Praying to Find Guidance

Listen Online:

Transcript:

Psalm chapter 32. Psalm chapter 32. We all need guidance at some point or another in our lives.

Actually, I submit to you we need guidance every day. We just don’t realize it. But we realize our need for guidance in the big things.

Should I buy this house? What job should I take? Where should I go to college?

Some of the big decisions that affect the course of our lives, we in particular need guidance, and I think we’re more likely to realize that. I prayed hard about where I should go to college. So I had several options of where I could have gone, and God sent me to the University of Oklahoma.

That wasn’t the answer I wanted, but that’s where God sent me, and it worked out well. And yes, I did apply at the U of A, as far as I recall. He didn’t send me here.

But I prayed hard about it, and I think God sent me to the right place. Now, I wish I’d prayed a little harder about changing my major from French to political science. My goodness, that was not a good idea.

I was a political science major for three days. That was a major decision that I should have before I switched back. That’s a major decision I should have prayed about before I made it.

But I prayed about where to go to college. I prayed about the job coming here, and I’ve shared with you at least once before that that day, that time I came in view of a call, the next day we did some running around in this area because we didn’t know if y’all were going to call me or not. Didn’t know if we’d ever be back in this area, so we went and did some running around, and my wife spotted a shoe store, and we had to stop because we don’t have those back home.

But I’ve told you, I sat in the parking lot of the Payless shoe store down here on 62 and 540 while she was in there spending money and just wept and prayed, God, just tell me what you want me to do, Norman or Fayetteville. Let me know and I’ll do it. You know, sometimes we pray over the big decisions when we think about it.

We realize our need for guidance. I don’t know about you, but I tend to make better decisions when I get guidance, when I get wise counsel, even if it’s not from prayer. If I ask people around me what I should do and talk to reputable people, trustworthy people, rather than just going off my own opinion, I tend to make better decisions.

Would you say that tends to be the case for you as well? You know, for me, even in small decisions, a lot of times I need guidance. We used to go out to eat lunch after church every Sunday, usually to Taco Mayo, which if you’re not familiar with it, it’s Oklahoma’s answer to Taco Bueno. And they were notorious for changing the menu several times a year.

and I’d walk in and see the menu changed and just immediately get in the fetal position. And one of my friends would have to order for me because I couldn’t deal with the new menu and needed guidance. I submit to you, we need guidance more than.

. . Y’all are looking at me like I’m crazy now.

It’s not every little decision I need somebody else to walk me through, but there’s just some things I can’t figure out on my own. But you know, we’re all that way. We stop to pray about the big decisions.

We stop, if we’re wise, we stop to seek God’s guidance about the big decisions. We don’t realize when we need help with the little decisions. And I submit to you, it’s not just the big decisions we need guidance.

It’s in the little ones too. We need guidance even when we don’t see decisions coming. We need to get up every day, ladies and gentlemen, and ask God for his guidance for the day that’s to come ahead of us before we even know what decisions we need to make.

It’s one thing to run to God when you’ve got a problem, whether it’s should I move out of state and take this job, or whether it’s should I order tacos or burritos, whether it’s a big problem or a small problem, we need God’s guidance in every aspect of our lives. Now, I’m not saying you need to pray and say, God, what should I have for lunch today? I’ll leave that up to you.

Maybe there’s a reason God would send you this place rather than this place. But in general, what I’m telling you is we shouldn’t wait until there’s a decision. We shouldn’t wait until we’re on the horns of a dilemma and then say, ah, now God, I need you.

We should start our day by asking for God’s guidance. That’s what we’re going to talk about this morning is praying to find guidance because we need guidance. We need God’s wisdom more than we realize.

This world is a confusing place. And we face decisions and we face dilemmas every day. I heard somebody say on the radio this week, the average person makes 90 decisions a day.

I think that sounds low. I think we face a decision every minute, even if we’re just sitting there watching TV. Do I go to this channel?

