How to Know God's Will

In this blog post, we explore how we can know God's will.

​Every believer who is serious about serving God will want to be sure that they are in the will of God. However, the truth is that we don't always know with certainty if every decision we make is the correct decision. In the present time, "we know only in part..." (1 Corinthians 13:9 NRSV). There are times when it is not clear what we should do, but we nonetheless prayerfully make the best decision we can, trusting God in the process. However, we can do our best to obey what the Bible teaches, to pray for God's guidance, to do what our heart knows that God is telling us to do, and to avoid what our heart knows God is telling us not to do.

That God can cause us to know in our heart what He wants us to do is evident from the example of Nehemiah who said "I told no one what my God had put into my heart to do for Jerusalem" (Nehemiah 2:12 NRSV). However, when it comes to subjective feelings we must also be cautious.  The human brain is capable of producing all kinds of feelings, emotions and voices. We can "feel" what we think is God telling us to do something that He is not telling us at all. With that being said, here are three important foundations for living a life that is in keeping with God's will:

1. We must be hearers and doers of God's word i.e. the Bible
The psalmist wrote, "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path" (Psalm 119:105 NRSV). Being a hearer and doer of God's word requires that we are committed to spending time regularly in the Bible, ensuring that over time, we prayerfully and repeatedly go through the whole Bible, not just parts of it. Note the word "every" in Matthew 4:4 - "One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God" (NRSV). God is under no obligation to supernaturally reveal information to us that He has already given in His word. The Bible is God's voice to us. This is evident from Deuteronomy 13:18 where Moses equated the commandments given in Deuteronomy with God's voice: "If you obey the voice of the Lord your God by keeping all his commandments ..." (NRSV). However, we must not study Scripture only for information, but also for application to our daily lives: "But be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves" (James 1:22 NRSV).

2. Our heart must be surrendered to God's will
Like Jesus, we must be able to truly say, "Not my will, but yours be done" (Luke 22:42 NRSV). We must be surrendered to God's will whether it is something we want to do or not. It is my understanding that being committed to doing whatever God's will is aids us in discerning whether or not we are hearing from God. Consider Jesus' words about knowing the source of His teaching: "Anyone who resolves to do the will of God will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own" (John 7:17 NRSV). It would seem that being resolved to do God's will aids proper discernment.

3. We must recognize that God's will is about the way we live each day
God's will is not just about some special plan or task we wish to do. God's will is also about the way we behave each day. Therefore, we must surrender to the moral renewing of our minds so that we can discern what attitudes and actions please God. Paul wrote, "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect" (Romans 12:2 NRSV). When he mentioned "the will of God" in this verse, Paul was speaking about God's moral will i.e. how God wants us to conduct ourselves. The "renewing of your minds" refers to changing the way we think about our sin. Paul spoke in a similar way in Ephesians 4:22-23, where he reminded believers that they were taught to discard their former way of life and to change their mind-set regarding sin: "You were taught to put away your former way of life, your old self, corrupt and deluded by its lusts, and to be renewed in the spirit [attitude] of your minds" (NRSV). Thinking differently about sin will empower us to live a lifestyle that is pleasing to God and is in keeping with His will for us.

In summary:

• We don't always know with certainty if every decision we make is the correct decision. However, we can do our best to obey what the Bible teaches, to pray for God's guidance, to do what our heart knows that God is telling us to do, and to avoid what our heart knows God is telling us not to do.
• We must be cautious when it comes to subjective feelings as these can be produced by our brains.
• To live a life that is in keeping with God's will we must be hearers and doers of God's word, our hearts must be surrendered to God's will, and we must recognize that God's will is about the way we live each day.