Silas
Beloved of All
Your desire not to follow only your own personal goals but to know what God wants is a good and right desire, and I thank you for sharing it so honestly.
It helps to understand what that verse in Proverbs means. Where there is no vision, the people perish is not speaking about a personal picture or a mystical dream given to guide your individual plans. In Scripture that word means the revealed word and counsel of God. When people do not have or do not heed what God has spoken, they cast off restraint and wander. The tragedy today is that many people, even in the church, have rarely been taught the Bible itself, which is God's sure revelation. If you want to know God's direction so you are not left to your own goals, the first place to look is His written Word, spoken with authority and to be received with conviction.
That also touches your motive, which is important to examine before the Lord. Scripture says that by nature we are not truly seeking God but often seeking something for ourselves, even if it is only peace of mind or tranquility. God will receive anyone who truly seeks Him, but He sees the heart. To seek a vision for the sake of having an experience, or for assurance that you are on the right path, can become another way of seeking your own peace rather than seeking Him. What breaks fellowship with God is sin, as Isaiah says, your sins have separated you from God, and what restores it is not an experience but grace through faith in Jesus Christ. The law shows us we cannot establish our own standing before God by our efforts, and it brings us to despair of ourselves so that we receive the righteousness God imputes to all who believe in Jesus. The very purpose for which God made you is fellowship with Him, and that fellowship is opened only through Christ.
God is certainly able to give a vision or a dream if He chooses. Scripture shows He did so with Peter when He needed to correct him and show him not to call unclean what God had cleansed, and He did so with Daniel when He revealed things that would reach all the way to the return of Christ. In each case God spoke directly and clearly by His Spirit, and the person did not manufacture the experience. Peter did not understand at first, and the Spirit Himself clarified it. Daniel alone saw what God showed him. These were acts of divine revelation and intervention according to God's purpose, not something the prophets demanded. If God wants to give you such a thing, He is free to do so and it would be fascinating, but we do not command Him and we should not think He cannot do His work without our help. Jacob and Rebekah knew what God had intended concerning the birthright, yet they tried to help God fulfill His purpose through deception, and it brought great sorrow. We can trust God's providence to accomplish His will without our schemes.
Because God's will for your life is the very best thing that could happen to you, the purpose of prayer is not to accomplish your will but to get God's will done. He does not change like shifting shadows, and every good and perfect gift does come down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variableness. That includes His guidance. He is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power of His Holy Spirit working in us, so we should ask largely, but we should ask in Jesus name for what aligns with His eternal purpose in Christ.
God gives us many opportunities to work in cooperation with Him in accomplishing His purposes. If we fail or turn aside, God will not fail, but we will have missed the privilege of being the instrument in His hand. So instead of praying mainly for a mystical vision, pray to redeem the time, to know what God wants you to do and to be about your Father's business, to be filled with the Spirit and to walk in love as Christ loved us.
I will pray for you in that direction.
Father, thank You that You do not change and that Your mercy endures forever. Thank You for the gift of Your Son, through whom we have forgiveness and fellowship with You when we put our faith in Jesus Christ. I ask that You draw this dear one not after personal goals or even after the comfort of an experience, but after Yourself. Open Your Word to them and give understanding, that they may know Your will which is good and best. Fill them with Your Holy Spirit, teach them to walk in love and to redeem the time You have given. If in Your wisdom You choose to give a dream or vision, we trust You to make it clear, but above all give a heart that delights to do Your will as revealed in Scripture. Cause them to be usable in Your hand for Your purposes, for Your glory. In Jesus name, amen.
It helps to understand what that verse in Proverbs means. Where there is no vision, the people perish is not speaking about a personal picture or a mystical dream given to guide your individual plans. In Scripture that word means the revealed word and counsel of God. When people do not have or do not heed what God has spoken, they cast off restraint and wander. The tragedy today is that many people, even in the church, have rarely been taught the Bible itself, which is God's sure revelation. If you want to know God's direction so you are not left to your own goals, the first place to look is His written Word, spoken with authority and to be received with conviction.
That also touches your motive, which is important to examine before the Lord. Scripture says that by nature we are not truly seeking God but often seeking something for ourselves, even if it is only peace of mind or tranquility. God will receive anyone who truly seeks Him, but He sees the heart. To seek a vision for the sake of having an experience, or for assurance that you are on the right path, can become another way of seeking your own peace rather than seeking Him. What breaks fellowship with God is sin, as Isaiah says, your sins have separated you from God, and what restores it is not an experience but grace through faith in Jesus Christ. The law shows us we cannot establish our own standing before God by our efforts, and it brings us to despair of ourselves so that we receive the righteousness God imputes to all who believe in Jesus. The very purpose for which God made you is fellowship with Him, and that fellowship is opened only through Christ.
God is certainly able to give a vision or a dream if He chooses. Scripture shows He did so with Peter when He needed to correct him and show him not to call unclean what God had cleansed, and He did so with Daniel when He revealed things that would reach all the way to the return of Christ. In each case God spoke directly and clearly by His Spirit, and the person did not manufacture the experience. Peter did not understand at first, and the Spirit Himself clarified it. Daniel alone saw what God showed him. These were acts of divine revelation and intervention according to God's purpose, not something the prophets demanded. If God wants to give you such a thing, He is free to do so and it would be fascinating, but we do not command Him and we should not think He cannot do His work without our help. Jacob and Rebekah knew what God had intended concerning the birthright, yet they tried to help God fulfill His purpose through deception, and it brought great sorrow. We can trust God's providence to accomplish His will without our schemes.
Because God's will for your life is the very best thing that could happen to you, the purpose of prayer is not to accomplish your will but to get God's will done. He does not change like shifting shadows, and every good and perfect gift does come down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variableness. That includes His guidance. He is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power of His Holy Spirit working in us, so we should ask largely, but we should ask in Jesus name for what aligns with His eternal purpose in Christ.
God gives us many opportunities to work in cooperation with Him in accomplishing His purposes. If we fail or turn aside, God will not fail, but we will have missed the privilege of being the instrument in His hand. So instead of praying mainly for a mystical vision, pray to redeem the time, to know what God wants you to do and to be about your Father's business, to be filled with the Spirit and to walk in love as Christ loved us.
I will pray for you in that direction.
Father, thank You that You do not change and that Your mercy endures forever. Thank You for the gift of Your Son, through whom we have forgiveness and fellowship with You when we put our faith in Jesus Christ. I ask that You draw this dear one not after personal goals or even after the comfort of an experience, but after Yourself. Open Your Word to them and give understanding, that they may know Your will which is good and best. Fill them with Your Holy Spirit, teach them to walk in love and to redeem the time You have given. If in Your wisdom You choose to give a dream or vision, we trust You to make it clear, but above all give a heart that delights to do Your will as revealed in Scripture. Cause them to be usable in Your hand for Your purposes, for Your glory. In Jesus name, amen.
