{"id":2177,"date":"2025-02-06T12:14:56","date_gmt":"2025-02-06T17:14:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/menslifebloomington.org\/bloomenlife\/?p=2177"},"modified":"2025-02-06T12:14:57","modified_gmt":"2025-02-06T17:14:57","slug":"talking-to-jesus-about-big-decisions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/menslifebloomington.org\/bloomenlife\/2025\/02\/06\/talking-to-jesus-about-big-decisions\/","title":{"rendered":"Talking to Jesus About Big Decisions"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>The following is an <em>AI Generated Summary <\/em>from what John Eldridge and <strong>Wild at Heart<\/strong> Ministries Teaches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>John Eldredge, through <strong>Wild at Heart<\/strong>, emphasizes a deeply personal and conversational relationship with Jesus, particularly when it comes to making big decisions. His perspective centers around a few key themes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>1. Inviting Jesus into the Decision<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Eldredge encourages <strong>actually asking Jesus what He thinks<\/strong> about a decision, rather than just assuming or relying on logic alone. He teaches that Jesus <strong>wants to speak<\/strong> and that we should listen with an open heart. This often means slowing down and making space for quiet reflection and prayer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>2. Listening for God&#8217;s Guidance<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Rather than expecting an audible voice, Eldredge suggests that God often speaks through:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>A deep inner knowing<\/strong> (a sense of peace or unrest)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Scripture that comes alive<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Circumstances that confirm or redirect<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>A consistent theme in prayer<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>He warns against relying <strong>only<\/strong> on emotions or human wisdom and instead encourages a posture of waiting on God\u2019s direction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>3. Testing the Direction<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Eldredge highlights the importance of <strong>discernment<\/strong>\u2014not every idea that comes to mind is from God. He encourages:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Asking, <strong>&#8220;Jesus, is this from You?&#8221;<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Checking whether the decision aligns with <strong>God\u2019s character and Scripture<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Paying attention to whether the path is <strong>opening or closing naturally<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>4. The Role of Resistance and Closed Doors<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Sometimes, if a decision isn\u2019t from God, Eldredge believes He will <strong>block it<\/strong>\u2014not in a forceful, punishing way, but as an act of love and protection. Eldredge teaches that <strong>closed doors can be a sign of God\u2019s mercy<\/strong>, keeping us from going in the wrong direction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>5. Walking in Faith<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Even after seeking God\u2019s will, Eldredge acknowledges that sometimes we won\u2019t get a clear answer. In those moments, he suggests:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Making the best decision you can in faith<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Trusting that God will redirect if needed<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Moving forward with confidence in God&#8217;s ability to course-correct<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p class=\"excerpt\">The following is an AI Generated Summary from what John Eldridge and Wild at Heart Ministries Teaches. John Eldredge, through Wild at Heart, emphasizes a deeply personal and conversational relationship with Jesus, particularly when it comes to making big decisions. His perspective centers around a few key themes: 1. Inviting Jesus into the Decision Eldredge encourages actually asking Jesus what&hellip; <a href=\"http:\/\/menslifebloomington.org\/bloomenlife\/2025\/02\/06\/talking-to-jesus-about-big-decisions\/\">Read more &rarr;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[76],"tags":[23,21,79],"class_list":["post-2177","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-thursday-thoughts","tag-leaders","tag-prayer","tag-wild-at-heart","xfolkentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/menslifebloomington.org\/bloomenlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2177","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/menslifebloomington.org\/bloomenlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/menslifebloomington.org\/bloomenlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/menslifebloomington.org\/bloomenlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/menslifebloomington.org\/bloomenlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2177"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/menslifebloomington.org\/bloomenlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2177\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2178,"href":"http:\/\/menslifebloomington.org\/bloomenlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2177\/revisions\/2178"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/menslifebloomington.org\/bloomenlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2177"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/menslifebloomington.org\/bloomenlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2177"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/menslifebloomington.org\/bloomenlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2177"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}