4 Things To Pray When Making Decisions
When you're just not sure what God is telling you to do.
Some decisions can be nerve-racking.
The right course of action seems as clear as mud.
Prayer is the first step to making a good decision.
God promises to hear us.
Psalm 145:18a (NKJV)
“The Lord is near to all who call upon Him,”
However, Psalm 66:18 says, “If I regard iniquity in my heart, The Lord will not hear.”
Check your heart - is there any sin hindering your fellowship with God?
If not, you can be assured the Holy Spirit provides what we need to understand how to be obedient.
When making a decision, here are some examples of prayers:
1. “Help me to have wisdom.”
James 1:5 promises God will give us wisdom if we ask and do not doubt.
Ask to hear Him clearly, and that He will close the wrong doors and open the right ones.
2. “Help me not to lean on my own understanding.”
Proverbs 3:5-6 instructs us to trust in the Lord with all our hearts and not depend on our own intelligence.
Our view of things is so narrow, He sees the bigger picture. We have assurance that God knows the best path for us, even if it has more twists and turns than we’d like.
3. “Give me discernment.”
Having discernment means we are able to apply biblical principles to make wise choices in life.
We develop this skill by having a close relationship with God and studying the Bible’s instructions on how to live our lives. (Romans 12:2)
4. “Give me peace about the decision.”
Peace helps give us confidence that we are on the right track and doing the right thing.
Instead of being anxious about a decision, the Lord promises that if we present our requests to Him with thanksgiving, His peace will guard our hearts. (Philippians 4:6-7)
Did you know God promises to instruct us in the way we should go?
Psalm 32:8a says, “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;”
Trust God today with your decision, He’ll help you know what to do!
Praying for clear discernment is like a constant prayer. It’s one of my spiritual gifts but that doesn’t mean I stop praying for it! 💗
For me, I absolutely do all the things you mention above to begin the process and to stay on the right track. And as you say, sometimes the walk of faith isn't necessarily cut and dry, so my usual process is to keep moving forward in the direction I believe I'm discerning until I see or know something that says I need to stop moving that direction. That's a difficult thing to do when you believe you want to keep going, but I've had to stop many times.
And I'm in that very process even now with a new relationship the Lord seems to have given us. And the happy thing is, this one appears, after a couple of months, to be very real and right. But it has been a very deliberate and prayerful journey, and it will continue to be so.