Want To Hear God Speak? Ask These Questions!
Want To Hear God Speak?
Ask These Questions!
Ask These Questions!
Whether you’re facing a big or minor decision, you don’t have to sit on a mountain top in a yoga pose and wait for enlightenment!
As followers of Christ, we have a God who promises to guide us, lead us, and show us the way. But there are two requirements:
When using these questions to discern God’s leading, find a quiet space and ask the Holy Spirit to help you be honest with yourself and with God. Writing out your thoughts also helps.
1. Will this path lead me closer to the Lord?
2. Will this path increase my faith, undermine it, or draw me away from God?
3. Is seeking God at the core of what I want for my life?
4. Is this choice consistent with my claim to be a follower of Christ?
Begin your choice by keeping the end in view. Ask:
5. What kind of person do I want to be?
6. What do I want my legacy to be?
7. How do I want my life to turn out?
8. Ask a friend: Do you see this decision fitting with who I am and what God is doing in my life?
9. Is this choice consistent with what I know of the character and heart of God?
10. Will this choice continue what God is doing in my life?
11. As you visualize offering your decision to God or giving it as advice to someone else, do you feel peace, or do you feel unrest?
12. Do you have joy or uneasiness as you make this decision?
Let me encourage you to reflect on Jeremiah 6:16: This is what the Lord says: “Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls.”
As followers of Christ, we have a God who promises to guide us, lead us, and show us the way. But there are two requirements:
- We are to trust Him totally (that He is good and wise and knows what lies ahead).
- We don’t rush ahead acting on our own impulses and limited understanding. (Proverbs 3:5-6)
When using these questions to discern God’s leading, find a quiet space and ask the Holy Spirit to help you be honest with yourself and with God. Writing out your thoughts also helps.
1. Will this path lead me closer to the Lord?
2. Will this path increase my faith, undermine it, or draw me away from God?
3. Is seeking God at the core of what I want for my life?
4. Is this choice consistent with my claim to be a follower of Christ?
Begin your choice by keeping the end in view. Ask:
5. What kind of person do I want to be?
6. What do I want my legacy to be?
7. How do I want my life to turn out?
8. Ask a friend: Do you see this decision fitting with who I am and what God is doing in my life?
9. Is this choice consistent with what I know of the character and heart of God?
10. Will this choice continue what God is doing in my life?
11. As you visualize offering your decision to God or giving it as advice to someone else, do you feel peace, or do you feel unrest?
12. Do you have joy or uneasiness as you make this decision?
Let me encourage you to reflect on Jeremiah 6:16: This is what the Lord says: “Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls.”
Stand: In other words: Stop! Don’t race through decisions.
Look: At both the short term and long-term ramifications. Don’t make a choice just to get relief from it weighing you down. Wisdom requires looking at the short- and long-term consequences, not just for you but for others as well and for your witness. Think carefully, be quiet and listen to God.
Crossroads: Are places where your decision could change the direction of your life and affect who you become. There are always consequences, or outcomes, positive or negative from our choices. Ask yourself: Will my choices cause me to dry up spiritually because I’ve drifted along or will I keep growing and becoming more like Christ and serving Him?
If you discover you’re going the wrong way, you can always turn around and go back. You can also reach out to others who are drifting the wrong way to support and invite them back with the grace of God.
Ask: Ask these 12 questions of yourself and ask God. Use prayer and discernment as you consider these questions. Don’t be foolish and charge ahead, ignoring flashing red lights at the crossroads. Emotions are not indicators of God’s will. They make wonderful servants but terrible masters. God has given you a mind to think, weigh, and make decisions that will bless your life and others.
So, stand, look, and ask God. Then walk in obedience to His leading.
Blessings,
Poppy
Look: At both the short term and long-term ramifications. Don’t make a choice just to get relief from it weighing you down. Wisdom requires looking at the short- and long-term consequences, not just for you but for others as well and for your witness. Think carefully, be quiet and listen to God.
Crossroads: Are places where your decision could change the direction of your life and affect who you become. There are always consequences, or outcomes, positive or negative from our choices. Ask yourself: Will my choices cause me to dry up spiritually because I’ve drifted along or will I keep growing and becoming more like Christ and serving Him?
If you discover you’re going the wrong way, you can always turn around and go back. You can also reach out to others who are drifting the wrong way to support and invite them back with the grace of God.
Ask: Ask these 12 questions of yourself and ask God. Use prayer and discernment as you consider these questions. Don’t be foolish and charge ahead, ignoring flashing red lights at the crossroads. Emotions are not indicators of God’s will. They make wonderful servants but terrible masters. God has given you a mind to think, weigh, and make decisions that will bless your life and others.
So, stand, look, and ask God. Then walk in obedience to His leading.
Blessings,
Poppy