Seven Steps to Finding God’s Will

Show me Your ways, O LORD; teach me Your paths. Lead me in Your truth and teach me, for You are the God of my salvation; on you, I wait all the day (Psalm 25:4-5).

For every one of us, there will come that horrible moment when we just do not know what to do. We know the decision we make will have lifetime consequences and we are torn about what the correct response should be. We wish we could get a telegram from God directly with instructions regarding the right choice. We face these types of situations more often than we care to admit. We don’t notice because we have already decided what WE want, and fail to even seek what HE wants. We all must develop the lifelong habit of seeking His will in everything. So how do we do it?

Surrender your life to God.

But that sounds so old fashioned! Surrender is the basic qualification for seeking God’s will. It is the basic heart attitude God requires of every believer. Your body (and life) belongs to God (Romans 12:1-2). You are not your own, you are bought with a price (1 Corinthians 6:20). God is not in the business of helping you find out how you can make yourself most happy. We deceive ourselves into thinking we can have His will for some things while maintaining our own will for everything else. God’s will for your life is all-encompassing. If you are seeking God’s will, you better decide if you really want it first.

Walk in fellowship with God.

Maintain a daily walk of fellowship that includes listening to God through His word, speaking to Him in prayer, giving thanks to Him, and praising Him in all things. The Apostle Paul sought this. The primary focus of his Christian life was not doing things for God, it was knowing Him intimately (Philippians 3:10). The best way for me to understand what my wife wants is to understand her, to fellowship with her, to have a deep relationship with her. We would prefer for God to simply send us a note from heaven to inform us of each decision we should make, but His plan is for a much more personal and intimate relationship. You will know better what He wants when you know Him better.

Obey the Bible in everything.

If you want to know what He wants, then listen to what He says. He has told us what He wants in His book. He actually put it in writing! We not only have specific commands, we also have principles that are intended to guide our discernment. Let me warn you, biblical principles often conflict with popular thinking–even with our own logic. His thoughts are not our thoughts, our ways are not His ways (Isaiah 55:8-9). If you want His will, the Bible must be your absolute authority. You cannot flip flop back and forth between the Bible and Oprah (or Dr. Phil or whatever worldly authority you use).

Not only that. You have to be committed doing what He says—not just listening (James 1:22-25). You cannot ask for God’s will without committing to DO it before you ask.

Examine your gifts and desires.

God often guides us even before we know He is. He created you. He gave you certain natural abilities and spiritual gifts that are intended to inform your life choices (Romans 12, 1 Corinthians 12). Be honest about the abilities that God has given you. They are not the complete answer, but they are also no accident.

When we are walking in fellowship with God, our longings and desires are also an indicator. God often gives us the desire to do the thing that He has called us to do (1 Timothy 3:1). This applies more to life calling than to day to day responsibilities. In every calling there are moments where we must do things we do not like or want to do. I love being a pastor. I love preaching God’s word. I remember as a young person wanting to go to law school. I even took the LSAT during college in preparation for it. I now know I would have been miserable in that profession. Now there are times when pastoring is not pleasant and I wish I could run away and hide, but that is a momentary sentiment. Everything we do for God will include some hardship.

Seek godly counsel.

Proverbs 12:15, 13:10, 19:20 and many other verses in Proverbs commend the importance of godly counsel. Quit seeking out the people who have the same problems as you. They may empathize with you, but they will not help you. They have the same problems as you because they have the same wrong thinking. Also, be careful of seeking out advice from people who have lots of Bible knowledge but do not apply it. They will almost certainly wrongly guide you. Seek out the people who have consistently applied biblical wisdom in their lives. Paul used this exact argument to encourage Timothy to follow his advice (2 Timothy 3:10-15).

Consider God’s providence.

When you commit your life to God, He will already be guiding you in His will (Proverbs 3:5-6). The providential Hand of God will not steer you away from His will, but rather into it. Our problem is that we often decided what His will is, and then we are frustrated when He forces us in a different direction. Moses found himself in Pharaoh’s house, then the back side of the desert, then as a leader of a nation all in the providential guidance of God. Daniel ended up as an exile, but all the while in the perfect providential will of God. The case exactly the same with Joseph. It would have been easy for Joseph to think that his brothers had deprived him of the will of God for his life. But their sin providentially moved Joseph in it. Do not fret the things you cannot control. Commit to God, obey Him, and trust His providence.

Pray, pray, and then pray some more.

James 1:5 says that if we lack wisdom, we must ask. That is praying. He promises He will give us His wisdom. That answer does not always come immediately, so we keep praying until the answer comes. Sometimes the delay is part of the answer. One word of caution here. Many pray until they get “peace” about a decision. This is dangerous. For many “peace” is an emotional state about the situation at hand. There will be times when we KNOW what God wants, but we have no peace about it. We need to pray until the answer becomes clear. This usually happens through a clearer biblical understanding of the situation. Some other thing happens that helps clarify.

Then there are times when the moment comes that we have to make a decision. Maybe we have to decide between what seem like to equally good (or equally bad) choices and we have to choose immediately. That is the moment to pray for wisdom, make the choice, trust that God answered your prayer, and not look back.

We all need to understand how to discern God’s will. No matter where you are in life, difficult decisions lie ahead. Seek His will in everything.