Daily seeking guidance from God is a key task of those who lead God’s people. One of my favorite verses on the subject is found in Colossians 1.
Paul prayed for the believers in that city that they might be “filled (on a regular basis – present tense) with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding.”
Paul was praying that God would give them a knowledge of his will that would enable them to “walk in a manner worthy of the Lord.” Although the word “daily guidance” is not used here, the concept is in view.
When we know and do God’s will, daily, then we please God, bear fruit and increase in the knowledge of God (Colossians 1:10).
C.J. Mahaney, in his series on planning, roles, and goals, begins with this spiritual discipline of seeking God’s guidance. If we are not doing the right things, even the most successful time management skills will be worthless. His comments are helpful:
Given the active presence of pride and self-sufficiency in my life, it is imperative for me at the outset of each day to devote time to humbling myself before the Lord and acknowledging my dependence upon him for all that awaits me. As I devote myself to this spiritual discipline, the words of Proverbs 3:5-7 frequently inform my meditation and prayer:
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord, and turn away from evil.
The exposition of these verses by nineteenth-century pastor Charles Bridges in his commentary on Proverbs is helpful and insightful. Bridges writes: “He loves to be consulted. Therefore take all thy difficulties to be resolved by him. Be in the habit of going to him in the first place – before self-will, self-pleasing, self-wisdom, human friends, convenience, expediency. Before any of these have been consulted go to God at once. Consider no circumstances too clear to need his direction. In all thy ways, small as well as great; in all thy concerns, personal or relative, temporal or eternal, let him be supreme.” Charles Bridges (1794-1869), from A Commentary on Proverbs (Banner of Truth, 1846/1968) pp. 24-25.
