The wisdom prayer

Throughout Scripture we are reminded of God’s direction over our lives. He is our good Shepherd who leads us and He desires that we follow the path that leads to joy and contentment.  When we pray for God’s guidance and for discernment through the Holy Spirit, we can rest assured that God will provide wisdom! We do not have to worry about our next step or about tomorrow because we know who guides our way! Do not rush your day without going before God to seek guidance!

A Short Prayer for Guidance

Heavenly Father, thank You for Your guidance. Forgive me for getting ahead of Your plans, and help me know when to stop and listen for Your direction. Your ways are perfect, Lord. Thank You for offering gentle grace. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
– Kristine Brown

Prayer for Guidance from the Holy Spirit

Lord, I pray you would move the Spirit more boldly in my life. I know that any sin can grieve and diminish the voice of the Spirit, and I pray against the temptation to sin. Help me crave your presence more than I crave sin. Help me grow in the fruit of the Spirit and so walk closer with Yourself. I pray for guidance from your Spirit- let your will and promises always be a meditation of my heart. In Jesus’ Name, Amen
– Kenny Luck

A Prayer for Guidance When Life is Challenging

Lord, I’m here today with open hands and an open heart, ready to depend on you to help me through the day and all it will bring my way. Help me be like Nehemiah, help me come to you for guidance, strength, provision and protection. As I face tough choices and hard situations, help me remember my belovedness, help me remember that I am Your child and Your representative to the world around me. Help me live today in a way that brings honor to Your holy name. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
– Charles Stanley

Prayer for Guidance in the Day Ahead 

Good morning, Lord! Today’s a new day, a chance for a new start. Yesterday is gone and with it any regrets, mistakes, or failures I may have experienced. It’s a good day to be glad and give thanks, and I do, Lord. Thank you for today, a new opportunity to love, give, and be all that you want me to be.

Today I want to start the day with you on my mind and in my heart. As I dress, let me wear the armor you’ve provided daily: the helmet of salvation, the breastplate of righteousness, the shield of faith, the belt of truth, the shoes of peace, and the sword of the spirit—with prayer on my tongue: praise for you and petitions for those around me and those I meet.

Feed me today with your daily bread. As the Bread of Life, your food, like manna, will sustain me throughout any trials and hungers. Help me to set my thoughts on things above and to speak only what will help and encourage others. Keep me from putting my foot in my mouth, and help me guard the affections of my heart today, Lord. Make whatever work I do be marked with excellence rather than perfectionism, as I seek not to make a name, but to make a difference. Help me to treat each person I encounter as you would, with respect and love, forgiving others and asking for forgiveness myself when needed.

As I start this day, help me remember that I belong to you, and my desire is to act accordingly. Keep my feet from stumbling and my mind from wandering into distractions that could steal precious time and energy from the most important things you have designed for me. I’m proud to be your child, Lord. And I’m so grateful that you died for me—rising again on your own new morning—so that every day could be filled with the wonder of your love, the freedom of your Spirit, and the joy of knowing you.

I know earthly life is short and fleeting, Lord. But I want to live today as if it were the first or the last day of my life, giving thanks for every good and perfect gift you choose to give. Today, and every day, I want to live my life for you, Jesus. In your precious name, Amen.
– Rebecca Barlow Jordan

A Prayer for Discernment and Wisdom When You Need God’s Direction

Lord, thank You for the people You have divinely placed in my life who speak holy truth, love and words of wisdom. Give me a heart of discernment to know when You are using someone to speak instruction into my heart and my circumstances, and give me the strength and courage to follow through with that advice, even when it’s hard. Fill me with peace in knowing that even if I take a wrong turn, Your purpose will prevail. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
– Tracie Miles

This Beautiful Version of Psalm 23 Had Me in Tears from biblestudytools on GodTube.

Bible Verses about God’s Guidance

Psalm 25:4-5 – “Show me your ways, LORD, teach me your paths. Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long.”

James 1:5 – “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.”

Psalm 16:7-8 – “I will praise the LORD, who counsels me; even at night my heart instructs me. I keep my eyes always on the LORD. With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken.”

Proverbs 3:5-6 – “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.”

Psalm 32:8-9 – “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you. Do not be like the horse or the mule, which have no understanding but must be controlled by bit and bridle or they will not come to you.”

John 16:13 – “But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.”

What decisions and situations are you praying for guidance over? Join in our large praying community in the comments below and recieve encouragement! 

This article is part of our larger Prayers resource meant to inspire and encourage your prayer life when you face uncertain times. Visit our most popular prayers if you are wondering how to pray or what to pray. Remember, the Holy Spirit intercedes for us and God knows your heart even if you can’t find the words to pray.

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“Dear God, please give me wisdom…”

This might be the prayer I lift more than any other.

We desperately need wisdom in virtually every aspect of life, don’t we?

In our relationships.

In our finances.

In life’s decisions.

Certainly in our marriages.

In our places of employment.

