Guidance, receiving God's

God's guidance is promised to those who genuinely desire it and seek it.

God's readiness to guide his people

Psalm 25:4–5; James 1:5 See also Exodus 33:12–16; Job 6:24; Psalm 5:8, Psalm 27:11, Psalm 31:3, Psalm 61:1–2, Psalm 86:11, Psalm 143:8

Show me Your ways, O LORD; teach me Your paths. Guide me in Your truth and teach me, for You are the God of my salvation; all day long I wait for You.

Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.

Guidance is given through the truth and counsel of God

Psalm 43:3 See also Psalm 16:7–8, Psalm 73:23–24, Psalm 119:35, Psalm 119:105, Psalm 119:133; John 10:3–4, John 10:27

Send out Your light and Your truth; let them lead me. Let them bring me to Your holy mountain and to the place where You dwell.

Guidance is given to the humble and penitent

Proverbs 3:5–6 See also 2 Chronicles 6:26–27; Psalm 25:9, Psalm 139:23–24; Isaiah 57:15, Isaiah 57:18–19; Jeremiah 50:4–5; Ezekiel 20:1–3, Ezekiel 20:30–31

Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.

Guidance is given to those willing to obey God's will

Matthew 26:39 parallels Mark 14:35–36, Luke 22:42 See also Numbers 14:8–9; Psalm 32:8–9; Isaiah 48:17–18; Romans 12:1–2

Going a little farther, He fell facedown and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me. Yet not as I will, but as You will.”

The role of the Holy Spirit in guidance

Luke 12:11–12 See also Psalm 143:10; John 16:13; Acts 10:19–20, Acts 13:2, Acts 16:6–7; Galatians 5:18; 1 John 2:26–27

When you are brought before synagogues, rulers, and authorities, do not worry about how to defend yourselves or what to say. For at that time the Holy Spirit will teach you what you should say.”

Receiving guidance from Scripture

Psalm 119:105, Psalm 119:133 See also Psalm 19:8; Isaiah 8:19–20; Acts 17:11; 2 Peter 1:19

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.

Order my steps in Your word; let no sin rule over me.

Means of being guided by God

The pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire

Exodus 13:21–22 See also Exodus 14:19–20; Nehemiah 9:19

And the LORD went before them in a pillar of cloud to guide their way by day, and in a pillar of fire to give them light by night, so that they could travel by day or night. Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place before the people.

The Urim and the Thummin

Exodus 28:29–30; Numbers 27:21

The casting of lots

1 Samuel 14:36–42; Proverbs 16:33; Jonah 1:7; Acts 1:26

Dreams and visions

Matthew 2:19–20; Acts 9:10–11 See also Genesis 40:5–8; Joel 2:28; Acts 10:3–6, Acts 11:5–9

After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt. “Get up!” he said. “Take the Child and His mother and go to the land of Israel, for those seeking the Child’s life are now dead.”

In Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. The Lord spoke to him in a vision, “Ananias!” “Here I am, Lord,” he answered. “Get up!” the Lord told him. “Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying.

Angels

Acts 8:26 See also Acts 5:19

Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Get up and go south to the desert road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.”