Do I go to that channel? Do I get up and do the laundry like it needs to be done, or do I continue to sit here? We face innumerable decisions every day, from the vital decisions to the minuscule decisions.

And I submit we need God’s guidance to make it through the hurdles that we face each day. And as we go through this series on reasons why we pray, this is, I believe, reason number six of why we pray is to find guidance. And we’re going to look this morning at a few verses in Psalm chapter 32.

Starting in verse 6, it says, For this shall everyone that is godly pray unto thee in a time when thou mayest be found. Surely in the floods of great waters they shall not come nigh unto him. Okay, before we go on to verse 7, David says that everyone who is godly should pray to God while he can be found.

It should be the habit, it should be a hallmark of a godly person that we are constantly seeking God and His will and His direction for our lives. Do you believe that? For a godly person, it should not be the exception.

It should not be, and it all too often is, but it should not be, well, I went to God this week when I needed to know what to do because my checking account was low or because one of my kids got sick, and that’s really when I sought God’s guidance. Folks, it should be part of the life, part of every aspect of the life of the believer that we are seeking God’s guidance and seeking his wisdom. And it says, while he may be found.

Now, I’ve had some confusion in the past about verses like this and the one that says, seek the Lord early while he may be found. And what it does not mean is that, you know, God has office hours. You can reach him Monday through Friday, eight to five.

It’s not saying that there are certain times of the day that we need to pray. I’ve heard people teach that this is why you should pray in the morning. Well, it’s a good idea to pray in the morning.

It is. It’s also a good idea to pray in the evening. But it said, seek the Lord early while he may yet be found.

To him implied that if you don’t seek God early in the morning, you’re just out of luck for the rest of the day. I don’t see that in there. What I see in the history of God’s people, what I see in the history of God’s dealing with Israel, is that they were told to seek God while he might yet be found because after decades and centuries of not seeking God, there was a time when God just wasn’t going to listen anymore.

As harsh as that sounds to say. There came a time in the history of Israel where they neglected God for so long. They neglected his wisdom.

They neglected his guidance. They neglected his will for so long. And God had warned them about what was going to happen and warned them about what was going to happen and warned them and warned them some more.

Where they got to the point where they didn’t heed God’s warnings, they didn’t seek Him, they didn’t do what He asked them to do, and He got to the point where even if they had come at that point and said, we’re sorry, it didn’t matter, because time had run out. And what this verse, I believe, is telling us is to seek God before it’s too late. And for us, I will tell you as believers, I believe what the Bible says, that nothing separates us from God.

I believe what it says about Him never leaving or forsaking us, but what I do believe is there there’s a point in time that even though God is still with us and God still hears us as his children, I believe there’s a point in time where we can neglect God’s guidance for so long about a particular situation that we pass the point, it’s too late, he’s not going to do anything about it, and he’s going to let us deal with the consequences of our rejection of his guidance. Does that make sense? Say, for example, I’m trying to think of an example just off the top of my head.

Well, for example, there are several principles in God’s word, I think, that would make it clear that drunk driving is a bad idea. Anybody have disagreement with that? The Bible teaches against drunkenness.

It teaches against breaking the law. I mean, there are several principles in there that would tell us that drunk driving is not a good idea for a Christian. And as we read God’s Word and as we study God’s Word, we could see these principles in there.

And we could ignore God’s guidance for so long and we could keep drunk driving and keep drunk driving and get to a point where we’re careening toward a telephone pole and say, okay, God, now what do you want me to do? You know, God might save you from the crash. He might.

But it also may be that God will let you crash into that pole so that you’ll learn something. There comes a point in time, I think, when God says, okay, you’ve rejected my guidance long enough. Here are the consequences.

And folks, I don’t believe that means God doesn’t love us anymore either. Sometimes, I’ve told you before, sometimes I let my son deal with the consequences of his actions. I’ll warn him, and I’ll warn him because I don’t want him to get hurt.

but at some point, you tell him, you know, quit jumping on the couch, you’re going to fall off and get hurt. Quit jumping on the couch, you’re going to fall off and get hurt. He doesn’t listen long enough, I’m going to let him fall off the couch.

