Silas
Beloved of All
There is much to be thankful for in your prayer and in the hunger behind it to hear God clearly and to walk in His will together with your family, your leaders and all who are connected to you in ministry and friendship.
Your instinct to look first to the Word is right and biblical. The Scriptures are God's revealed word to us, and everything else must be tested against them. In earlier times God spoke through prophets, dreams and visions, and in these last days He has spoken finally and fully through His Son. That means the Bible remains the sure foundation, the light by which every other impression, counsel or experience is measured. When we stay anchored there, we are not carried away by every voice or idea.
At the same time Scripture shows that God is free to speak in many ways. He has spoken through dreams to Joseph and to others to warn and to guide, through visions by night, through the faithful preaching of His word, through godly counsel where there is safety in a multitude of counselors, through divine appointments and even through the quiet circumstances He arranges. The prophet Joel spoke of a time when God would pour out His Spirit and sons and daughters would prophesy and young and old would receive dreams and visions, a promise repeated in Acts. We can remain open to the Lord working in these ways, while remembering that His voice is often not a loud, echoing sound but a gentle, natural leading that we recognize as we learn to listen. The Shepherd's sheep know His voice, and those who are led by the Spirit are attentive to Him.
That openness needs discernment. Scripture warns that not every dream or vision is from the Lord. Some speak only from their own hearts and offer chaff that does not nourish. People who chase only the spectacular can remain spiritually immature, and those who claim thus says the Lord when He has not spoken lead others into error. This is why every dream, vision, prophecy or impression must be weighed humbly against the Bible, confirmed through prayer, through the counsel of mature believers, and through the character and leading of the Holy Spirit. God also shows in the story of Saul that when a heart persists in rebellion He may not answer by those extraordinary means, which reminds us to keep our hearts tender and obedient before Him.
It is encouraging to remember how God's hand works steadily through a life. Often we only see it clearly when we look back. There are valleys where we see little beyond the cliffs around us, and there are higher places where we can see how He has protected, guided and kept us all along. You can trust that His arm is not short and that no purpose of His can be thwarted. What is impossible with man is possible with God, and the light of Christ is stronger than any darkness.
So we join you in praying as you asked. May the Lord keep you, your wife, your children, your friends, your pastors, your leaders and all your partners and their families from temptation, from evil, from deception and from the work of the evil one. May He guard you from lies and fear and keep your steps from turning aside into paths that lead downward. May He give you wisdom to recognize His guidance, whether through His Word, through preaching that opens that Word, through wise counsel, or through any other means He chooses to use, and may He grant you the peace that passes understanding as with thanksgiving you make your requests known to Him. He lives to intercede for those who come to God through Jesus, and all the promises of God are yes in Him.
We thank Him with you in advance, trusting that He hears and that He will lead you in Christ according to His perfect will.
Your instinct to look first to the Word is right and biblical. The Scriptures are God's revealed word to us, and everything else must be tested against them. In earlier times God spoke through prophets, dreams and visions, and in these last days He has spoken finally and fully through His Son. That means the Bible remains the sure foundation, the light by which every other impression, counsel or experience is measured. When we stay anchored there, we are not carried away by every voice or idea.
At the same time Scripture shows that God is free to speak in many ways. He has spoken through dreams to Joseph and to others to warn and to guide, through visions by night, through the faithful preaching of His word, through godly counsel where there is safety in a multitude of counselors, through divine appointments and even through the quiet circumstances He arranges. The prophet Joel spoke of a time when God would pour out His Spirit and sons and daughters would prophesy and young and old would receive dreams and visions, a promise repeated in Acts. We can remain open to the Lord working in these ways, while remembering that His voice is often not a loud, echoing sound but a gentle, natural leading that we recognize as we learn to listen. The Shepherd's sheep know His voice, and those who are led by the Spirit are attentive to Him.
That openness needs discernment. Scripture warns that not every dream or vision is from the Lord. Some speak only from their own hearts and offer chaff that does not nourish. People who chase only the spectacular can remain spiritually immature, and those who claim thus says the Lord when He has not spoken lead others into error. This is why every dream, vision, prophecy or impression must be weighed humbly against the Bible, confirmed through prayer, through the counsel of mature believers, and through the character and leading of the Holy Spirit. God also shows in the story of Saul that when a heart persists in rebellion He may not answer by those extraordinary means, which reminds us to keep our hearts tender and obedient before Him.
It is encouraging to remember how God's hand works steadily through a life. Often we only see it clearly when we look back. There are valleys where we see little beyond the cliffs around us, and there are higher places where we can see how He has protected, guided and kept us all along. You can trust that His arm is not short and that no purpose of His can be thwarted. What is impossible with man is possible with God, and the light of Christ is stronger than any darkness.
So we join you in praying as you asked. May the Lord keep you, your wife, your children, your friends, your pastors, your leaders and all your partners and their families from temptation, from evil, from deception and from the work of the evil one. May He guard you from lies and fear and keep your steps from turning aside into paths that lead downward. May He give you wisdom to recognize His guidance, whether through His Word, through preaching that opens that Word, through wise counsel, or through any other means He chooses to use, and may He grant you the peace that passes understanding as with thanksgiving you make your requests known to Him. He lives to intercede for those who come to God through Jesus, and all the promises of God are yes in Him.
We thank Him with you in advance, trusting that He hears and that He will lead you in Christ according to His perfect will.
