Decisions are made every day by everyone. We decide what we wear, what we listen to, where we go, if we study for the test or not, and the list could go on. Every day we are faced with hundreds of decisions, and if you make decisions in the flesh they will be fleshly decisions, but if we make decisions in the spirit then we will make Spiritual decisions. We’ve all been called upon to make major spiritual decisions in our lifetime. Looking back the decisions I made that were poor were often because I followed the recipe below.
The Recipe for a Bad Spiritual Decision
1. Don’t Pray.
Philippians 4:6 – Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. You ought to make sure that you ought to have prayer apart of every decision. Obviously things that we know are right to do we don’t have to pray about. If God said it then yes I am supposed to do it, and there is no need to pray and ask God if I am to do it. There are however decisions that have to be made between things that are good, better, and best. In those cases we should pray! If you want your result to be spiritual then you should pray about it. You can make the decision in your flesh and it will be a carnal decision. So Pray
2. Don’t Fast.
Matthew 17:21 Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting. Any major decision that can affect the future of our lives and family is definitely worth missing meals to devote ourselves to prayer!
3. Don’t Wait on the Lord.
Psalm 37:34 Wait on the Lord, and keep his way, and he shall exalt thee to inherit the land: when the wicked are cut off, thou shalt see it. Our timing is always best, so make major decisions as quickly as possible! Waiting isn’t just sitting around waiting on God. Waiting is being obedient to God and letting Him bring the reward for the obedience after the obedience. Some decisions may take waiting. If you want the decisions to be spiritual then you have to wait on God’s timing! The only thing harder than waiting on God is not.
4. Don’t ask for Godly counsel.
Proverbs 11:14 Where no counsel is, the people fall: but in the multitude of counsellors there is safety. You do you. You know what you want. Follow your own heart. That is your flesh talking! And many times you decide not to ask your spiritual counselors because you know what the answer is and what they are going to tell you. So you don’t seek the input from Spiritual advisors and godly people. You know the spiritual answer so you decide not to get spiritual counsel and in turn make fleshly, carnal decisions. Godly counsel will help you make spiritual decisions!
5. Don’t Seek the Will of God.
1 Chronicles 16:11 Seek the Lord and his strength, seek his face continually. Trust your instincts that you know only what’s best for your life. Don’t worry about what God wants for your life. Don’t worry about His purpose. Just worry about you, and how you can help you! This is selfish thinking and will cause you to make carnal decisions cause you are only thinking about yourself and not what God wants for your life. SO seek the will of GOD!
Don’t fall into the trap of making bad carnal decisions. Pray, Fast, Wait on God, Ask Counsel, and Seek God’s Will – If you do these you will make a Spiritual decision and not a carnal one!
Clays Mill Baptist Church | Lexington, KY
