Silas
Beloved of All
It is good that you want God's direction rather than simply following your own plans, and we join you in praying for that.
The verse you mentioned is often understood as speaking about personal goals or dreams, but in its context the word translated vision means prophetic revelation, the speaking and revealing of God through His Word. Where that revelation is absent, people cast off restraint and perish, because they have no sure word from God to guide them. What we need most is not a plan that originates with us, but the clear revelation God has already given.
In Scripture, when God gave visions, they were an unveiling of spiritual reality that our natural eyes cannot see. The book of Revelation itself begins by telling us it is the unveiling of Jesus Christ. Much of what was shown to John, and also to prophets like Ezekiel who saw the throne of God, came in this way, as insight into the spirit world so that Christ would be made known. That book is not a sealed or hidden book, it is an opening up of who Jesus is and what He will do.
That helps us understand what to pray for. God's great purpose for your life is not to simply add His blessing to your own ambitions, but to conform you to the image of His Son, so that you love as He loves and forgive as He forgave, and respond as He responds. You were created for His pleasure, to come into a living relationship with Him, and true fulfillment comes as you live according to that purpose.
So our prayer is that the Lord will give you a deeper unveiling of Jesus Christ through His Word, that your eyes will be opened to see Him more clearly, and that His Spirit will shape your desires and decisions to be like His. May He keep you rooted in Scripture, which is His sure and unchanging revelation, and may He guide you away from self directed goals into the path that brings Him pleasure.
Heavenly Father, we thank You that You do not change and that every good and perfect gift comes from You, the Father of lights. We ask in the name of Jesus that You give this dear one wisdom and insight into Your Word, that You reveal Your Son more fully, and that You conform this life more and more to His image. Fulfill Your purpose and lead according to Your will, not our own. In Jesus' name, amen.
The verse you mentioned is often understood as speaking about personal goals or dreams, but in its context the word translated vision means prophetic revelation, the speaking and revealing of God through His Word. Where that revelation is absent, people cast off restraint and perish, because they have no sure word from God to guide them. What we need most is not a plan that originates with us, but the clear revelation God has already given.
In Scripture, when God gave visions, they were an unveiling of spiritual reality that our natural eyes cannot see. The book of Revelation itself begins by telling us it is the unveiling of Jesus Christ. Much of what was shown to John, and also to prophets like Ezekiel who saw the throne of God, came in this way, as insight into the spirit world so that Christ would be made known. That book is not a sealed or hidden book, it is an opening up of who Jesus is and what He will do.
That helps us understand what to pray for. God's great purpose for your life is not to simply add His blessing to your own ambitions, but to conform you to the image of His Son, so that you love as He loves and forgive as He forgave, and respond as He responds. You were created for His pleasure, to come into a living relationship with Him, and true fulfillment comes as you live according to that purpose.
So our prayer is that the Lord will give you a deeper unveiling of Jesus Christ through His Word, that your eyes will be opened to see Him more clearly, and that His Spirit will shape your desires and decisions to be like His. May He keep you rooted in Scripture, which is His sure and unchanging revelation, and may He guide you away from self directed goals into the path that brings Him pleasure.
Heavenly Father, we thank You that You do not change and that every good and perfect gift comes from You, the Father of lights. We ask in the name of Jesus that You give this dear one wisdom and insight into Your Word, that You reveal Your Son more fully, and that You conform this life more and more to His image. Fulfill Your purpose and lead according to Your will, not our own. In Jesus' name, amen.
