a prayer for wisdom

Prayer for When You Don’t Know What to Do
By Christina Patterson

“Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.” – Psalm 119:105

If you read my post last week on seeking God's will in making decisions, you may remember that one of the steps to making a decision is to seek God in prayer.

Perhaps you are in the midst of a difficult decision right now. If so, this prayer is for you.

Father in Heaven,

I come before you today with my mind swirling with different thoughts and feelings. I have a hard decision make and I just don't know what to do. I feel helpless and confused. I'm worried about the consequences to my decision. I worry about the impact my decision will have not only on myself but on others as well. To be honest, I fear making the wrong decision.

Your word tells me that if I seek after wisdom you will provide it. So I am seeking you, the source and fountain of wisdom. You've written everything you want me to know if the pages of your book, The Bible. I pray that as I read your word, it would shape my wants and desires and longings. I pray that it would impress on me what matters most to you. I pray that as I consider the decision before me, that I would remember what your word teaches about your sovereignty and control over all things.

You know this problem before me. You know how it turns out. That's because you are the Alpha and the Omega. You know the end from the beginning. Nothing happens apart from your will and plan. Not only are you sovereign, but you are good. All your plans are holy, righteous, and good. I can trust that you know what is best for me. When I move forward with this decision, I know that it is your will and that you will use it for my good and your glory.

Forgive me for getting caught up in wanting to know the future and how everything turns out. Forgive me for treating you like a "magic 8 ball." Forgive me for fearing the future and for waiting around in the hopes that the answer will be written on the wall. Help me to rest and trust in who you are. Help me to look to Jesus, knowing that if you gave of your own Son to save me from sin, how will you not also be with me in all the challenges and decisions of my life? There is nothing and no one that can separate me from you; I have nothing to fear.

You are my Rock, my Savior, and my Deliverer. Be with me as I move forward in this time of confusion and difficulty. Above all, may your will be done on earth, and in my life, as it is in heaven.

In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.

why should we pray?

Why Should We Pray?

In the powerful work, Giving Ourselves to Prayer, Gary T. Meadors observes that dialogue with the Almighty is part of the fabric of the Bible: “Genesis 4:26 first mentions that ‘men began to call on the name of the Lord,’ and Revelation 22:20 closes the Bible with the prayer, ‘Come, Lord Jesus’ (compare 1 Corinthians 16:22). The entire history of redemption is framed in prayer. In between these terminal references we find a database about prayer that is so large it requires description beyond simple definition.”1 Why do we pray? Here are a few key reasons:2 1. We love Him. Just as a man and woman in love desire to be together and communicate, so we, if we love God, will desire to be with Him and to fellowship with Him in proportion to our love for Him. 2. We depend on God. He is our source. He is our life (Colossians 3:4). Through prayer, we receive the comfort, strength, and all the other resources we need in life, both naturally and spiritually. Prayer—relationship with God—is as necessary to the spiritual life as air is to the natural life. 3. Prayer allows us to resist temptation. Jesus warned His disciples to “watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation” (Matthew 26:41, NKJV). Living a life without prayer can leave us weak and exposed, giving an opportunity for the enemy to gain ground and potentially lure us into sin. 4. Prayer is necessary for people to invite God to act in salvation. God gave the earth to Adam and his descendants, so we must invite God to work here. If no one invites Him to work on earth, Satan—the “god of this age” because of humanity’s universal rebellion (2 Corinthians 4:4)—will dominate human affairs, and eventually the judgment of God will come. By inviting God to intercede often and specifically, multitudes can be saved who would otherwise be lost. 5. God commands us to pray. In Colossians 4:2, Paul writes: “Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving” (NKJV). Jesus also encouraged His followers to pray: “Then He [Jesus] spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart” (Luke 18:1, NKJV). The need to pray is as great as the authority of God, who commands us to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17, NKJV). Prayer is so vital to all that God wants to do on the earth, and it is so essential to us, that He commands us to do it all the time. We should even deny ourselves sleep and food at times to pray more and with greater power (see Matthew 6:16; Luke 6:12; Luke 21:36; Colossians 4:2; 2 Corinthians 11:27).

pray and rest

A Prayer to Catch Your Breath
By Max Lucado

“Six days do your work, but on the seventh day do not work, so that your ox and your donkey may rest, and so that the slave born in your household and the foreigner living among you may be refreshed.” Exodus 23:12 (NIV)

God designed time for rest to be taken daily and weekly. He told Moses and the Israelites, “Six days do your work, but on the seventh day do not work, so that your ox and your donkey may rest, and so that the slave born in your household and the foreigner living among you may be refreshed” (Exodus 23:12).

This was not a suggestion, recommendation or piece of practical advice. This was a command: Rest! Once a week let the system reboot. Once a week, let the entire household slow down. The Israelite who violated this law paid for the sin with his or her life.

Today the “death penalty” is still in effect, but it gradually comes from overwork, stress and anxiety.

The Bible doesn’t see rest as a sign of weakness or laziness, but as a mark of reverence. To observe a Sabbath day of rest is to announce, “God knows what I need more than I do. If He says to rest, I will rest.” And, as we do, our bodies and minds are refreshed.

Never has rest been more important. We move at too fast a pace and our adrenaline spigots seldom shut off. Racing for late-night flights and adding early-morning meetings, we’re stretched beyond our limits. High adrenaline output depletes the brain’s natural tranquilizers and sets the stage for high anxiety. Many of us learned to associate relaxation with irresponsibility, so we might need some rewiring.

These are some tips I’ve learned to try:

·      Don’t overdo it.Understand your limits. If you think you have no limits, then you have more than most people.

·      Once you reach your limits, stop. Don’t work until you drop. Find a pace of life that works for you, and stick to it.

·      Maintain regular breaks during the day. Naps are biblical.

·      Give your mind a rest from technology. Turn off, unplug, detach from social media, news and all the tech toys that deplete energy.

·      Learn to relax. To relax is to disengage and let go. An hour or daylong Sabbath is not the time to catch up with work. It is a time to entrust my work to God. After all, He worked for six days and then rested. The world didn’t fall apart. It won’t for me either.

God promised to supply the Hebrews with manna each day. But He told them to collect only one day’s supply at a time. Those who disobeyed and collected enough for two days found themselves with rotten manna. The only exception was the day prior to the Sabbath. On Friday, they could gather twice as much. Otherwise, God gave them what they needed, in their time of need.

Doesn’t each day have its share of challenges? Some of them repeat themselves over time; others are one-day specials.

I’ve learned the key to tranquility and true rest is to face today’s problems and no more, to treat each day like a self-contained unit. Here are today’s problems. Meet them with God’s strength. But I don’t have to start tackling tomorrow’s problems until tomorrow. I don’t have tomorrow’s strength yet. I simply have enough for today. And I can’t cross a bridge until I reach it.

So what to do?

Find a parking place for tomorrow’s problems. When they surface, write them down, and mentally drive them into a parking garage and leave them there.

Don’t over-stress your coping skills. Emotional energy is finite. Give yourself permission to say, “I will solve this tomorrow. By sunrise I will be replenished physically and mentally. Every day is a fresh start, so I will start fresh in the morning.”

Shut the gate on yesterday, and don’t touch the gate on tomorrow.

You no longer have yesterday. You do not yet have tomorrow. You only have today. Live in it!

Dear Lord, break me of the need to be busy pursuing a sense of self-worth. Make me secure in who You are and who You’ve made me to be, and as a result, teach me what it means to truly rest. Help me catch my breath. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Editor’s note: This content was adapted from the original article “Catch Your Breath” for Encouragement for Today