How To Make Decisions

Prayer – Lord, I make decisions hundreds of times each day. Give me insight and wisdom into Your word that I would make choices that please You. 

So Gideon said to God, "If You will save Israel by my hand as You have said-- "look, I shall put a fleece of wool on the threshing floor; if there is dew on the fleece only, and it is dry on all the ground, then I shall know that You will save Israel by my hand, as You have said." And it was so. When he rose early the next morning and squeezed the fleece together, he wrung the dew out of the fleece, a bowlful of water. Then Gideon said to God, "Do not be angry with me, but let me speak just once more: Let me test, I pray, just once more with the fleece; let it now be dry only on the fleece, but on all the ground let there be dew." And God did so that night. It was dry on the fleece only, but there was dew on all the ground. Judges 6:36-40 NKJV

 

Meditate. Read God’s word and listen to what He is saying.

 

How do you make decisions? For little ones, do you just go with your gut instinct or do things by force of habit? For big decisions, do you make a list of pros and cons and then decide from the options? Do you ever pray about your choices? Do you put out a fleece like Gideon did?

How to make decisions:

1. Pray. Always good to start out anything with prayer—but just what to pray? Ask God for insight, wisdom, knowledge, and guidance in your choices. If your choices are not clear…ask God for more options. He promised to give us wisdom, if we ask for it.

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. James 1:5-8 NKJV

2.      List your options and consider how the outcome of each one will impact your future. Will a decision tree help you see your possibilities, the alternatives, and the best choice for you?  Consider how others, like Gideon, have approached their problems or situations.

3.      Pray again. Give God your list. Seek God’s solutions in His word. God provided lots of examples of ordinary and extraordinary people throughout the Bible. How did those that God gave us as examples—David, Joseph, Moses, Abraham, Jacob, Daniel, Jabez, Peter, John, Paul, Esther, Ruth, Deborah, Mary, etc.—handle things in their lives?

4.      Faithly give this situation to the Lord. He has likely helped you, giving you insight and options, up to this point.

Then Nathan said to the king, "Go, do all that is in your heart, for the LORD is with you." 2 Samuel 7:3 NKJV

5.      Go ahead, courageously, with your chosen plan, knowing that the Lord is going ahead of you and behind you.

O LORD, You have searched me and known me. You know my sitting down and my rising up; You understand my thought afar off. You comprehend my path and my lying down, And are acquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word on my tongue, But behold, O LORD, You know it altogether. You have hedged me behind and before, And laid Your hand upon me. Psalm 139:1-5 NKJV

6.      Give thanks to the Lord.

The Lord goes before us…and follows us. He knows everything we do. It’s good to have Him helping us make even small decision—and especially the big ones! Moses gave good advice to the Israelites before they crossed into the Promised Land. We would be wise to follow it. Choose life. One day we will be wanting to cross into the ultimate Promised Land…Heaven.

"For this commandment which I command you today is not too mysterious for you, nor is it far off. It is not in heaven, that you should say, 'Who will ascend into heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?' Nor is it beyond the sea, that you should say, 'Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?' But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may do it. ... "I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; that you may love the LORD your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days; and that you may dwell in the land which the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them." Deuteronomy 30:11-14, 19-20 NKJV

 

Verses of Salvation ~ Though the fig tree may not blossom, Nor fruit be on the vines; Though the labor of the olive may fail, And the fields yield no food; Though the flock may be cut off from the fold, And there be no herd in the stalls-- Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation. The LORD God is my strength; He will make my feet like deer's feet, And He will make me walk on my high hills.  Habakkuk 3:17-19 NKJV

 

© 2024 Text, photos, and illustrations by Mickey M. Hunacek. All rights reserved. 

All scripture quoted from the New King James Version (NKJV) unless otherwise noted. 

New King James Version © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Harper Collins Publisher. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

New Living Translation (NLT) copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. 

Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Biblical search from Blue Letter Bible - http://v3.blueletterbible.org/search.cfm. 

 

 

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