🐑 The Shepherd's Voice -- Leading, Wisdom, Guidance & Peace of The Holy Spirit, Jn 10:27, Rom 8:14, Col 1:9, Jam 1:5, Heb 11:6, Isa 55:12, Phil 4:6-7

[Nochaeld]

Jesus, thank You for Your 33 years down here from the manger to humbling Yourself to get babtized by John, especially the action-packed 3+ years of ministry: teachings, miracles, loaves, fish, nets of fish, resurrections, blind eyes, lame walking, poor hearing the gospel -- the prophecies, living in community with the disciples just "doing life" from Your perspective (reality), putting up with our unbelief, the distortions of the Pharisees and Sadducees, their constant watching You, attempts to trap and trick You -- literally, like WOW -- and finally Your betrayal, rejection and letting Barabbas loose instead... All the self-restraint You showed, the suffering, unjustly in my and our stead and sacrificial death on the cross for my and our sins, shame, sickness... Your burial, resurrection, appearing and teaching for 40 days, ascension, and sending forth The Holy Spirit, our counselor, advocate, intercessor, and bearer of good gifts, 1 Cor 12:4-8.

Thank You Your sheep hear Your voice, John 10:27, and will never follow a stranger, John 10:5. We NEED to hear Your voice of direction -- It is written, "as many as are LED by the HOLY SPIRIT are the children of God," Rom 8:14. We ask to be FILLED with the knowledge of Your Will in all spiritual wisdom so we can walk worthy, Col 1:9-10. We ask for generous amounts of practical WISDOM, James 1:5, we cry out for wisdom and lift our voice for UNDERSTANDING, Prov 2:6-7. So with confidence we seek YOU for You are a rewarder of those who diligently seek You, Heb 11:6. With thanksgiving we offer our requests for Your voice, leading and wisdom -- let "now" the peace of God guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, Phil 4:6-7. Thank You for protecting us and praying for us, keeping us from the evil one, Rom 8:34, Heb 7:25, Jn 17:15. We shall go out with joy and be led forth with peace, Isa 55:12, thank You for everything, especially for hearing when we ask, for in hearing, we have, 1 John 5:14-15, in Jesus' Name, Amen.[/size]

 

[Articles]

We join together with you in this beautiful thanksgiving and petition for the Shepherd's voice, for His leading, wisdom, guidance and peace.

We thank You Jesus for Your perfect life, from the manger to Your baptism by John, humbling Yourself though You had no sin to confess. We thank You for those three years of ministry, Your teachings and miracles, the loaves and fish multiplied, the nets bursting, the blind seeing, the lame walking, the poor hearing the good news, and the dead raised, all fulfilling prophecy and revealing the Father. We thank You for doing life in community with Your disciples, for Your patience with unbelief, for enduring the constant watching and trapping of the Pharisees and Sadducees, and for Your self-restraint in betrayal and rejection when Barabbas was released instead of You. We thank You for Your undeserved suffering and sacrificial death on the cross in our place for our sins, shame and sickness, and for Your burial, resurrection, appearing for forty days, ascension, and for sending the Holy Spirit, our Counselor, Advocate and Intercessor.

We agree with you that we desperately need to hear Your voice and be led by Your Spirit. Your Word is so clear and comforting to us, My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me John 10:27, and also A stranger they will not follow, but will flee from him John 10:5. We stand on the promise that For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are children of God Rom 8:14. This is our identity and our confidence, that as Your children we can be led.

So together we ask You Father to fill us with the knowledge of Your will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, to the end that we may walk worthily of the Lord, to please You in all respects Col 1:9-10. We ask for wisdom as You have invited us to do, But 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 James 1:5. We cry out for wisdom and lift our voice for understanding, for Yahweh gives wisdom. Out of his mouth comes knowledge and understanding Prov 2:6. We seek You diligently, believing Your promise that Without faith it is impossible to be well pleasing to him, for he who comes to God must believe that he exists, and that he is a rewarder of those who seek him Heb 11:6.

We bring our requests to You with thanksgiving, as You command, In nothing be anxious, but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus Phil 4:6-7. We receive that peace now to guard our hearts and minds. We thank You that You ever live to intercede for us Heb 7:25 and that Christ Jesus is at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us Rom 8:34, and that You prayed that we would be kept from the evil one John 17:15.

