How do you make godly decisions?

Xeno.of.athens

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Some years ago, when I attended a Presbyterian Church, I read a book called "Decision making and the will of God". It had a different cover back then, but it is still available and might be worth reading for people who want help with the issue of discovering what God wants them to do.
 

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pdudgeon

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What I do is this:
1. Analyze the situation.
2. Pray for direction.
3. Remember what God said in His word.( That's why I listen for His direction, because it always comes!)
4. Thank Him for His guidance.
5. Review! Remembering that Life is a journey, so I need to know how I got to this point.
6. Keep the original goal in sight.
Hope this helps!
 
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Xeno.of.athens

I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of heaven.
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What I do is this:
1. Analyze the situation.
2. Pray for direction.
3. Remember what God said in His word.( That's why I listen for His direction, because it always comes!)
4. Thank Him for His guidance.
5. Review! Remembering that Life is a journey, so I need to know how I got to this point.
6. Keep the original goal in sight.
Hope this helps!
The book I referred to in the first post advocates discovering God's will for you life by applying holy scripture's teaching and lessons to your thinking. It advocates having a bible trained conscience as the best way to know what God is calling you to do.
 
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Daniel Marsh

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Some years ago, when I attended a Presbyterian Church, I read a book called "Decision making and the will of God". It had a different cover back then, but it is still available and might be worth reading for people who want help with the issue of discovering what God wants them to do.
pray for wisdom and ask the Holy Spirit to chime in too. romans 8
 
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St_Worm2

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This is a short (21 minutes), free audio presentation by Dr. R. C. Sproul on discerning the will of God for your life, both what to do* and, perhaps especially, what NOT to do and why. It is far from exhaustive (of course), but I believe that you will find what he has to say to be both interesting and important :oldthumbsup:

God bless you! (Psalm 37:4)

--David
p.s. - there is this short book by Dr. Sproul as well, free to download in both Mobi/Kindle and/or ePub formats.

Can I Know God's Will?: R.C. Sproul - MOBI eBook, Book | Ligonier Ministries Store

Can I Know God's Will?: R.C. Sproul - EPUB eBook, Book | Ligonier Ministries Store

Christians should aim to lead lives that please God, regardless of their circumstances. But when facing major life decisions, we often wonder what God wants us to do. In this booklet, Dr. R.C. Sproul outlines timeless principles for discovering and applying God’s will in our day-to-day decisions. He illustrates how these principles inform two significant decisions—the choice of a career and the choice of a spouse.

.
*Dr Sproul spends the last third of the recording talking about the what to do side of finding God’s will for your life. In doing so, he says a LOT with an economy of words, so listening closely will be a necessity to catch all that he is trying to get across there, just FYI.
.
 
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RileyG

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What I do is this:
1. Analyze the situation.
2. Pray for direction.
3. Remember what God said in His word.( That's why I listen for His direction, because it always comes!)
4. Thank Him for His guidance.
5. Review! Remembering that Life is a journey, so I need to know how I got to this point.
6. Keep the original goal in sight.
Hope this helps!
Amen
 
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Xeno.of.athens

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We might want to add fasting, waiting for the Spirit's answer and discussion with like minded Christians.
When waiting for the Spirit's answer how does one receive it and know it is the Holy Spirit's answer rather than our own inclination or something else?
 
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Xeno.of.athens

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What I do is this:
1. Analyze the situation.
2. Pray for direction.
3. Remember what God said in His word.( That's why I listen for His direction, because it always comes!)
4. Thank Him for His guidance.
5. Review! Remembering that Life is a journey, so I need to know how I got to this point.
6. Keep the original goal in sight.
Hope this helps!
Good advice. Scripture is a good place to start and an even better place to end one's search for what is God's will.
 