And he’s done that. And I know I’m not God. Believe me, I know I’m not God.

But I believe there’s a reason God so many times describes himself as a father. And I think I understand a little bit more than I used to about what God, about how God interacts with us now having that role as well. But he tells us that we should pray unto God in a time when he may be found.

Pray to God early on, ladies and gentlemen. Don’t wait until you get into the problem. Don’t wait until you’ve made the wrong decision to pray and seek God’s guidance on the way out of it.

Pray and ask God’s guidance early. Pray to God while he may yet be found. And it says, surely in the floods of great waters they shall not come nigh unto him.

You know, Noah sought God. I think immediately of Noah when I read this passage. Noah sought God.

Noah followed God’s guidance and God’s direction. And when the floodwaters came, because Noah had obeyed God, Noah and his family were safe from the floodwaters. And a lot of times, folks, not always, but a lot of times there’s safety, there’s more safety in obeying God than in not obeying God.

Now, I can’t say that that’s always the case, because I could give you the names of missionaries, I could give you a copy of Fox’s Book of Martyrs. If they’re still out there, there are several magazines out there from the Voice of the Martyrs. Pick one up.

I think Edna brought those for you to take for free. And we could look at story after story of people who have followed God, who have served God, and still suffered for it. So it’s not an absolute promise, but as a general principle, we are better off following God’s guidance than not following it.

And he says in verse 7, Thou art my hiding place. Thou shalt preserve me from trouble. Thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance.

Now I love this, and he says, I love this. Anytime they refer to God compassing them about, because as you can imagine, to encompass something means to encircle, to surround. And I get this picture in my mind.

I don’t know if this is what David intended or not, but when he says, you’ll compass me about with songs of deliverance, I imagine God walking around in a circle around David, singing songs about how he has set David free. Now, again, I don’t know if that’s the image we’re supposed to get, but that’s what I picture in my mind. And if God is walking the perimeter around us, who can get through that perimeter?

God never falls asleep on guard duty. God’s never defeated. And David says that God compassed him about with songs of deliverance.

Folks, if I could have any force in this world surround me, it wouldn’t be the secret service. It wouldn’t be the special forces. wouldn’t be the CIA.

Folks, I can’t think of a better protection in this world than to be compassed about by the living God. And David says, your people should pray to you while you can be found, because you’re my hiding place. You’re my refuge.

You’re the one I run to. You’ll preserve me from trouble, and you will compass me about, you will surround me with songs of deliverance. Now, there may be some overlap between this and the things we’ve talked about in previous weeks with praying to God to relieve our burdens, praying to God to meet our needs, things like this.

There’s going to be some overlap. All of this works together, the reasons we pray to God for. We pray to Him to relieve our burdens and give us strength, as we’re going to talk about tonight, praying to find strength, praying to find guidance.

Folks, all of these things work together for our good and for God’s glory. So there’s going to be some overlap in the things we talk about. But he says in verse 8, this is God speaking.

I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go. I will guide thee with mine eye. Folks, he tells us he will instruct us.

Everything I know about God from reading the Bible, I won’t say to you like so many other people do, well, my God would never do that. For so many people, my God is based on their own views and opinions of what he should be. Everything I know about God from reading the Bible indicates that God didn’t put us here to be confused about what he wants from us.

if God wants us to do something generally as I see in the Bible he tells people what he wants them to do he commands it because he expects it to be obeyed it’s not a secret for hey you need to figure this out on your own it’s a trick and I remember being asked in a Bible study one time by the Bible study leader everybody was supposed to go around and say finish the sentence I love God because and by the time it came around to me a lot of good ones had been taken and the answer I gave was, I love God because he tells me what he wants me to do. And I was told that that answer was wrong. Because he doesn’t always tell.

Yeah, I think if you look hard enough, he will tell you what he wants you to do. If you look hard enough, if you study his word, he says here, I will instruct thee. I’m not going to leave you confused.

