“I desire to do your will, my God; your law is within my heart.” -Psalm 40:8a
INTRODUCTION
God’s will for our lives has reason and purpose. It is through scripture, where we can find meaning and principles discerning God’s will.To know God’s will for our lives, then we must learn to walk with God and develop a relationship with Him. We will cultivate that relationship best by spending time in His Word, taking time for prayer and listening to the Holy Spirit.
- KNOWING THE WILL OF GOD THROUGH THE SCRIPTURES
The king stood by the pillar and renewed the covenant in the presence of the Lord—to follow the Lord and keep his commands, statutes and decrees with all his heart and all his soul, thus confirming the words of the covenant written in this book. Then all the people pledged themselves to the covenant. -Psalm 23:3
The best way to study a subject often begins with a definition of that subject. What do we mean by the will of God? It is that holy and stated purpose of the Father to make His dear children as much like Christ as possible.
Without doubt the most important factor in finding God’s will is the Bible itself. God speaks to us not in some loud voice, but through the Scriptures.
- a) First the Scriptures declare He does have a definite will for our lives.‘The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD’ –Psalm 37:23. ‘I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go –Psalm 32:8.
- b) Second, God desires us to know this will for our lives.‘Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is –Ephesians 5:17.
- c) Third, this will is continuous. It does not begin when one is thirty years of age. God has a will for children, young people, adults and senior citizens. ‘The Lord will guide you always; He will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. – Isaiah 58:11
- d) Fourth, God’s will is specific. ‘Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, ‘This is the way, walk in it’ -Isaiah 30:21. ‘But the way of the upright is a highway’ –Proverbs 15:19.
- e) Fifth, God’s will is profitable. Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. –Joshua 1:8
What is the will of God for us? As we have already noted, it differs from believer to believer. But here are four aspects in the will of God which apply to every Christian.
- It is His will that we learn more about God. ‘For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives -Colossians 1:9
- 2. It is His will that we grow in grace. ‘It is God’s will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality;’ –1 Thessalonians 4:3.
- It is His will that we study His Word. ‘But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it,and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. –2 Timothy 3:14-17.
- It is His will that we share our faith. ‘But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” –Acts 1:8
- KNOWING THE WILL OF GOD THROUGH PRAYER AND FASTING
So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with Him in prayer and petition, in fasting, and in sackcloth and ashes. I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed -Daniel 9:3,4
It therefore becomes immediately obvious that one of the most important factors in knowing God’s will for our lives is to pray.
‘If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him’ -James 1:5.
In other Bible verses fasting is linked with prayer.
- a) Meaning of fasting: to fast is to abstain for a period of time from some important and necessary activity in our lives.
- b) Purpose of fasting: this is done that we might spend that time in prayer before God.
- c) Kinds of fasting: one may, for a time, refrain from sleep (2 Corinthians 6:5), marital sex (1 Corinthians 7:1-5) or food (Matthew 4:1-2).
- d) Examples of biblical fasting: Moses –When I went up on the mountain to receive the tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant that the Lord had made with you, I stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights; I ate no bread and drank no water. –Deuteronomy 9:9
Daniel – ‘So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and petition, in fasting, and in sackcloth and ashes.’ -Daniel 9:3
- KNOWING THE WILL OF GOD THROUGH SUBMISSION TO THE SPIRIT
Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I. Send me!” -Isaiah 6:8
The moment a repenting sinner receives Christ by faith into his or her heart the Holy Spirit immediately does five things:
- He regenerates the believer, that is, He gives the believer a new nature. ‘Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. –John 3:5.
- He baptizes the believer into the body of Christ. ‘For we were all baptized by[a]one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. –1 Corinthians 12:13.
- He indwells the believer. ‘You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ.’ –Romans 8:9
- He seals the believer. ‘And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit –Ephesians 1:13.
- He fills the believer. ‘All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.’ –Acts 2:4.
How can a Christian be certain that he or she is indeed controlled by the Holy Spirit on a daily basis?
- The believer must consecrate his or her body as a living sacrifice to the Holy Spirit. (Romans 12:1-2)
- The believer must depend upon the Holy Spirit to convict of sin. (Psalm 139:23-24)
- The believer must look to the Holy Spirit for divine power in serving Christ. (Acts 1:8)
- KNOWING THE WILL OF GOD THROUGH CIRCUMSTANCES AND COUNSEL.
Surely you need guidance to wage war, and victory is won through many advisers. -Proverbs 24:6.
God often works through circumstances in revealing His perfect will for us. Certainly Paul’s wonderful statement, ‘all things work together for good to those who love God’ (Romans 8:28) takes into account our circumstances. A number of biblical examples can be given to illustrate this.
- God directed Abraham to substitute a ram, whose horns had somehow become entangled in a thicket, for the life of Isaac. (Genesis 22:13).
- God arranged for Pharaoh’s daughter to be bathing in the river Nile at the exact time the baby Moses floated by in a little ark of bulrushes. (Exodus 2:1-10).
- c. Paul’s young nephew happened to overhear a plot to kill his famous uncle. He then reported it to the authorities, thus saving the apostle’s life (Acts 23:12-22)
Surely the above circumstances were providentially arranged. So the Christian should ask, when attempting to discover God’s will, Is the Lord showing me something through my circumstances?
Counselors also play an important role in finding God’s will. ‘In a multitude of counselors there is safety’ -Proverbs 24:6. However three things must be kept in mind at this point:
- Counsel must come from a godly source. (Proverbs 25:19).
- Sometimes even the godliest person can unknowingly give us wrong advice. Nathan the prophet did this when he encouraged David to build the temple. (2 Samuel 7:1-13).
- In the final analysis, each person is responsible for knowing God’s revealed purpose for his or her own life.
Culled from The Open Bible.
Stay blessed!
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