the probability that an individual will participate in a correct behavior at a correct time (Miltenberger, 2012).  Verbal prompts are instructions given verbally to help with successful behavior; gestural prompts are physical movements that mimic the behavior, but are not the actual behavior.  Modeling prompts are similar to gestural prompts, but instead they display the target behavior.  Physical prompts go even further by physically helping the person display the targeted behavior successfully (Miltenberger, 2012).

            Perhaps one of the greatest use of prompts that I am aware of is the Holy Spirit.  God used the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament through the prophet Isaiah.  Isaiah tells us, “the Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the afflicted” (Isaiah 61:1, NASB).  In the Old Testament God used the Holy Spirit to speak to Isaiah.  Isaiah then carried the message he was given and presented it to others.

            In the New Testament many believers, including the apostles, would forget the teachings of Christ (Henry, 1991).  Jesus verbally prompted them by reminding them of what He had said, “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever” (John 14:16, NASB).  The Holy Spirit then dwelt within those believers and provided the prompt directly to them to guide them in their lives.

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References

Henry, M. (1991). Matthew Henry's commentary on the whole Bible: Wherein each chapter is summed up in its contents, each paragraph reduced to its proper heads, the sense given, and largely illustrated with practical remarks and observations: Genesis to Revelation. Peabody, Mass: Hendrickson Publishers.

Miltenberger, R. G. (2012). Behavior modification: Principles and procedures (5th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.