For thus said the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel: In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength…. He will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry; when he hears it, he will answer you. Though the Lord may give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet your Teacher will not hide himself any more, but your eyes shall see your Teacher. And when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left, your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.” -Isaiah 30:15, 19-21
To use prayer as a way of helping me to decide something is called discernment. Here are some helpful tips about discernment from my favorite saint, Ignatius Loyola:
When in desolation, I should not make any big decisions. When I am depressed or in a foul mood, my objectivity goes out the window. Therefore, it is better for me to stick with prior commitments until I feel better.
I should pray for Ignatian indifference. “Ignatian indifference” refers to a state of mind wherein I am completely open to doing whatever God wants me to do. I need to pray for this grace before I begin to make my decision. Otherwise, I’ll really be justifying my own wishes by saying, “I prayed about it.”
At the beginning of the discernment, I must remember the end for which I am striving. I should write out a personal mission statement at the beginning of the discernment process so that I don’t confuse the end with the various means to that end.
The option that looks holier may not actually be holier. Jesus says that the devil comes as a wolf in sheep’s clothing. For example, the evil spirit may convince a battered wife that it is God’s will to stay with this dangerous man.
The spirit of peace is usually a sign of God’s will. In prayer I should imagine each of my options played out. Then I should observe which option brings me more peace when I dream about it. That peace may be God’s way of telling me to go in that direction.
At the end of my life, which way would I like to look back upon? In prayer I should imagine myself on my deathbed or up in heaven playing the videotape of my life in front of God. What would I want God to see on that tape?
Once I think I have my answer, I should await confirmation from God. Even after I’ve come to a decision, I should place that decision before God several times, asking him to confirm that it is the right one.
I need a spiritual guide. I should keep sharing my discernment process with a wise and holy person. Ignatius says that the devil likes for me to keep secrets.
Once the process is over, I should boldly act according to the fruits of my discernment. I should turn over this decision to God and not let the future frighten me.
SUGGESTED SCRIPTURE PASSAGES
DEUTERONOMY 30:11-20: I have set before you life and death-choose life
1 KINGS 3:1-15: Give me wisdom to judge right from wrong
WISDOM 9:1-11: Give me wisdom that sits by your throne
SIRACH 14:20-27: Happy the one who meditates on wisdom
ISAIAH 30:15-21: By waiting you shall be told, “This is the way; walk in it.”
JEREMIAH 29:11-14: I know well the plans I have for you, plans of fullness
JEREMIAH 31:31-34: Deep within I will write my law
MATTHEW 7: On prayer and discernment
MARK 10:46-52: The blind man Bartimaeus: “I want to see!”
EPHESIANS 5:8-21: Try to discern the will of the Lord
1 JOHN 4: Test the spirits to see whether they are from God
PRAYER POINTERS
Before praying about my options, I ask God to give me the grace of Ignatian indifference, a state of being wherein I am completely open to whatever it is God wants of me. If I am in that state, I allow myself some time to feel the power and the freedom of this grace.
In prayer I write out a personal mission statement. I ask myself, “What is the end for which I strive?” I spend some time on this, knowing that until I’m clear about this, I will be tempted to confuse the end with the various means.
In my prayerful imagination, I play out my life as it would go if I chose Option A; then I play out my life as if I chose Option B, and so on. While playing these options out, I observe which one brings peace in my heart. Saint Ignatius Loyola says that this is usually the clearest sign of God’s will.
Once I think I’ve arrived at an answer, I spend more time in prayer asking God for confirmation of that choice. In other words, I ask God to let me know somehow that this choice, indeed, is God’s will.
Once I have come to my decision, I don’t look back. I turn it over to God, knowing that the Lord will make good come from the situation regardless of my actions. I trust that he will do so.
RELATED ENTRIES
Change, Lost, Procrastinator
WORDS TO TAKE WITH YOU
Man is created to praise, reverence and serve God our Lord, and by this means to save his soul…. Consequently, as far as we are concerned, we should not prefer health to sickness, riches to poverty, honor to dishonor, a long life to a short life….Our one desire and choice should be what is more conducive to the end for which we are created.
-First Principle and Foundation, Saint Ignatius Loyola
You thought, as a boy, that a mage is one who can do anything. So I thought once. So did we all. And the truth is that as a man’s real power grows and his knowledge widens, ever the way he can follow grows narrower until at last he chooses nothing, but does only and wholly what he must do.
-Ogion the Wizard in A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula LeGuin
The heart has its reasons which reason knows not of.
-Blaise Pascal
The freer we are, the fewer choices we have.
-John O’Donnell, S.J.
The finest bread is as poison to the one who is not called to eat it, and the most deadly poison is as the finest bread to the one who is called to consume it.
-Pierre Causade (paraphrased)