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For the last several years I’ve found comfort in a “sheep prayer” that I pray during big decisions. It’s a “good news/bad news” truth.
When God chose an animal to stand for his people in the Bible, he chose a sheep. Not a strong lion, or a wise owl, or a diligent ant. Not even his “favorite animal,” the dove. No, he picked a sheep. Sheep are idiots. They can’t run fast, they have bad eyesight, and they can’t defend themselves. They sometimes step into streams and drown, or walk right off of cliffs. If they stumble, they often end up “cast,” which is the technical term for being stuck upside-down. (Like turtles, if they end up on their back, they can’t flip themselves back over.) Sheep are basically walking feed-bags. And that’s what God calls us. Bad news: even the wisest, most successful, and most insightful of us are sheep. That means we’re in trouble. But it sets us up for the good news.
"If sheep get to where sheep need to go, it’s never because of their competence as sheep. It’s because their shepherd is competent to guide them."
We have a shepherd who promises to guard, straighten, and correct our paths if we trust in him. If sheep get to where sheep need to go, it’s never because of their competence as sheep. It’s because their shepherd is competent to guide them. We have an omni-competent shepherd.
And we need one. God gave up on our decision-making ability back in the Garden of Eden. From Genesis 3 onwards, it has always been clear that if God’s people were going to make it through life, it wouldn’t be because of our erudite decision-making capacity or skillful warrior instincts. It would be because God led us.
Proverbs 3:5-6 says it plainly: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.”
That verse has two parts: yours and God’s.
Your part? “Trust in the Lord with all your heart” and “acknowledge him” in all your ways—that is, obey everything you know he’s told you to do.
His part? “He will make straight your paths.” The New King James Version puts that line like this: “He shall direct your paths.”
We can read that verse as if it were a contract—if you do your part, God will do his. My pastor when I was growing up made me draw a little wall between the two clauses to remind myself of what was my responsibility and what was God’s. I get the “in all your ways acknowledge him” side of the wall. He lives on the “make straight your paths” side.
Most of our stress comes from worrying about what’s on God’s side of the wall! “What if I make a wrong decision?” “What if this sends me in a ‘crooked’ direction?”
God says, Get back on your side of the wall.
But what if, after acknowledging him in everything I know how to, there is some crucial piece of information I am still missing?
That’s his side of the wall. And that’s where trusting in the Lord comes in. He even tells you not to lean on “your own understanding”! In other words, don’t even depend on your ability to discern his will! Depend on God’s willingness to guide you.
Bad news: your limited understanding will never be sufficient.
Good news: your omnicompetent shepherd’s infinite understanding will always be. You can trust him.
Here’s how the “sheep prayer,” therefore, comes out for me:
“Lord, I have this decision to make, and I have done my best to listen to you and figure it out in every possible way, and I’ve taken good counsel and I’ve prayed about it, and now, God, this is what I think I am going to do. But God, I know I am a sheep, and sheep are idiots, so I have no confidence in my ability to make this decision. But I do have confidence in your competence and compassion as my Good Shepherd to guide me. So, if this is not the right decision, I’m asking you to take your rod and your staff and to stop me going that way, and to get me to where I do need to go.”
This article is an excerpt adapted from Just Ask by J.D. Greear. The book gives specific, practical tips for praying in everyday life, leaving readers wanting to pray, rather than just feeling that they ought to.
