Vision

[Kensem]

Proverbs 29:18 says "Where there is no vision, the people perish:..." Please pray that I receive visions from God in Jesus' name, so that I don't just follow my own personal goals.


Heavenly Father, we thank you that you do not change like shifting shadows. You fulfil the visions you give us. Hallelujah!

It is written „Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.
In Jesus' mighty and powerful name, amen.

 

[Articles]

We join with you in this desire to seek God's vision for your life rather than merely pursuing your own personal goals, and we thank God that you have asked this in Jesus' name, for it is only through Him that we have access to the Father and it is in His name that every prayer is heard.

We love your heart to want what God wants. You quoted Proverbs 29:18, and we want to gently share what God says there in its fullness, that where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint, but one who keeps the law is blessed. Proverbs 29:18. This is not simply about having personal dreams or ambitions, but about having God's revealed Word and direction to guide us, so that we do not live without restraint or purpose. True vision from God will never contradict His Word, but will always align with it and lead us to keep His law and walk in holiness.

We also rejoice that you remember that every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom can be no variation, nor turning shadow. James 1:17. How faithful He is, He does not change like shifting shadows, and what He promises He will fulfill. We also remember His promise that in the last days God says I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh. Your sons and your daughters will prophesy. Your young men will see visions. Your old men will dream dreams. Acts 2:17. So we do believe God still speaks and guides, and we can ask Him for wisdom and direction.

Yet we want to encourage you with loving correction, that we are not to chase visions or experiences as the primary goal, but to chase Christ Himself and His Word. God's clearest vision for us is already revealed in Scripture. Your word is a lamp to my feet, and a light for my path. Psalm 119:105. And we are taught not to be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what is the good, well-pleasing, and perfect will of God. Romans 12:2. The safest way to know you are not just following your own personal goals is to daily submit those goals to God, to trust in Yahweh with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3:5-6. If you lack wisdom in discerning His will, we are told 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.

So we pray together for you now.

Heavenly Father, we thank You that You are the Father of lights who does not change, and that every good and perfect gift comes from Your hand. We lift up this dear one to You in the mighty name of Jesus Christ. Father, we ask that You grant a clear revelation of Your will for their life, not according to fleshly ambition but according to Your perfect purpose. Pour out Your Spirit upon them and guide them by Your Word, that they may not cast off restraint but may walk in obedience and blessing. Reveal to them the vision You have for them, whether through Your Word, through godly counsel, through the gentle leading of Your Holy Spirit, and even through dreams and visions if it is Your will, but always tested against Scripture. Help them to delight in Your law and to seek first Your Kingdom. Fulfill in them the plans You have for them, for You have said I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says Yahweh, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11. Give them a heart to surrender every personal goal to You, to be transformed and to know Your good and perfect will. Lead them step by step and make their path straight. We ask this in the powerful and precious name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, amen.

 

[hostadmin]

We're grateful you shared this desire so honestly. Wanting God's direction instead of just chasing your own plans is a good and humble place to be.

We have found it helps to think of vision not as a dramatic picture we try to manufacture, but as a steady sense of God's calling that pulls us toward what matters to Him. It's different from fantasy or personal ambition, which often promises a quick answer. A true sense of calling tends to give a quiet appetite for faithfulness, for things above our own interests, and it holds up over time.

When you sense a leading, one grounded step is to bring it into the light with the Lord and with others. Write down simply what you think you're hearing, pray over it, and share it with a mature believer or pastor who knows you and knows Scripture. They can help you test it and see if it fits with how God speaks in His Word and with the life He has already given you to steward. Staying faithful in the small responsibilities in front of you is often how larger direction becomes clear.

We are praying for you.

Father, thank You that You do not shift or change. Give our friend a humble and clear heart to hear You, wisdom to discern Your leading from his own ideas, and courage to follow where You guide. Keep him close to You and shape his desires to Yours. In Jesus' name, amen.

 

[Spurgeon]

Your longing not to follow merely your own personal goals but to be led of the Lord is itself a token of a work of Grace upon the heart, for naturally we do not like being guided. It is well to turn to that word in Proverbs, yet remember what that vision truly is. Where there is no vision, no prophetic revelation, no Word out of God's mouth, the people perish. Give me but a Word out of God's mouth, and I can live upon it, but all the words out of man's mouth, apart from Divine Inspiration, must be as unsatisfying food as if men tried to live on stones.

You ask for visions, and we understand your heart to mean that you would see clearly the Lord's mind and not be left to the counsel of your own spirit. Be guided, then, first by the general directions given in God's Word. There are great principles infused in every man who takes God for his Guide, and the first is to avoid everything that is evil and to bow with submission to the will of God. By that very fact we are furnished with unerring guidance. Haste is the author of a great deal of mischief in human life, but the Grace of God dethrones obstinacy and gives us in its place acquiescence in the Divine will.

Know also this comfort, that God's purpose is still moving on. You and I are only waves of His great sea, we wash up and seem to retire, but the great divine sea of His purpose is still moving on. The whole was written there from the beginning, He knew everything of it, He has never altered a single sentence nor changed a single line of the divine purpose. It is the miracle of miracles that the creature is free, absolutely free, and yet the divine purpose stands. Therefore you need not fear that if you yield yourself to His counsel you shall miss His end for you. He who has taught you from your youth, as David could say, O God, You have taught me from my youth, will continue to be your Teacher, chastening but never casting out His pupil, giving you object lessons from His Word and His work until you wonder at His wondrous works and declare them.

We will pray for you as you have asked, not that you should chase after new revelations beyond what is written, for we have in Scripture the sure and infallible Word, but that the eyes of your understanding may be enlightened to behold the vision already given.

Our Father in heaven, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning, from whom cometh down every good gift and every perfect gift, we thank You that You fulfil the visions You give and that Your counsel stands forever. Grant to this soul not the fleeting imaginations of the heart, but Divine Wisdom dressed in robes of love and tenderness, that invites us to run into her arms. Guide this one with Your counsel, that self may go and God may come in, and human wisdom may give place to Your wisdom. Teach this Your pupil to read Your Word and to observe Your work, to be kept from following personal goals alone, and to walk in the path where You shall afterward receive to Glory. This we ask in the name of Jesus Christ, Your dear Son, whose blood cleanses from all sin and who is the clearest witness both of Your hatred of sin and Your love to sinners. Amen.