If you’ll just look for it, I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go. I’m going to let you know where I want you to walk. You don’t have to walk around confused.

Do I want you to do this? Do I want you to do that? Again, I won’t tell you that God’s Word, I know some of the ladies out here have drawn restaurants from a hat to try to decide where they’re going to lunch on Sunday.

Now, I could, good idea, by the way, I’m not making fun of you at all, because they have trouble deciding where to go. I’m not going to stand here and tell you that if you’ll just open your Bible, God will tell you whether He wants you to go to Chili’s or Jason’s Deli, okay? Doesn’t say that.

And God’s Word is not going to tell you if you should buy house in Elkins or the house in Farmington. But God’s word gives us principles by which we can make those decisions. And I think if we look hard enough at God’s word, we don’t have to be confused about where he wants us to go.

And there are some decisions he doesn’t intend us to be confused about at all because they’re there in black and white. Should I kill this guy? No.

The answer is no. It’s right in there. I’ll take you to it if you’re confused on that. There are some things God has made abundantly clear.

But God says, I will instruct you and teach you in the way you shall go, and I will guide you, I will guide thee with mine eye. So he says in verse 9, we’re going to come back to verse 8 in just a moment. In verse 9, he says, be ye not as the horse or as the mule, which have no understanding, whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle, lest they come near unto thee.

And what he’s saying is, as he said in verse 8, I will teach you, I will show you the right way. He said, So because of that, don’t be like a horse or a mule. Don’t be stubborn, in other words, and be like one of these big animals that has to be led around with a bit or a bridle just to get them to do what they’re supposed to do.

God says, if you’re willing to hear, I’m willing to instruct you, but I want you to follow me and not make me have to force you around like a horse with the bit in its mouth. Does that make sense? Follow the instruction willingly.

Many sorrows shall be to the wicked. Isn’t that the truth? Many sorrows shall be to the wicked.

but he that trusteth in the Lord, mercy shall compass him about. There’s that word again. Mercy will surround him, ladies and gentlemen.

Now, he doesn’t say that there will be no sorrow for the ones who trust in the Lord. He says there will be sorrow for the ones who are wicked. He doesn’t say that there will be no sorrow for those who are not wicked and who trust in him.

What he says is that mercy will surround them. Even in the midst of trouble and sorrow, folks, if we seek God, if we’re his, we’re surrounded by his mercy. And even when times are difficult, he’s there and he leads us in the right direction.

And he comforts us and he strengthens us for the time ahead. Because of this, he says, Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, ye righteous. And shout for joy, all ye that are upright in heart.

Folks, we have reason to shout for joy because God has not left us comfortless and he’s not left us directionless. So many people in the world we live in are just kind of floating like jellyfish. You know, I was surprised a few years ago to find out jellyfish don’t swim.

They just float on the currents. They just go whichever way the water takes them. And so many people in our world are floating around with no sense of direction, no idea where they’re going or where it’s going to lead them or how to get there.

Just floating wherever the water takes them. And it can be very confusing. It can be very troublesome.

And we get like that from time to time as well. But we’re not to be that way. We have a reason to shout for joy because God has said, I will instruct you.

What better guidance could we look at than from the one who wrote the map? From the one who’s seen both ends of the journey, where it starts and where it ends, and can lead us on the right path to get there. This morning, in just the next few moments, we’re going to look at three things out of two verses here about praying to find guidance.

It is always a good idea. Now, I think you could take this to extreme. It still wouldn’t be a bad idea.

If you want to get in your car today and pray about where God wants you to go to lunch, you do that. I’m not saying that’s what you need to do. But it wouldn’t be a bad thing either.

But it’s always a good idea, I believe, to seek God’s guidance early before we even have the decision or the dilemma. But first of all, God’s guidance is available to His children when we seek it. God’s guidance is available.

He says in verse 8, I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go. He promises to teach us. There’s a song, and I don’t remember any of the song except this one line, and I think it’s from the chorus, that says, God is not silent, we’re not listening.

