If the greatest leader of all time—the only man who lived without sin, who never made a bad decision, who lived in perfect harmony with his Father—if that man needed to discuss decisions with God prior to making them, how much more do we need to pray before an important decision?

Jesus Valued This

It’s impossible to overstate the value Jesus placed on prayer.  In Luke 6:12-13 we read that, “Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God. When morning came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them, whom he also designated apostles.” 

Consider that on the night before choosing his disciples Jesus stayed awake all night praying about this crucial decision. Now I can imagine praying about an important decision for an hour or so, but all night? 

Wait a Minute!

Most of us would shrug our shoulders and conclude that following the Lord’s example is beyond us, just like walking on water. But wait a minute! One of Jesus’ disciples, Peter by name, did walk on water—at least for a few steps. If Jesus did that for Peter, it’s reasonable to conclude he will enable us to pray as long as needed to assure a wise decision. 

Maybe the real problem is that it’s hard for us to spend time in prayer—I know it’s hard for me.  Or maybe we just don’t want to. Prayer isn’t an easy thing to commit to do. It requires something that’s hard to find in the midst of our busy, frantic lives—a time and a place of solitude. The hard truth is unless we place solitude at the top of our priority list, we won’t find it at all.  And in the process we’ll miss God’s guidance, which we desperately need.

Do This and God Will Guide Your Decisions

If we fail to pray before decisions, we’re like a bus driver on a new route without a GPS. Not only might we head in the wrong direction, we’ll take everyone on the bus with us.

We find ourselves needing not only a GPS, but a Friend to show us the way. The more we know this truth the more compelled we’ll be to pray. Why? So we can discuss all decisions with God–both small and big. Fortunately, the same Jesus who enabled Peter to walk on water will enable us to seek God’s guidance before a decision. Our responsibility is to set aside time to seek God’s face. When we do that, God will guide our decisions.