And perhaps most of all, in our parenting.

I don’t know about you, but sometimes the whole idea of “wisdom” seems sort of ambiguous. Just when I think I may have grasped it, I look down at my clutched hands to find them empty.

How do we know if we’ve attained wisdom? At what point do we become wise? What does it look like?

God is so good to give us His counsel about this topic. The Bible, after all, is full of descriptions of what it means to be wise.

It seems to me that it’s a very good idea to combine my prayers for wisdom with a study of what God has to say about the subject.

Let’s get started praying the Scriptures for wisdom, shall we?

Prayers for Wisdom

Thank God for His gracious promise to give wisdom generously to those who lack it. Claim that promise for yourself by asking Him for it in faith (James 1:5).

Acknowledge to God that fools always think their way is right, but a wise person listens to advice (Proverbs 12:15). Ask the Lord to help you to be humble and teachable, willing to ask for and receive counsel from others.

Pray that you would grow in wisdom as God defines it, and that you would humbly and wisely do good works. Ask Him to keep you from bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, and also from boasting and deceit, as those attributes are not characteristics of godly wisdom. Implore God to fill you with the wisdom from above – wisdom that is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere (James 3:13-17).

Confess to God your own responsibility to pay careful attention to how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Ask for His grace to keep you from foolishness, and to enable you to understand what the will of the Lord is (Ephesians 5:15-17).

Ask God to help you restrain your words and keep a cool spirit, as those are evidences of wisdom and understanding (Proverbs 17:27-28). Confess to the Lord any sinful tendencies in these areas.

Pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him, having the eyes of your heart enlightened, that you may know the hope to which He has called you, the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints, and the immeasurable greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His great might (Ephesians 1:16-19).

Acknowledge to God that while you desire wisdom, it’s not worth boasting about, and that you want to boast only in your knowledge of Him, growing in your understanding of His character as the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth (Jeremiah 9:23-24).

Ponder the truth that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight (Proverbs 9:10). Ask God to increase your knowledge of the Holy One.

Join Paul and Daniel in marveling at God’s wisdom: “Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and how inscrutable His ways!” (Romans 11:33) “Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, to whom belong wisdom and might. He changes times and seasons; He removes kings and sets up kings; He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding; He reveals deep and hidden things; He knows what is in the darkness, and the light dwells with Him” (Daniel 2:20-22). Boldly ask Him for wisdom and knowledge, that He would reveal deep and hidden things to you.

Commit to the Lord that you will choose wise companions and not foolish ones, agreeing with Him that whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm (Proverbs 13:20).

Ask the Lord to keep you from being deceived about true wisdom, understanding that the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God (I Corinthians 3:18-19).

Share with God your desire to seek wisdom above every earthly possession. Ask Him to give you a passion for it, and a willingness to search for it as for hidden treasures. Praise Him for giving wisdom, and for pouring knowledge and understanding from His mouth. Ask Him to give you the wisdom He has stored for the upright, as well as insight about righteousness, justice, equity, and every good path. Pray that wisdom would come into your heart, and that knowledge would be pleasant to your soul, with discretion and understanding watching over you. Acknowledge to the Lord that wisdom will deliver you from evil, protect you from temptation, and help you stay on the path of the righteous (Proverbs 2).

Dear Heavenly Father, I praise You for Your infinite wisdom that is abundantly evident in all that You do. You are the essence of wisdom, and the source of it. Whereas You are abounding in wisdom, I am lacking. Please help me to grow in wisdom as I increase in my knowledge and fear of You. By Your Spirit, please increase my depth of insight as I study Your Word. Hold me back from leaning on my own understanding, and make me willing to be counted foolish by the world, for then I will have begun to display godly wisdom. It’s in the name of my Savior, Jesus Christ, that I pray. Amen. 

adivineencounter.com

I. Obedience and Sacrifice precede Wisdom and Guidance (vs. 6)

– we may withold tithes, service, participation, etc. until God does something

– when we give these things to God, He will then guide us (vs. 7)

– while God may not appear in the middle of the night to ask us what we want, He will guide us if we only ask Him; “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.” (Matt. 7.7)

II. God should be our ultimate source of Wisdom and Guidance (vs. 8 & 9)

– Solomon understood that God was the reason for his father’s success

– Solomon also realizes the God is responsible for where he is, and recognizes that his own success is dependent on doing what God wants him to do

– If we want guidance in our lives, we should go to the source; “But if any of you lacks wisdom, then ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to you.” (James 1.5)

III. We should always seek Wisdom and Guidance for doing God’s Work (vs. 10)

– There were many areas Solomon might have asked for guidance in: finances, military endeavors, relationships, etc., but his primary concern was help in doing what God wanted him to do

– Because Solomon put God’s work first in his life, he was blessed in all other areas (vs. 11-13); see Matt. 6.33

– We need to constantly check our motives when we ask God for something; “You ask and you do not receive, because you ask with the wrong motives . . .(James 4.3a)

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How is your life lately? Are you going through serious trials and tribulations? Are you in a time of peace and genuine happiness? Are you confused because you are at a fork in the road? Whatever your situation may be, seeking God’s wisdom for your life is essential. Here are 6 prayers you can pray to God for wisdom and discernment for your life.

