In Psalm 5:8b David prays to the Lord, “Make Your way straight before me.” In Hebrew it is literally: “Make straight before my face Your path”! This is a significant prayer:

Notice that he asks God: “Make YOUR way straight before me.” This is a good model for us. It is not that we are to ask God to bless OUR way; the way that WE have chosen for ourselves. No, rather it is that we submit to follow HIS path. This makes a huge difference. There is a whole branch of so-called “Christianity” which espouses a doctrine that God will bless the dream or vision that you have chosen for yourself and that He will make it a reality. This is really not Christianity at all. The Sovereign God of the universe does not exist as a “genie” to grant your latest self-centered whims! Rather, the Bible teaches that WE exist to serve and glorify Him. (Psalm 115:1)

This is an entirely different mindset, and one we need to adopt immediately, before we make any more misguided choices. We are not to ask God to bless the ways which we have arbitrarily (and often ignorantly) chosen for ourselves. Instead, like David, we are to ask Him to make HIS way straight before us. It will make a huge difference — for the better — in our decisions and actions.