Pray, Discern, Decide
+ Lord God, please send your Holy Spirit to me as I read Your Word. May it be transformed into Your Word for me, my life, my situations. May I thirst for You in Your Word, may it become “like fire burning in my heart; imprisoned in my bones.” Help me to know Your will and to trust that it is “good and pleasing and perfect.”
Jeremiah 20:7-9 You duped me, O Lord, and I let myself be duped
Have you ever felt duped by God? Perhaps confident that you were following a Holy Spirit inspiration or fulfilling His Will only to seemingly have it all go “wrong”?
How did that impact your relationship with God at the time? What perspective do you have now?
What was your immediate response?
“I say to myself, I will not mention Him…but then it becomes like a fire burning in my heart”
Jeremiah tried to ignore God, deny God, protect himself from the consequences of doing God’s will. Have you walked this road? If so, how has God called you back to Him?
Romans 12:1-2 Do not conform yourself to this age but be transformed by the renewal of your mind that you may discern the will of God.
We exist in this moment in two realities: earthly and spiritual. One is easily defined, perceived, and discerned while the other is built upon the intangible reality of faith, hope, and love. Which world are you more conformed to? Another way of looking at conformity is consumption (not just in the material sense here, remember, two realities). What consumes you and what do you spend your resources consuming?
As you read this and pray and reflect where do you feel that Holy Spirit is pulling you towards? Where is Holy Spirit pricking your conscience and asking you to let go of (even a little is okay)?
Psalm 63 Spend time reading Psalm 63 as a commitment prayer to better conform ourselves to God’s will.
A psalm of David, when he was in the wilderness of Judah.a
O God, you are my God—
it is you I seek!
For you my body yearns;
for you my soul thirsts,
In a land parched, lifeless,
and without water.b
I look to you in the sanctuary
to see your power and glory.
For your love is better than life;*
my lips shall ever praise you!
I will bless you as long as I live;
I will lift up my hands, calling on your name.
My soul shall be sated as with choice food,
with joyous lips my mouth shall praise you!
I think of you upon my bed,
I remember you through the watches of the night
You indeed are my savior,
and in the shadow of your wings I shout for joy.c
My soul clings fast to you;
your right hand upholds me.
But those who seek my life will come to ruin;
they shall go down to the depths of the netherworld!
Those who would hand over my life to the sword shall
become the prey of jackals!
But the king shall rejoice in God;
all who swear by the Lord* shall exult,
but the mouths of liars will be shut!
Matthew 16:21-27 God forbid Lord!…Get behind me Satan you are an obstacle to me
Where in our lives have we rushed in trying to exert what we thought was “the best” for another and perhaps in fact been an obstacle to God’s will?
Sometimes our “good” intentions do not equal God’s will. We must have the humility to accept the truth of Jesus’ words, “You are thinking not as God does but as humans do.”
Is there a relationship where you have influence,where you are trying to interject “wisdom”? Can you spend some time with God the Father and ask Him to send the Holy Spirit to help answer these questions
God, what is your will for me in this situation? We cannot ask God His will for another, that is His relationship and His conversation that needs to take place with that person. We can encourage that person to pray, seek, ask, and knock themselves though!
God, how can I best be a friend, daughter, father, brother, co-worker to ___________?
+ Jesus, I trust in you, Father, I trust in Your will. I trust you with _________. I give you this situation.
