How to Make Spirit-Led Decisions

Is it God or just your own thinking? How can you know if the decision you’re making is of God’s will? I’ve been there too. On one hand, you don’t want to be stuck or waste time. On the other hand, you don’t want to be presumptuous and move ahead with a decision that isn’t Spirit-led. So, what are you supposed to do if you don’t have an indication in either direction? 

Afraid to make a bad decision, many become spiritually stuck. So I want to give you a couple of truths that will help rewire the way you think so you can be decisive, while also being obedient to God.  While there are several keys to recognizing and responding to the voice of God, I want to focus on giving you two simple thoughts.

First, we, as believers, hear God primarily through His written Word. This isn’t to say that God doesn’t speak to us directly. Of course, He does. However, this does mean that if you’re not in the Word, you will more often find yourself stuck in indecision. To receive the Word is to develop wisdom, and wisdom is the foundation of decisiveness. Wisdom is divine reasoning. Wisdom is the problem-solving approach given to us by God. 

“The instructions of the Lord are perfect, reviving the soul. The decrees of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple.” - Psalm 19:7 (NLT)

Second, don’t trust in your ability to hear God. Now, at first, this directive might seem unusual, especially for Christians. I don’t mean that we shouldn’t desire to hear God or that we shouldn’t be glad when we do. I simply mean that when your trust is placed in your ability to hear God, you add unnecessary tension to your walk with the Lord. You see, Christians who trust in their own ability to hear God live with the perceived burden of having to make God speak, which nobody can do. 

When you trust in your own ability to hear God, you leave yourself vulnerable to the fear that you might not be doing enough to hear Him and, therefore, might be missing His instructions. You become stressed about making sure you’re using all of the correct tactics to hear Him. Of course, we, as believers, ought to live in the stillness of readiness to hear the Lord. We must learn to quiet mind and emotion, so that we might not mistake our own thoughts for God’s voice. And, yes, we should seek the Lord and seek to hear His voice. Yet, ultimately, your faith cannot be in self or in your own faith. We trust not in our ability to hear the Holy Spirit but in His ability to speak to us. If God could get through to Pharaoh and Saul, He can get through to you.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.” - Proverbs 3:5-6 (NLT)

We can find relief, and then joy and peace, as we live ready and eager to hear Him while trusting that He’ll speak when He’s ready. 

To become decisive, ground yourself in the Word and then learn to trust that He knows how to get through to you.

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What is God's Perfect Will for You?

What has God called you to do? What is His perfect will concerning your life? Right off the top, we can find some general direction for every believer. There are certain assignments and commands that apply to all of us. We know that every believer is called to:

• Live Holy (1 Peter 1:16)

• Evangelize (Mark 16:15)

• Worship (John 4:24)

• Pray (1 Thessalonians 5:17)

• Know God’s Word (Colossians 3:16)

• Demonstrate Love (Luke 10:27)

• Serve in the Church (1 Peter 4:10)

But beyond that, specifically, what has God called you to do?

When looking to answer this question, there are two traps about which you need to be aware. While seeking God’s will for your life, you must avoid both presumption and paralysis. Both presumption and paralysis will keep you from fulfilling God’s perfect will for your life. 

The trap of presumption works by luring its victims into using a pace of life that is too fast to allow for a pause in which one can hear the instructions of God. The presumptuous rarely pray about their decisions. They forge ahead without checking the map. They may move quickly and they may even build something that appears to be fruitful. But if you rush ahead of God’s instruction, you also rush ahead of His protection, provision, and peace. Never really taking the time to establish a foundation for any one phase of life, the presumptuous have to keep stumbling forward in order to catch their footing. The high-pressure cycle destroys their joy and gratitude.

On the other hand, the trap of paralysis works by holding its prey captive to fear. So afraid of doing something that God did not call them to do, the spiritually paralyzed settle for doing next-to-nothing at all. They embrace fear and call it wisdom. Like the servant who buried his talent, the fearful assume that God will reward their play-it-safe strategy - but that’s not the case.