We wonder so many times why God doesn’t just pop out of nowhere and point with a sign and say, go this way or do that. Folks, God has promised to instruct us, He’s promised to teach us, and we have all the tools at our disposal necessary to hear from God if we would just use them. Now, there are several ways that I think God can and does speak to us.

We’ve got to be careful about using some of them. But I just wrote down some of the ones I could think of today. First of all, I think sometimes God can guide and speak to us through our feelings.

Now, you’ve got to be so careful about that because our feelings are notoriously unreliable. So often we don’t even know what we’re feeling. But sometimes God can give you a feeling, a sense about something.

God can give you peace about a particular decision or situation to let you know that you’re doing the right thing. But again, you’ve got to be very careful about that. how you’re careful, test it against God’s word.

If you think, I ought to just slap that guy and you have a peace about it, go read your Bible because I don’t think that’s what God is telling you to do. I don’t think that’s what God’s telling you to do. God will never reveal things to us that contradict his word.

Remember that principle and you’ll always be in good stead. Sometimes our circumstances, if hypothetically you’re praying and saying, God, should I take 540 to get to Rogers or should I take 71 and there’s a massive pile up on 540, Guess what? The circumstances have dictated which one God thinks you ought to take.

That’s just a hypothetical. But sometimes our circumstances, God can use our circumstances to point us in the right direction. Again, not every time. So you’ve got to compare and contrast it against God’s word.

God can use godly counsel from other Christians. Sometimes you seek the counsel of a brother or sister in Christ who is wise, who knows the scriptures. I want to qualify that by saying other Christians and saying godly fellow believers.

Not everybody who gives you advice do you want to follow their advice. And again, test it against the scriptures. But sometimes God can speak to us through different situations, through other believers.

In the past few weeks, God has given me sound advice through other believers. But sometimes you can call up a Christian friend, you can call up somebody from the church and say, what do you think I ought to do about this? And they may have, God may use them to give you just the wisdom you need.

Sometimes you may hear it in a sermon and you think, okay, that was for me. Folks, always test it against God’s word, but he can use other believers to guide you in the right direction. He can use the Holy Spirit.

Sometimes you hear the voice. Sometimes you can’t explain it, but you just feel like God has said something to you. I’m not trying to be mystical, because you want to test it against God’s word.

There are too many heresies that are being taught in too many churches today because somebody thinks they got a word from the Holy Spirit that doesn’t match up with God’s word. Test it against God’s word. But God has spoken through a still, small voice before, and I bet he can do it again.

And at the expense of being a public laughingstock like Bill O’Reilly was the last week when he made the mistake of telling a reporter that the Holy Spirit told him to write a particular book, and the media laughed at him, I’ll tell you, in the last few weeks, I prayed about something, prayed about an answer to a question, and I believe God answered it in a dream, because what I was told in the dream later turned out to be the case. Now again, tested against God’s word. But God has spoken to people in the Bible through dreams, and I bet he can do it again.

And ultimately, ladies and gentlemen, I don’t want you to. . .

You know, there are all kinds of churches where people will tell you, just go with what the Spirit tells you, or here’s a rabbit’s foot, or here’s a prayer cloth. As I list these, I don’t want you to think any of these are a trump card over the last one, because I think the last one is most important. I think it’s the one God primarily speaks to us through in this day and time, and it’s his word.

You may occasionally, okay, I’ve said these other four, you may occasionally get feelings, you may occasionally hear the still small voice, but I wouldn’t look to that every time and I wouldn’t go looking for that first. When you ask God for guidance, you need to go first and foremost to his word. God’s word will not steer you wrong. And there is guidance in here for just about every situation.

At least, if it’s not addressed in black and white and says in this specific situation, this is what you need to do, There are principles in there that indicate what God thinks about a particular situation. If you don’t believe me, I could take you to the book of Deuteronomy this morning and tell you what God thinks about the trade deficit, but I won’t do that. God’s thoughts on just about every situation are to be found in His Word, and we can find that guidance if we’re willing to look for it.

