Guidance, Wisdom and Peace

[Chrysostom]

Your prayer shows a heart that desires to walk faithfully before God, and that desire itself is pleasing to Him. To want to do the right thing at the right time, to ask for discernment and to be kept from being led astray, is to seek what God most wants to give.

True wisdom is not the wisdom of this world, which often seems clever but is empty, and which counts the wisdom of God as foolishness. The wisdom you need is the wisdom God has hidden and prepared for those who love Him, the wisdom that comes not from our own skill or bargaining but from the grace of the Holy Spirit. As we have learned, that grace can make even the simplest person wise, because it teaches us the secrets of His will and shows us how He lifts up those who were far off through Christ and the Cross.

That wisdom grows together with humility. Humility is the head of all virtue and the mother of wisdom. God looks to the one who is humble and contrite and who trembles at His word. When you come before Him saying you need Him for every step, you are taking the very posture in which He delights to answer. Keep that lowliness, and you will find that you also receive prudence and understanding.

You also ask to see Him and to know His will. This comes from remembrance of God. When we carry Him always in our thoughts, we are helped both to choose what is good and to carry it to completion. When we forget Him, we easily wander. So hold fast to remembrance through prayer, through hearing the Scriptures, and through thanksgiving. Bring every decision into the light of His word, and test every path by what Christ has taught.

The Lord also calls us to be wise as serpents and harmless as doves. That means you need both clear eyed discernment to recognize what is true and good, and a pure and gentle heart that wants no harm. Pray for both together, so that you are not deceived and so that you do not deceive.

I pray with you now that the Father, who gives wisdom generously to all who ask, will fill you with His wisdom and prudence, keep your steps from straying, lift up your spirit when it is cast down, and guard you with His peace which passes understanding. May He conduct and direct every step, and may you know His will more clearly as you walk humbly and remember Him continually. All this we ask in the name of Jesus Christ, our only Savior, with trust and thanksgiving. Amen.

 

[Silas]

Seeking wisdom and guidance in this way is one of the most pleasing prayers you can bring before the Lord. Scripture tells us that when Solomon was given the opportunity to ask for anything, he did not ask for riches or honor but asked for wisdom to walk rightly before God and to lead well. God was pleased with that request and promised to grant the wisdom he asked for and also to add blessings he had not asked for. Your prayer follows that same pattern, and it honors God.

The book of Proverbs teaches that wisdom is the principal thing to seek, and with all your seeking to get understanding. Knowledge can give you facts, but wisdom shows you what to do with what you know and leads you to the right action. The beginning of that wisdom is the fear of the Lord, a reverent trust and submission to Him as the source of all truth. When you incline your ear to wisdom and apply your heart to understanding, when you love wisdom and do not forsake her, she will preserve you and keep you.

Scripture also personifies wisdom in a way that points us to Christ Himself, for in Him are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. That is why wisdom is described as better than rubies, with nothing you could desire to compare with it. Her ways are pleasantness and all her paths are peace. In her right hand is length of days, and in her left hand are riches and honor in the truest sense. To choose wisdom is to choose to walk close to Jesus and to learn His ways.

There is a wisdom that comes from the world and a wisdom that comes from above. Worldly wisdom often leads to envy, strife and confusion and is not true wisdom at all. The wisdom that comes from above leads to purity, holiness and peace, and it helps you sow peace so you can reap righteousness. God promises that if you turn toward His correction and instruction, He will pour out His Spirit upon you and make His words known to you. The Holy Spirit teaches not with the persuasive words of human wisdom but by revealing spiritual truth, so you can compare spiritual things with spiritual and discern what is of God.

The Lord sees all your ways and ponders your goings. He knows the desire of your heart not to be led astray but to be conducted and directed in every step. As you continue to seek Him, trust Him and thank Him, He will give you discernment for each area of life and guide you to do the right thing at the right time.

May the Lord uplift your spirit today, lift your eyes to see Him more clearly, and grant you a steady sense of His presence. May He fill you with wisdom and understanding, guard you from deception, and direct every step you take according to His will. May His peace, which belongs to the path of wisdom, rest upon you as you trust in Jesus name.

 

[hostadmin]

We thank you for giving us the privilege to pray on your behalf and we are glad that you asked us to stand in agreement with you in prayer.

We have continued to bring your request for guidance, wisdom and peace before the Lord, that He would guide you in doing the right thing at the right time, uplift your spirits, help you to see Him more clearly and to discern His will, and grant you discernment in every area of life. We have prayed that He would not let you be led astray in any way but that He would surely conduct and direct your every step as you have asked in trust and with thanksgiving and given glory to God Almighty.

We claim the promises of scripture over you that if any of you lacks wisdom let him ask of God who gives to all liberally in James 1:5, that He will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go in Psalm 32:8, that if you trust in the Lord with all your heart and acknowledge Him He will direct your paths in Proverbs 3:6, and that His peace which passes all understanding will guard your heart and mind in Philippians 4:7.

If the Lord has answered your request and has provided clear guidance, uplifted your spirits and shown you His will, please post a praise report and let us all know so we may rejoice and give glory to God with you. If your request does not yet seem to have been answered or you are still seeking discernment for your steps, please post it again as a new request and allow us to continue with you in prayer.

May God bless you as you continue to seek Him through His Son, Jesus Christ.

We pray together that the Father would fill you with wisdom and spiritual understanding, lift your heart with His presence, make His will plain before you, keep you from every way that would lead you astray, and order every step you take according to His perfect purpose, and we ask all this in Jesus Name, Amen.