What to say when you cannot decide
He taught it for every matter, the way he taught a surah.
اللَّهُمَّ إِنِّي أَسْتَخِيرُكَ بِعِلْمِكَ، وَأَسْتَقْدِرُكَ بِقُدْرَتِكَ، وَأَسْأَلُكَ مِنْ فَضْلِكَ، فَإِنَّكَ تَقْدِرُ وَلاَ أَقْدِرُ، وَتَعْلَمُ وَلاَ أَعْلَمُ، وَأَنْتَ عَلاَّمُ الْغُيُوبِ
Allāhumma innī astakhīruka bi-ʿilmik, wa astaqdiruka bi-qudratik, wa asʾaluka min faḍlik. Fa-innaka taqdiru wa lā aqdir, wa taʿlamu wa lā aʿlam, wa anta ʿallāmu-l-ghuyūb
“O Allah, I ask You to choose for me by Your knowledge, and I ask You to give me power by Your power, and I ask You from Your bounty. You are able and I am not. You know and I do not. You are the Knower of the unseen.”
It goes on to ask that if the matter is good it be decreed and made easy, and if not, that it be turned away and something better put in its place.
Where this comes from
Jabir says he taught it for all matters the way he taught a chapter of the Qurʾān. Pray two units that are not obligatory, then say it, and name the thing out loud at the point where it asks you to.
The full narration
Narrated Jabir bin `Abdullah:As-Salami: Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) used to teach his companions to perform the prayer of Istikhara for each and every matter just as he used to teach them the Suras from the Qur'an He used to say, "If anyone of you intends to do something, he should offer a two rak`at prayer other than the compulsory prayers, and after finishing it, he should say: O Allah! I consult You, for You have all knowledge, and appeal to You to support me with Your Power and ask for Your Bounty, for You are able to do things while I am not, and You know while I do not; and You are the Knower of the Unseen. O Allah If You know It this matter (name your matter) is good for me both at present and in the future, (or in my religion), in my this life and in the Hereafter, then fulfill it for me and make it easy for me, and then bestow Your Blessings on me in that matter. O Allah! If You know that this matter is not good for me in my religion, in my this life and in my coming Hereafter (or at present or in the future), then divert me from it and choose for me what is good wherever it may be, and make me be pleased with it." (See Hadith No. 391, Vol)
Source
Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī · 7390
- Agreed upon as authentic (al-Bukhārī / Muslim)