Tuesday, May 20, 2003
Tuesday, May 20, 2003
Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with
thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
The great evangelist John Wesley was engaged to a young lady and could not decide whether
he should marry her. So he prayed about it. Then he let his Bible fall open randomly. He looked
for guidance where the page fell open. I'm not sure what he read, but he broke the engagement,
which led to all kinds of complications.
Is that a good method for choosing? Praying and then letting your Bible fall open to give you
guidance? Probably fifty per cent of this congregation is thinking of that old joke about the man
who followed this practice, and the Bible fell open to the passage, "And Judas went and hanged
himself." He tried again and read, "Go thou and do likewise." He tried a third time and read, "And
what thou doest, do quickly."
Is that a good method? How do we choose? How do we make the right decision? Even more
importantly, how do we know God's will for our lives?
One thing is for sure, Wesley prayed. That is the most important thing we should do when faced
with a decision.
(Philippians 4.6
NRSV)
Those of you who are married--how did you choose your present spouse? What was it about
that man or that woman that first turned you on? How did you go about deciding that it was real?
Real enough for you to stand in the presence of God and vow that you would be faithful to one
another for the rest of your lives?
God of prayer, teach me to take time to pray when a decision needs to be made. Amen.