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pdudgeon

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When waiting for the Spirit's answer how does one receive it and know it is the Holy Spirit's answer rather than our own inclination or something else?
A few things stand out from my experience;
1.pay attention to where that voice comes from. Do you hear it from inside your head, (just like you were thinking), or is it a voice from outside of your body, just as though a friend was standing next to you, talking to you?
2. Does what the voice say agree with your will, or does the voice agree with what God says?
Let me tell you of my first experience of listening for the Holy Spirit:
I went grocery shopping with no particular list of things to get.
The Holy Spirit took over and made good healthy suggestions ( I used to eat a lot of junk food) and He also helped me to remember what I needed to get that I had forgotten about.
When I got to the check out stand, I had a cart full of healthy food, and the necessary things that I had forgotten about.
That was a good shopping trip that provided good for me food, and saved me an extra trip for what I had forgotten.
What He guided me to was good for me, good for my pocketbook, and supplied me with what I needed.
And I felt really satisfied, in command, and I knew that what I had been directed to would do me good!
 
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bèlla

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It depends on the situation. In some areas I have a precept the Lord bestowed. Things He wants me to do or avoid doing in that area. In those instances that’s my benchmark.

Sometimes we’ll discuss it. I’ll ask for counsel, clarification, or insight. I consider it in light of my gifts and calling when appropriate or goals and responsibilities.

I give a lot of attention to the bottom line…outcome…etc. Where is this leading? What will I get out of it? And count the cost.

I don’t mull over things for lengthy periods or go back and forth or talk it to death. Once I’ve decided I pull the trigger and get on with it.

For me, decisions are the micro. They’re the things that allow me to execute the greater plan. Progression is important. Whether its forward or lateral. And I track my results.

I don’t like repeating mistakes. I analyze my missteps and try to root out the problem. Sometimes strong-arming is required (towards myself) but the outcome is worth it.

I’m very results driven. Decisions aren’t vexxing or emotional. I have an end in mind and that keeps me centered.
 
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St_Worm2

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It will not play for me.
Hello again Xeno.of.athens, when you went to the website God's Will and the Bible by R.C. Sproul from The Will of God (ligonier.org), did you click on the little black ">" that is to the left of the scroll bar and just below the big green graphic containing the words "The Will of God"? (see below)

upload_2022-6-5_17-39-22.png


If not, give that a shot.

The folks at Ligonier Ministries/Renewing Your Mind redid the website recently and one of the changes made how to begin watching and/or listening to their teaching series far less obvious, unfortunately.

Hopefully that will get it going for you. If not, please let me know.

Thanks!

--David
p.s. - BTW, thank you for reminding me about the book, Decision Making and the Will of God. Logos is finally adding it to their software library and the preorder price was less than picking it up on Kindle :)

Finally, here's a verse and a passage to consider about how to discover God's will for your life by continually growing in sanctification (John 17:17 .. which is a point that you've already made for us in your OP and in Post #12 above :oldthumbsup::oldthumbsup:) and by beginning to practice His moment by moment "presence" in your life (speaking of which, if you've not yet read Brother Lawrence's little book called, The Practice of the Presence of God, you can do so in several different formats here [for free] as it may prove to be beneficial to you).

Romans 12
2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

1 Thessalonians 5
16 Rejoice always;
17 pray without ceasing;
18 in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

.
 
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bling

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When waiting for the Spirit's answer how does one receive it and know it is the Holy Spirit's answer rather than our own inclination or something else?
You do not give a little pray and roll the dice. Spiritual Christians very familiar with hearing the Spirit through dreams and visions, know Him, but we all must test the spirit against scripture. The importance of the questions determines the amount of pray, fasting, meditation and waiting.
 
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St_Worm2

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Hello again @Xeno.of.athens, et al, at the tail end of the archive folder at the Renewing Your Mind website is another short, excellent teaching on this topic by R.C., called Knowing the Will of God. ("Renewing Your Mind" is the daily radio broadcast ministry and website from Dr. Sproul and Ligonier Ministries, just FYI)

Unfortunately, it will be out of the Renewing Your Mind archive in very short order, so if you'd like to listen to it for free, you should do so as soon as you can :preach:

God bless you!!

--David
p.s. - BTW, how to begin playing this recording is, happily, far more obvious than the other one is :)

Joshua 1
8 This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success.
.
 
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