›› Prayer for Guidance

Sometimes immature Christians have made their prayers for guidance become one set of signs after another as they try to manufacture methods for God to communicate His will to them. In Bible prayer stories, it is common for someone to request that God give them a sign, but then leave it up to Him to determine what that sign should be.

God wants to guide and instruct His people. His response to their prayers for guidance may be sent in a variety of ways. He may choose to work through signs or through His will as revealed in His Word. He may communicate through providential circumstances or through open and closed doors. He may send conviction from the Holy Spirit to give an inner sense of His will for us, or He may work through other Christians to share with us the benefit of their experience, wisdom, and understanding. In most cases, God works through several or all of these methods, so that when we look at the total picture, we understand His will for us in a given situation because of the weight of evidence.

But God responds! We are not limited to praying for guidance and then making our decisions based on our own judgment, knowledge, and common sense. If that were all that were needed to make a right choice or decision, then the atheist would have no disadvantage in choosing the right way! God wants to guide His people, and we are safe in waiting and watching for Him to respond.

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Source: Morris L. Venden. The Answer is Prayer. Pacific Press Publishing Association, Boise, Idaho, 1988. 190 pp.