The last two points this morning, and then we’ll close. These are very quick. Second of all, God’s guidance includes God’s providence and protection.

He says, I will guide thee with mine eye. And when I went to look at that in Hebrew, I’m told it literally means that I will keep my eye on you, or something approximating that. I’ll keep my eye on you as I guide you.

Folks, he doesn’t just give us the guidance and the instructions and say, there you go, enjoy, be safe. Folks, God watches over his children. God watches over his children, I think, in particular, when we’re following him.

Again, I won’t say to you, I’ve heard it said by well-meaning people, that the safest place for you is in the center of God’s will. That’s not always true. Too many missionaries have been killed.

Too many men have been shot in the pulpit in this country. Too many people are suffering for their faith across this planet. Too many people are losing their lives simply for doing what Jesus Christ told them to do when he said, Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

It’s not a blanket promise that we will always be better off, But we can go forward and follow God’s guidance knowing that His providence, His care, watches over us. God watches over His children. And yes, even if following Him costs us something, even if it causes harm to us, even if it costs us our life, folks, we know that God takes a longer view of history.

And we know that God is not just working things out according to our short-term goals and what looks good to us at the moment, but that God sees all of history and he’s working things out according to what is for our ultimate good and for his ultimate glory. And we can trust that he’s in control and that he watches over his children. And I can’t say nothing will ever happen to us, but nothing will ever happen to us that’s outside of his control and outside of his ability to deal with.

And finally this morning, God’s guidance is intended to be followed willingly. I hit on this just a minute ago, talking about the horse and the bridle. But he says, Be ye not as the horse or the mule which have no understanding, whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle, lest they come near unto thee.

You have to put the bit and the bridle on the horse in order to steer them where they need to go. I don’t know the terminology, folks. I was raised in the suburbs.

I don’t know from horses. But you have to put it on them to steer them where you want them to go and lead them around, and sometimes they don’t like it. And mules, from what I know, are stubborn sometimes, and you have to whip them and you have to drag them.

And folks, how much sense does it make for us to pray for God’s guidance because we believe we need it, but then when we don’t get the exact answer we want, for us to act like that mule that has to be dragged along or that horse that has to be prodded. If we think God’s guidance is needed for us and it’s good for us before we get the answer, we should think the same thing after we get the answer. And God’s not always going to give us the answer we want, but he’s always going to give us the answer that’s best for us and that brings him and ladies and gentlemen, he intends his guidance to be followed willingly.

It’s no good for us if we’re like the mule or the horse and we get God’s guidance and then we fight against it. This morning, I want to encourage you to start today seeking God’s guidance. Again, I’ve made it clear, I think, I don’t believe that God expects you to pray about every single decision.

I don’t think it’s written anywhere in the Bible that we have to pray about where we’re going to lunch, What should I order off the menu? Things like that. But folks, when we have decisions to make that are of any importance whatsoever, we should pray for God’s guidance.

And even before we come to the dilemma, we should get up every morning and pray, God, guide and direct me today. And folks, God will guide and direct us. I can’t tell you how many times in the last six months that I’ve asked for God’s guidance in something and He hasn’t answered right at that particular moment.

But then later on when the situation arises, God calls a scripture back to mind and speaks to me through that. Even dealing with my child. And sometimes I’ll want to pull my hair out and think, God, how do I deal with Benjamin in this moment?

And sometimes God will call to mind the verse that says, Fathers, provoke not your children to wrath. And I’ll think, you know, there really was no reason why I told him no. It was just a reflex. And I should be easier on my son.

And other times I’ll pray, God, help me. What do I do with him right now? And God will call to mind the verse that says not to spare the rod.

And God seems to give the guidance through His Word that’s needed at that moment. Folks, begin your day by seeking God’s guidance. Begin your decision-making by seeking God’s guidance.

We need to spend time in prayer, not just asking God for the things that we want, but asking Him for what we need, which is His direction to live in this perilous world.