Seeking God's will in big decisions, post 1

Everyone faces big decisions in life. Should I marry this person? Should I take this job? Should I move to that city? Should I invest my time in these ways? If you are a Christian, you want to follow God's leading rather than just striking out on your own. The question is, how do we go about discerning and following God's will when we face decisions?

As individuals we face big decisions, and churches face them too. At Sanctuary Covenant Church where I am the pastor, we are facing a big question: what is the unique calling of our church, and how can we fully live into that? It's a big decision, and to be honest, it brings up all my fears about failing. More than ever I want to know what God's will is for us.

How do we go about seeking God's will? It may sound obvious, but we have to start with prayer. We don't start with fact-finding, self-evaluation, or analysis of options. We do first things first, and connecting with God is always the first thing.

It is best to set aside time for prayer and, if possible, fasting (more on fasting in other posts). For instance, I am asking Sanctuary to take the month of October to pray and fast.

Putting some structure in place is helpful. Mark out time to set aside for prayer, and if you can, involve others who know you. I have found that not doing this by myself is extremely helpful.

Sanctuary's situation is corporate, so I am asking everyone to get involved. Here is what I am asking Sanctuary folks to do during the month of October:

  • Individually: Set a reminder in our phones or calendars to stop each day between 10:30 AM and noon and spend 5 minutes praying for Sanctuary. That is the time slot when we meet on Sunday mornings, so it's a good time slot for us all to stop what we are doing and pray.
  • Among family or friends: Sit down at least once this week and pray together for Sanctuary.
  • In Life Groups: Spend at least 10 minutes praying for Sanctuary in each group meeting this month
Here is what I am asking everyone to pray for:
  • Faith to believe that God is for us and wants to lead us into good things
  • Surrender to God (Paul writes in Romans 12:1-2, "offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God... then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is -- his good, pleasing and perfect will."
  • Wisdom each step of the way
  • Revelation of God's unique call on our church
If you go to Sanctuary, please start doing these things today and continue them through October. If you are wondering how to discern God's will for an individual decision, I hope this gives you a good starting point.

Comments

  1. DeAnnaOctober 3, 2011 at 10:47 AM

    Committed to praying for Sanctuary!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousOctober 5, 2011 at 10:38 AM

    I found this verse on wisdom and thought that it was beautiful because it is so backwards from what society most often thinks as wisdom. People who have all the right answers are commonly called wise, but this verse explains wisdom differently:

    "But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness." (James 3:17-18)

    ReplyDelete

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