In these days he went out to the mountain to pray, and all night he continued in prayer to God. And when day came, he called his disciples and chose from them twelve, whom he named apostles. (Luke 6:12-13)
Jesus knew the Father was calling Him to select men to personally disciple, yet even being the Son of God, He prayed all night long as He sought the Father’s guidance on which men to choose.
How do you make your decisions?
Do you pray real quick right before making a decision and then choose what feels right?
How often do you spend hours, days, weeks, or years in prayer over decisions and wait on God to reveal to you His will in the matter?
If you’re decision making habit is to quickly pray and then choose what feels right, it’s time for a change. Jeremiah 17:9 tells us our hearts are deceitful. Our feelings and emotions can change like the wind and they’re never good to base decisions on. However, we KNOW that God’s will is perfect, but we need to be transformed by the renewal of our mind in order to discern what the will of God is (Romans 12:2).
You may lose sleep, you may set aside doing other things, but you’ll never regret a decision made when you’ve sought the Lord’s will before making it.
Consider This
One of the men Jesus chose to be His disciple was Judas Iscariot, who would later betray Him. Yet that too was all within the Father’s sovereignty. If Jesus was following His feelings, do you think He would have chose someone like Judas to be one of His disciples? Or Matthew or Peter for that matter – tax collector and a fisherman notorious for speaking and acting before he thought.
One could look at Jesus’ decision and feel that He wrongfully chose Judas Iscariot based on the eventual circumstances. However, considering that if you know that you’ve followed God’s will on your decisions, you’ll also know that the outcome, regardless of how good or bad it “feels”, will all be used for your good and God is sovereign over it all.
When you consider that Jesus prayed ever so frequently, maintaining that communication with the Father so that He would do or say whatever the Father willed, then as His ambassador, we should be following in His footsteps when making decisions in our own lives.
Prayerful Decision Making
We have countless examples in the Bible of people making decisions without talking to God first and seeking His will, and it was disastrous. For example, numerous times Israel made decisions about war without seeking God first, and in 1 Samuel 4, they again did not seek God and decided instead to make the decision to go to battle against the Philistines and “take God with them” by bringing the ark of the covenant into battle. The consequence was another defeat and losing the ark of the covenant. Yet in the times when they did seek God first, He would fight for them and bring them victories His way, or guide them otherwise.
Prayerful consideration in decision making shouldn’t just be for big decisions, but for every decision. God cares about you and your life, and He wants what’s best for you, but you have to give Him the opportunity to speak to you in the decision you’re looking to make. Choose today, to give the Father His time to reveal His will to you, seeking Him in prayer, and rest in whatever answer He gives, remembering that He is sovereign and good.