They (the disciples) proposed two: Joseph...and Matthias. And they prayed and said, "You, O Lord, who know the heart of all, show which of these two You have chosen...And they cast their lots, and the lots fell on Matthias.

Acts 1:23-26 - NKJV.

The first rule of decision making is, "Don't start talking; pray!" The disciples had seen this in Jesus' ministry. They'd got hold of the "pray" part. They just hadn't picked up on "Don't start talking" part. They talked first and afterwards prayed. They talked up a choice for God to choose from and then prayed for Him to choose!

How many times have you done something similar to that yourself? If you really want God's choice don't tie Him down to a couple of options. God may well be aware of options you could never have thought of! In the situation above, God later chose Saul, a man the disciples could have never thought of as a choice at the time they asked!

As a disciple of Jesus Christ, you're going to have to learn that you need to give God an open ended choice if you really want His counsel on what to choose.

Copyright © 1998 P.F.(Simon)Measures