Of course, there’s a Biblical balance to all of this. 

I believe in taking action, moving forward, and even in taking risks. Otherwise, where would be the need for faith? But we must avoid presumption. 

And I believe in the process before the platform. I believe that God uses seasons of hiddenness to prepare His servants for ministry. I believe in being attentive to hear God’s instructions. But we must break free from spiritual paralysis. 

So how are we to move forward? The answer, of course, is seen in scripture. 

Next Paul and Silas traveled through the area of Phrygia and Galatia, because the Holy Spirit had prevented them from preaching the word in the province of Asia at that time. Then coming to the borders of Mysia, they headed north for the province of Bithynia, but again the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them to go there. So instead, they went on through Mysia to the seaport of Troas. (Acts 16:6-8, NLT)

The Lord had to correct Paul’s course. The fact that Paul had to change directions in the middle of his journey proves to us that he didn’t really pray about every detail of his missionary journey. Rather, he saw where there was a need and then sought to fill that need using what God had entrusted to Him.

Like Paul, we are instructed as we go. While we move to fill needs, we must be attentive to hear the Holy Spirit’s corrective voice.

So those who lean toward being presumptuous are rescued by the voice of the Holy Spirit. So long as they remain attentive to God’s voice through a lifestyle of prayer and the Word, they have a safety net. God can correct them as they move. 

And the paralyzed don’t need to be immobile. They don’t have to believe those superstitious, unbiblical myths about God being easily angered by our missteps. They can just look for the need and seek to fill it with what God has given to them. 

Now, how do you fulfill the specific will of God for your life? You take all that God has given to you - time, resources, influence, talents, gifts, energy - and you use it to further the gospel. Your specific abilities being used to fulfill God’s general mandate - that’s the perfect will of God. It’s that simple. So long as you remain attentive to His voice, He can correct your course. But you need to be going to be guided. 

Thankfully, we need not to trust in our own ability to know God’s will, but rather in His ability to reveal it as we move.

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THIS is How Prayer Changes YOU

Moved by compassion, Jesus took notice of the crowds. He saw that they were confused and helpless. It was that compassion that moved Jesus to send out His disciples. He instructed His disciples to pray that God would send help for the people.

37He said to his disciples, “The harvest is great, but the workers are few. 38So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields.” (Matthew 9:37-38, NLT)

Now here’s what’s interesting. Jesus instructed His disciples to pray for God to send more workers into the spiritual harvest fields. Yet those very disciples, who were instructed to pray for more workers, were themselves sent out as workers.

At the beginning of the very next chapter, the disciples were sent out.

Jesus called his twelve disciples together and gave them authority to cast out evila spirits and to heal every kind of disease and illness. (Matthew 10:1, NLT)

Often, when you pray, God’s desire is to cause you to become an answer to prayer. More than it will change anyone or anything else, prayer will change the one who prays. Prayer is not about persuading God to change His will - no one can persuade God. Rather, prayer is about becoming an active participant in God’s will.

Prayer is less about receiving and more about becoming. When you live a life submitted to prayer, you become God’s will in the earth. You become an answer to prayer. 

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Walking in God's Perfect Will

What has God called you to do? What is His perfect will concerning your life?

Right off the top, we can find some general direction for every believer. There are certain assignments and commands that apply to all of us. 

We know that every believer is called to:

Live holy (1 Peter 1:16)

Evangelize (Mark 16:15)

Worship (John 4:24)

Pray (1 Thessalonians 5:17)

Know God’s Word (Colossians 3:16)

Demonstrate love (Luke 10:27)

Serve in the Church (1 Peter 4:10)

But beyond that, specifically, what has God called you to do?

When looking to answer this question, there are two traps about which you need to be aware. While seeking God’s will for you life, you must avoid both presumption and paralysis. Both presumption and paralysis will keep you from fulfilling God’s perfect will for your life. 

