The Hardest Part
of Decision Making
November 10, 2003
If the greatest leader of all time who was without
sin, who never made a bad decision, who had unlimited resources
at his disposal and who lived in perfect harmony with his
Father--if that man needed to discuss with God decisions prior
to making them--how could you or I possibly hope to make a wise
decision without spending a lot of time in prayer? We cannot!
Since that's the case consider the fact that on
the night before selecting his disciples Jesus didn't go to bed.
He stayed awake all night praying about this crucial decision.
I could imagine praying about an important
decision for an hour or so, but all night? What do you think
Jesus said? Let's see--he prayed for his future disciples by
name. And then he prayed for their families. And then he prayed
for their individual needs and adjustments. I suppose we could
make a longer list but we couldn't come close to making a list
that would keep me praying all night.
Okay, so you may shrug your shoulders and conclude
whatever Jesus was talking about must have been
interesting--remember he did stay awake until daylight. You may
also conclude such an example is beyond you, just like the
miracle of walking on water. But wait a minute! Peter did walk
on water--at least for a few steps. Since that's true, it must
mean Jesus will enable you to spend as much time as is necessary
in prayer so you can make wise decisions.
It may be the real problem is you don't want to--I
know I don't. Prayer is not an easy thing to commit to do. It
requires solitude and quiet. Yet, we need these things. And we
need God's guidance even more.
I don't know about you, but I don't like where
this line of reasoning is headed. I can see already that if we
fail to pray before decisions we have become faithless fools.
We're trying on our own power to accomplish what God alone can
do through us. We become like a bus driver without a map. Not
only might we be headed in the wrong direction, we're taking
everyone on the bus with us.
We find ourselves, as leaders, needing to be led .
. . needing not only a map but also someone to highlight the
way. The more we know this to be true the more we should be
driven to pray so we can discuss with God all decisions--both
large and small. Ultimately, the hardest part of any decision is
the prayer that precedes it.
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