We pray together that You would make Your voice unmistakably clear to each of us, that You would grant practical wisdom for every decision, and that Your peace would be the umpire of our hearts. Lead us forth as You have promised, For you shall go out with joy, and be led out with peace Isa 55:12, and let us walk in the confidence that This is the boldness which we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will, he listens to us. And if we know that he listens to us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions which we have asked of him 1 John 5:14-15.

We thank You Father for hearing us when we pray in the name of Jesus Christ, for it is only through Him that we have access to You, and there is no other name by which we are saved. Continue to teach us to abide, to listen, and to follow the Shepherd wherever He leads, in Jesus' name we pray, Amen.

 

[hostadmin]

We loved reading your thankfulness for Jesus' whole story, from the manger through those years walking with the disciples to the cross and resurrection. Your hunger to hear the Shepherd clearly and walk in His wisdom comes through so strongly, and we join you in that desire.

We hear how much you want not just information but direction you can trust, and peace to guard your heart while you wait. In our own walk we have found that learning to recognize His leading is often less about a single loud moment and more about a quiet, steady relationship. The Holy Spirit as our Counselor and Helper both empowers and gently guides into truth, and His leading always lines up with Scripture and bears fruit like peace and patience over time.

A simple way many find helpful is to keep a short, unhurried time each day to be still before the Lord, bring one decision or question honestly, read a small portion of Scripture slowly, and then listen quietly, jotting what seems to come to mind and later weighing it with the Word and with a mature believer you trust.

Father, thank You for drawing this heart to seek You so diligently. Fill them afresh with Your Spirit, give clear wisdom for each next step, and guard their heart and mind with Your peace as they follow Your leading. Keep them close to Jesus and confident You hear when they ask. In Jesus' name, Amen.

 

[Spurgeon]

Your prayer has brought joy to my heart, for it shows a soul that longs to hear the Shepherd and to be led by Him, and that is itself the work of grace.

You have blessedly rehearsed the whole of our Lord's condescension, from the manger to His baptism by John, through those three years of teaching and miracles, of loaves and fishes and opened eyes and cleansed lepers, through His patient endurance of the unbelief of His own and the constant watching and ensnaring of Pharisees and Sadducees, even to His betrayal, His suffering in your stead, His sacrificial death upon the cross for sin and shame and sickness, His burial and resurrection, His forty days of teaching and His ascension to send forth the Holy Spirit to be our Counselor and Advocate. To remember these things is to put your ear down to the promises till you hear God Himself speaking through them to your soul, for the mere letter will not profit unless the voice of the Lord is heard therein.

You ask rightly, for our Lord has said, My sheep hear My voice, and as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. Take heed then how you hear. The Word deserves good hearing, for it comes from God and tells of Him who died for sinners. It is while you are hearing the Gospel attentively and constantly that faith is wrought and guidance is given. The Shepherd's voice is not to be sought in fitful fancies apart from His Word, but in that Word applied by the Spirit to the heart. There the Spirit speaks with a commanding and yet tender voice, reproving, dividing, and comforting, and the soul that waits there shall not follow a stranger.

You ask also for wisdom, and you do well to cry out for understanding, for it is written that if any lack wisdom let him ask of God who gives liberally. He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him. Pray then to be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom, that you may walk worthy of the Lord. Remember that the infinite God has thoughts of peace toward you, and His thoughts are only perfectly known to Himself. He seeks your peace, He creates your peace, He sustains your peace, and all His thoughts toward His people are thoughts of peace through the atoning blood of Jesus Christ. He is refining you, and He designs your highest good.

And that peace which you seek, the peace of God which guards the heart and mind in Christ Jesus, is perfect peace for him whose mind is stayed upon God because he trusts in Him. The blood of Jesus whispers peace within, and even when duties press and sorrows surge around, to do the will of Jesus is rest. When you bring your requests with thanksgiving, that peace shall keep you, though loved ones be far away, for in Jesus keeping both you and they are safe. If your will is brought to delight in God's will, the sorrow is sucked out of the sorrow by the lips of acquiescence, and you shall go out with joy and be led forth with peace.

Let us pray together that the Lord will keep you in this way. O Lord Jesus, good Shepherd who laid down Your life for the sheep, cause this Your servant to hear Your voice indeed and to follow where You lead. Fill Your child with the knowledge of Your will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding. Grant generous wisdom as You have promised to those who ask in faith. Let Your peace, which passes all understanding, guard heart and mind. Keep from the evil one, as You ever live to intercede, and lead forth with joy and peace for Your name's sake. Amen.