How many times have you felt like you needed guidance, but you were not getting any answers to any of your questions or prayers? Odds are, you have felt that way relatively often. After all, most people are unpleasantly familiar with the feeling of wanting something but being unable to reach it.

Most people are also acquainted with reaching a goal, taking a job or entering a relationship only to find out that they have made a terrible mistake. When these things happen, it can be easy to feel angry or think that you should have gotten some sort of warning that this was going to end badly.

The reality is that you probably did get some kind of warning that you were about to make a terrible mistake. You, however, ignored the whisper in the back of your mind telling you to walk away. You thought you knew better. That little voice, however, may well have been the Holy Spirit trying to get your attention. You, however, ignored it. You expected the Holy Spirit to come to you in a blaze of fire, but sometimes the Holy Spirit uses subtler ways to try and reach you.

Here are five ways the Holy Spirit tries to get your attention.

Dreams

When you go to sleep at night, how often do you have dreams? If you are like the vast majority of the human race, you dream every night, but you are rarely lucky enough to remember your dreams in the morning. The few that you do remember are preserved largely as hazy impressions of color, a few vivid images that have little to no context or an echo of a strong emotion though you are unsure what in the dream made you feel ecstatic, terrified or irate.

Dreams from the Holy Spirit, however, are often different. They are deeply emotional and often involve vivid imagery. You also remember them come morning. Unlike normal dreams, they do not fade away into the ether at dawn. Instead, they linger in the back of your head for days, weeks or even months after you initially had the dream.

Repeated Symbols

The human brain loves patterns. You may not even notice it, but your mind is hardwired to find patterns and meaning in absolutely everything around you. This is why when you were little, the shadows cast by the tree outside your window resembled a person to you and why you think you can make out individual words in a recording that is being played backwards. This inherent hatred of randomness, however, can work to your advantage when you are looking for messages from the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit might try to get your attention by repeatedly putting the same symbols or signs in your path. If you are looking for divine guidance and keep seeing the same numbers, phrases or animals, it might be a sign from the Holy Spirit. This is especially true if the numbers end up corresponding to a Bible verse applicable to your situation or the animal has Christian connotations like a dove.

Messages From Others

Sometimes the Holy Spirit uses other people to get its message through to you. These messages are normally more blatant than other forms of the Holy Spirit’s influence. This means the messages tend to stand out more than other methods the Holy Spirit uses for reaching out to you and trying to grab your attention.

Messages from others could come in a wide variety of ways. They almost always, however, appear to you as statements from those around you that seem eerily accurate to your circumstances. A speaker on television might seem to be talking directly to you about your situation. A friend that you have not told about your troubles yet texts you out of the blue to say they are praying for you. An encouraging song comes on the radio exactly when you need it. These sort of deeply improbably coincidences are usually driven by the Holy Spirit, so pay attention to them.

Gut Feelings

You have almost certainly been told in the past that you need to trust your gut feeling or pay attention to your instincts when you are trying to make a decision. This is excellent advice. Everything about a situation — whether it is a new job, new relationship or new apartment — may seem wonderful, but there is a nagging feeling in the back of your head or a knot in your stomach that makes you hesitate. Sometimes, this is just natural concerns over change. Other times, those inexplicable nerves or unexpected and out of place excitement are a sign that the Holy Spirit is reaching out to you.

When you have those feelings, study them carefully in order to determine whether what you are feeling is simply a byproduct of a transition in your life or the result of the Holy Spirit either warning you away from something or encouraging you along the path God has planned for you.

Closed Doors

Sometimes it seems like every door you try to walk through slams in your face. You apply for a new job only to be turned down after the final interview. You try to deepen your relationship with your significant other only for them to walk out of your life a few weeks later. You try to start working out again only to trip and break your leg. When every door closes, it can seem like God has forgotten about you. The opposite, however, is usually true.

When the Holy Spirit closes doors it is because those are not the doors you are meant to take. What lies on the other side of them will keep you from walking the path that God has laid out for you. That may seem like cold comfort when you are hunting for a job or excessively lonely, but there is a plan, and come hell or high water, the Holy Spirit is going to make sure you follow it.

Conclusion

The Holy Spirit is always calling you, but you might not be listening. If you are expecting the spiritual equivalent of a neon sign, you will not notice the quiet little suggestions that may be left in your path. You will ignore warnings, miss opportunities and then wonder why you are not receiving guidance. The Holy Spirit is always with you, but that does you no good if you are not willing to listen to its voice.