The trap of presumption works by luring its victims into using a pace of life that is too fast to allow for a pause in which one can hear the instructions of God. The presumptuous rarely pray about their decisions. They forge ahead without checking the map. They may move quickly and they may even build something that appears to be fruitful. But if you rush ahead of God’s instruction, you also rush ahead of His protection, provision, and peace. Never really taking the time to establish a foundation for any one phase of life, the presumptuous have to keep stumbling forward in order to catch their footing. The high-pressure cycle destroys their joy and gratitude.

The trap of paralysis works by holding its prey captive to fear. So afraid of doing something that God did not call them to do, the spiritually paralyzed settle for doing next-to-nothing at all. They embrace fear and call it wisdom. Like the servant who buried his talent, the fearful assume that God will reward their play-it-safe strategy - but that’s not the case.

Of course, there’s a Biblical balance to all of this. 

I believe in taking action, moving forward, and even in taking risks. Otherwise, where would be the need for faith? But we must avoid presumption. 

And I believe in the process before the platform. I believe that God uses seasons of hiddenness to prepare His servants for ministry. I believe in being attentive to hear God’s instructions. But we must break free from spiritual paralysis. 

So how are we to move forward? The answer, of course, is seen in scripture. 

Next Paul and Silas traveled through the area of Phrygia and Galatia, because the Holy Spirit had prevented them from preaching the word in the province of Asia at that time. Then coming to the borders of Mysia, they headed north for the province of Bithynia, but again the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them to go there. So instead, they went on through Mysia to the seaport of Troas. (Acts 16:6-8, NLT)

The Lord had to correct Paul’s course. The fact that Paul had to change directions in the middle of his journey proves to us that he didn’t pray about every detail of his missionary journey. Rather, he saw where there was a need and then sought to fill that need using what God had entrusted to Him. 

We are instructed as we Go. 

So those who lean toward being presumptuous are rescued by the voice of the Holy Spirit. So long as they remain attentive to God’s voice through a lifestyle of prayer and the Word, they have a safety net. God can correct them as they move. 

And the paralyzed don’t need to be immobile. They don’t have to believe those superstitious, unbiblical myths about God being easily angered by our missteps. They can just look for the need and seek to fill it with what God has given to them. 

Now, how do you fulfill the specific, perfect will of God for your life? You take all that God has given to you - time, resources, influence, talents, gifts, energy - and you use it to further the gospel. Your specific abilities being used to fulfill God’s general mandate - that’s the perfect will of God. It’s that simple. So long as you remain attentive to His voice, He can correct your course. But you need to be going to be guided. 

Thankfully, we need not to trust in our own ability to know God’s will, but rather in His ability to reveal it.

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Divine Prevention

“Next Paul and Silas traveled through the area of Phrygia and Galatia, because the Holy Spirit had prevented them from preaching the word in the province of Asia at that time.” - Acts 16:6

What God doesn’t allow is just as important as what God does allow. What He removes is just as important as what He gives. Paul wanted to go to Asia – it was a desire of his. But the Lord prevented Him from going.

In hindsight, it’s easy to understand why Paul the Apostle’s obedience to the Lord was so important. His life affects millions to this day. But who might your obedience affect?

Steer a ship slightly off course, and it will be difficult to notice the error. But, as the ship travels great distance, the error becomes more obvious. That’s the effect of the generations. Your decisions matter, here and there, now and then. So obey God.

Might you be experiencing divine prevention?

What feels like rejection can actually be promotion. What seems like delay can actually be a shortcut. What looks like a setback just might be a setup for something greater.

So, when it comes to the Lord’s prevention, don’t put up a fight. Let Him remove what needs to be removed. Let Him direct and redirect. Celebrate his permission, and celebrate His denials. Commit to obeying and embracing the will of God, even if it means divine prevention. You can’t go wrong obeying God.

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