Darkness/Chaos

“Even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you.” (Psalm 139:12)

Lord Above,

I am so lost. I don’t even know where to begin praying. I feel so lost in the darkness that surrounds me. My wife has left me for another man. My children are acting out because of our family breakdown. I don’t want to go to work. The bills are piling up. I want to move away and start over. I can’t handle this pressure and stress on my own, Lord! Please show me Your will in my life. Give me the knowledge and wisdom to conduct myself as a Christian. Bad circumstances aren’t a gateway for me to act out of accordance of Your will. I just wish this was a bad dream and that I could wake up. I cannot think straight. So many emotions are plaguing me, Father. Cast these burdens off of me! Lord, I humbly pray that You would honor my request for wisdom in this because I cannot do anything on my own. It is by Your power alone that I am moving through this chaos. I love You, Father! Amen

Clarity

“Yes, if you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding, if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.” (Proverbs 2:3-5)

Omniscient Father,

Lord, You have full knowledge of everything in Your grasp. There is nothing that surprises You. Father, I need clarity right now. I am at a fork in the road and I don’t know which way to turn. There are at least 3 different decisions that I could make and they all seem like wise decisions. I can’t rely on human intuition here, Lord. Father, I ask You now for a clear and concise answer on what I need to do. I want Your will to be done in this, Father. Give me clarity, Lord. I love You! Amen

Who Is The Culprit?

Please read the entire section of 1 Kings 3:16-28 for the whole story on two prostitutes who were fighting over custody of a baby. “Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one and half to the other…Give the living child to the first woman, and by no means put him to death; she is his mother.”

My Lord,

I am in a sticky situation right now. I have two people whom I love dearly telling me two different stories and one of them has to be wrong. I pray for Your help in this, Father. Give me the knowledge and the words to speak to both of them so we can fix this. Lord, I pray that you would prepare all of our hearts as we sit down and discuss this matter. Lord, when the truth is revealed I pray that the one at fault will repent of their sin and hold tight to You. I pray that you would soften the heart of the one who is right, so that forgiveness can be made for the transgressor. Lord, may You be glorified in this ultimately. I love You! Amen

My family and I are so close right now … This is a wonderful time!

Seasons Of Joy

“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven.” (Ecclesiastes 3:1).

Blessed Father,

I thank You for this wonderful time of life! My family and I are so close right now. My spouse and I have never been closer emotionally, physically, intimately or spiritually ever! This is a wonderful time! Father, as wonderful as this is, I pray for Your wisdom in this time of celebration. Father, I don’t want to say anything that would mess this up. Please be with me and give me the words to speak in every situation. May we continue to praise Your name always, Lord! I love You! Amen

A Partner In Marriage

“Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness?” (2 Corinthians 6:14)

O Lord,

You know my heart. I yearn to have a partner to walk this life with. Lord, my human side is saying “take the first person that comes!” I know this is not wise. I don’t want to settle for anyone that You don’t want me to be with. Father, give me wisdom in picking a mate. You know the future down the road for me, Lord. Please give me the ability to turn off my longing for affection to be wise in this decision. Father, the last thing I need to do is to be unequally yoked with another. Marriage is a BIG deal and I want to marry someone that I can connect with spiritually and keep falling in love with every day! Thank You for all You have provided me with, Lord. I love You! Amen

Pastors

“Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.” (Psalm 19:14)

Dear God,

Today I am speaking Your Word to Your church. Lord, let it be that the only words I speak come from You. The congregation doesn’t need to hear me; they need to hear You. Lord, I have spent time this week studying the passages You have put on my heart to preach. Lord, as I step behind the pulpit, I give my all to You. You are worthy of all glory, honor and praise! Father, I pray that You give me the words to speak as I deliver the message You have put on my heart. Father, I also pray for my church family. Give them ears of discernment. May they listen intently and be wise in their thoughts as they hear Your word spoken. Father, I give this to You. I love You! It’s in Your Name that I pray. Amen

Conclusion

We all go through many types of scenarios and seasons of life. No matter what the occasion, wisdom should be a major focus. When we act and speak wisely, ultimately God is glorified, but also, people notice something in us. This can be a stepping stone into a possible conversion. So, be on guard! Guard you heart, mind and soul! Stay in the Word and in Prayer! Seek wisdom around every single corner! God bless you as you live a life worthy of the calling!

Read more of what the Bible says about wisdom in this article:

15 Wisdom Quotes From the Bible

Resources – The Holy Bible, English Standard Version “Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. YouTube “Give me Words to Speak” by Aaron Shust.

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Tagged as: discernment, Prayers, Wisdom

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