Making Decisions: Discerning God’s Voice

Memory Verse

Psalm 37:4 “Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart.”

Introduction

It’s frustrating. It’s like having two doors in front of you, knowing that one is right and the other is wrong, but not
knowing which is which. Sometimes it feels so permanent—as though one door will open into a world of
happiness, and the other door into a world of pain, but no matter which you pick it will undoubtedly lock behind
you. Like there’s no turning back. And yet it seems we all come to these places in our lives: Needing to make a
decision, as we stand there with a look of defeat on our faces, wishing someone would make the decision for us—
preferably the right one.

Some decisions are easy. Not necessarily in making the decision, but sometimes it’s easy to know what is right
and what is wrong. Although sometimes we make decisions even knowing that they are wrong!

But what about the hard decisions? What about those decisions that aren’t so black and white? Who should I
date? Should I give my baby up for adoption? Should I stay with the dad? Should we get married? Should I finish
school? Where am I going to live?

Discussion

How do you make your major decisions? Do you ask someone for advice? Flip a coin? Read your horoscope?
Just “wing-it” and hope for the best?

Read

Proverbs 2:1-6

Questions

This set of verses includes an “if-then” statement. If you do everything they list, then what will happen according
to verse 5?

Let’s find out what we need to do in order to gain wisdom and understanding (find the knowledge of God):

Verse 1a: ______________ his words. Sometimes accepting God’s word can be hard. Or confusing. Sometimes
we have to accept his word in faith, knowing that he will do what he promises, even if we don’t know how.

Written by Melissa Fisher, March 2010

Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 Biblica.
Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.
Verse 1b: _______________ _____ his commands. We can store up his commands through reading and
memorizing verses. Start with the verse at the top of this study and write it down in your journal.

Verse 2: ___________________ his word to our lives. We need to apply God’s advice! Think about your
parenting. Do you tell your child to hold your hand in the parking lot? Don’t run with a lollipop in her mouth?
List some things that you instruct your child(ren) about:

When your child doesn’t obey, what do you do?

How do you feel when he doesn’t obey you?

Why do you give your child these commands?

In the same way, God gives us his commands for our benefit. But we can’t benefit from these rules unless we
apply them to our lives.

Verse 3: ___________ God for wisdom. Often when we pray, we pray that God would make the outcome as we
want it. Did you ever think to ask God for wisdom?

List something you need wisdom about right now:

Write this in your journal to pray about later.

Verse 4: ____________ the answers. In order to seek the answers, look in the bible first to see if God gives you
the answer. If not, try asking a Christian adult that you can trust.

Who is one person that you know you can trust to give good advice?

Verses 5-6. They tell us that the LORD gives wisdom. He promises to give us wisdom in James 1:5 and Matthew
6:33. Does that give you hope? How?

Psalm 37:4 says, “Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart.” If you delight
yourself in God (follow Him), what does he promise according to this verse?

What are the desires of your heart right now?

Written by Melissa Fisher, March 2010

Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 Biblica.
Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.
Are there any of your desires that you think God doesn’t like?

What do you think happens to these desires if you start following God more? (I’ll give you a hint: They might
change!)

Conclusion

Doing all of the above requires time with God. The more time you spend with Him, the more you will hear what
He has to say. It works similar to a marriage. When a husband and wife spend very little time together, they have
a harder time understanding each other and sometimes offend each other unintentionally. On the other hand, a
couple that spends a lot of time together, communicating, will understand each other more. In fact, someone
could read several autobiographies on both people and yet still not know them as well as they know each other
because that person does not have a personal relationship with either of them. Having a personal relationship
with God requires time. The three basics are reading the bible, praying, and seeking the answers in the right
places.

Life Application

Start today by writing the memory verse in a journal and looking at it each day. In addition, write down
something that you need wisdom about and ask God to give you the wisdom you need.

Further Study

Matthew 7:24-27 This passage makes it clear that we need to apply God’s word to our lives. What is an everyday
example of how ignoring God can make our home in the sand fall “with a great crash?”

Matthew 7:7-11 How do you relate to verses 9-12? What kinds of things would you love to give your child? How
does it make you feel to know that God feels the same way about you?

Proverbs: There are 31 chapters in this book, and 31 days in most months. Take today’s date and read a few
verses from that same chapter number. It’s a great way to get wisdom in just a few short verses!

James 1:5-8 Are you doubtful about God answering your prayers? What has God done for you in the past, and
how does this give you faith that he’ll help you in the future?

Written by Melissa Fisher, March 2010

Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 Biblica.
Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.