Four Steps to Secure God’s Direction at the Start of the Day

(1) GET CLEAN SO YOU CAN RECEIVE HIS DIRECTION

God cannot communicate with us if we are harboring known sin in our heart.

Psalms 66:16:  “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me.”

As God points out our sin we must confess it and repent of it.

1 John 1:9: “If we confess our sin, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sin and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

Now that we are clean before Him we can communicate with Him.

(2) VERBALLY COMMIT CONTROL OF THE DAY TO GOD. It is critical to make a habit of doing this at the beginning of every day. Psalms 37:5 “Commit everything you do to the Lord, trust Him to help you do it and He will.” Psalms 37:23 “The steps of good men are directed by the Lord. He delights in each step they take.”

You may have established plans at the beginning of a day. Maybe there are things that you have to accomplish at home, at work, with the weekend or your day off. Stop before your day gets off the ground and consciously, verbally give God control of your day.

Next, expect your flesh to encourage you to hang on to control yourself with thoughts like, “But there are things I want to get done!” At this point I always stop and ask the question, “What is so important to me today that I am not willing to trust God with it by asking for His direction? Is there actually some opportunity or some accomplishment that is so important to me that I am will to trade the plan of God for it?”

(3) ESTABLISH YOUR FOCUS WITH TIMES IN THE WORD

You don’t have to spend an hour praying and you don’t have to spend an hour in the Word of God each day but establish your focus by spending some time in the Word at the beginning of the day. Just as we need physical food every day, we need the bread of life – the Word of God every day. Spending time in the Word sets the direction or focus for the day. Having some system will help create a habit of starting the day with the Word. An example would be reading the books of Daniel and Revelation over a month. The book of Daniel has 12 chapters, and the book of Revelation has 22 chapters; one for each day. Whatever it takes, establish your focus with the Word.

(4) HEAD IN THE DIRECTION OF DAILY RESPONSIBILITES & INTERESTS

God has given each of us interests and directions. He intends that we start out each day in the direction of those interests and responsibilities. Our motivational gift, our interests, our experiences and our life circumstances have pointed us in a direction. And in the morning when we get up God’s thoughts are, “O.K. man, put the pedal to the metal and drive!” He intends that we start out each day in the direction of our own interests and responsibilities. We shouldn’t stand paralyzed at the beginning of a day, thinking, “I don’t know what to do, I haven’t heard anything yet.” Go in the direction of your responsibilities and interests.

God intends that we all work. Some of us work inside the home and some of us work outside the home. A paraphrase of II Thessalonians 3:10 says, “He who does not work shall not eat.”

We are to head in the direction of our work responsibilities and in the direction of our interests.  God has given us interests and gifts for the purpose of serving others and for the purpose of receiving a personal sense of pleasure. 1 Timothy 6:17 says, “Trust…in the living God who gives us richly all things to enjoy.”

Once we are behind the wheel, headed in God’s ordained direction, God’s voice will typically interject itself in the train of thoughts directing our behavior at the time. Often, when I am shopping, His voice will interject itself in my thoughts telling me to, “Stop what I am doing, wrap it up and go home.” I have obeyed and arrived home early just as a severe thunderstorm was beginning. I have arrived home early to greet unexpected guests. God’s voice will typically interject itself in the train of thoughts directing our behavior at the time.

I have been in situations where I have needed an immediate response from God and have asked Him to speak to me revealing His will. I have asked Him to reveal which way to turn when I was lost. I have asked Him to reveal the shortest route at an intersection of decision when time was critical. And He has given me direction. But for the most part, God will take the initiative in speaking to us. God speaks when He desires our cooperation in fulfilling a planned purpose. We cannot insist that He speak. God took the initiative to speak to Moses from a burning bush. God took the initiative to speak to Paul on the road to Damascus. We have a picture of God taking the initiative to speak to the child Samuel in 1 Samuel 3: 8 & 9 “Then Eli realized it was the Lord who had spoken to the child. So he said to Samuel, ‘Go and lie down again, and if He calls again, say, ‘Yes Lord, I’m listening.”

Although God will most often take the initiative in speaking to us, He does invite us to ask Him for answers: Jeremiah 33:3 “Call unto Me and I will answer thee and show thee great and mighty things which thou knowest not.” James 1:5 “If any lack wisdom, let Him ask of God… and it will be given to Him.”

When some of our questions are not answered, there are reasons. He may be using time to line up circumstances. It is also important to point out that the ability to discern God’s voice cannot be viewed as if He were a genie in a bottle. God is not  interested in answering questions, at will, about the future for the sake of curious flesh. He is offering us the wisdom to know how to best fulfill His plan.

Every day we should ask God to speak to us; revealing what He wants us to do. His direction will come at the point of the day that our action is necessary. He has a reason for the time that passes before He chooses to reveal His direction. For the most part, God will take the initiative in speaking to us.