Discovering God’s will for your life is one of the biggest challenges every Christian must confront. We spend a lot of time, effort, and, yes, even money trying to discern God’s will. We buy books, stream videos, read blogs, and attend conferences in our attempt. Yet it still left us wondering, “What is God’s Will for our life?”
We are often told to take some test that finds our spiritual gifting and will show us God’s will for our life. Or spend more time in prayer or in Christian service and you will discover God’s will for your life. Bible study is the key. Dive deep into the Bible and find God’s will for your life.
There is truth in all of this, and each one is a part of discovering God’s will for your life. Still, each of these paths is missing how the Bible tells us to find the perfect will of God for our life. The surest path to discovering God’s will is the one the Bible tells us to follow.
In this article, you will find the sure path to discovering God’s will. You don’t need any special abilities or talents. You don’t need some kind of “super relationship” with God. All you need is the desire to discover it and the willingness to put forth a bit of effort.
The rewards for the effort are eternal.
The Sure Path to Discovering God’s Will for Your Life
So, what is this sure path to discovering God’s will for your life?
Therefore, brothers and sisters, in view of the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your true worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God. (Romans 12:1-2 CSB Emphasis is mine.)
We are told by the Holy Spirit through Paul’s letter to the Christians in Rome how to discover, or discern, the will of God for our life. It is by renewing our mind. But even that isn’t the first step. The first step is to present our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God.
How Jesus Knew the Will of God
It is fitting that I am writing this article on Good Friday. At the very core of knowing God’s will is Jesus personal attitude. What was Jesus personal attitude towards life on earth? What He prayed in the Garden the night of His betrayal by Judas reveals the answer for us.
“Father, if you are willing, take this cup away from me—nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.” (Luke 22:42 CSB)
Jesus is praying in the garden knowing the horrific and painful death He is about to experience. His flesh is recoiling from the pain it is about to undergo. Yet Jesus says to His Heavenly Father, “… not my will, but yours, be done.”
This incident in Jesus life vividly portrays Romans 12:1-2. Here, Jesus is literally offering His body as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God. Then, because He was not conformed to the current age, He also surrendered His will.
In the garden, Jesus is willing to surrender His desires, emotions, and feelings to the will of God, even knowing the pain and suffering He would have to endure. How did Jesus know the will of God? Through Bible study and intimate prayer. Jesus found Himself in the scriptures and during His times in prayer, listened to what God said.
Jesus didn’t know the will of God because He was God on earth. Jesus operated as a man filled with the Holy Spirit on earth. (see Acts 10:38 and Philippians 2:6-8)
Jesus learned the will of God the same way you and I learn the will of God, but more on that later.
Why Is Knowing the Will of God Important?
Because God wants our will to mirror His will, nothing is more important to the life of a believer than the will of God. Here’s why:
1. God wants us to KNOW His will (Acts 22:14)
2. God wants us to UNDERSTAND His will (Ephesians 5:17)
3. God wants us to DO His will (Matthew 7:21)
Doing God’s will is the assurance you are part of a spiritual family. Jesus said, “For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.” (Matthew 12:50 CSB) Obeying God’s will is proof we are a member of God’s family.
Peter wrote in his first letter, “… in order to live the remaining time in the flesh no longer for human desires, but for God’s will.” (1 Peter 4:2 CSB) Our goal, as a Christian, is to live our lives in God’s will. Why?
Because the world and all of its sinful desires will pass away. The one who does the will of God remains forever. (see John 2:17) It is the difference between what is eternal and what is temporary. Doing God’s will is eternal.
Doing God’s will and fulfilling His purpose for your life has eternal rewards. There is nothing better than being in God’s perfect will.
Two Steps to Discovering God’s Will for Your Life
As I mentioned at the beginning of the article, people talk about many ways to discover God’s will for your life. The surest path to discovering God’s will for your life is explicitly stated in His Word. Let’s read the passage Romans 12:1-2 again.
Therefore, brothers and sisters, in view of the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your true worship. Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God. (CSB)
It is a two-step process:
1. First, present your body as a living sacrifice.
2. Second, be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
This two-step process is the sure path to discovering God’s will for your life. You can’t shortcut the process and you can’t only do one step. It takes both steps.
But, when you do both steps and start discovering God’s will for your life, the effort to carry out these two steps seems small compared to the reward of living in God’s perfect will.
God’s will for our lives is the most important standard for Christian living. It’s the true purpose for the life of the believer and it should be what characterizes Christians.
Now, let’s examine each step.
The First Step: Present Your Body As A Living Sacrifice
Romans 12: tells us: “Therefore, brothers and sisters, in view of the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your true worship.” (CSB)
What does Paul mean by a “living sacrifice”? This would sound very strange to any Jews reading this letter. The Jews were familiar with the priest killing an animal and offering a dead sacrifice, but a “living sacrifice”?
Stop and think. What does this mean to you? How do you present your body as a “living sacrifice”? Paul says in this verse that our body must be holy and pleasing to God. So, what does that mean?
Paul said the same thing to the church at Corinth: “Don’t you know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for I bought you at a price. So glorify God with your body.” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20 CSB)
Because our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, don’t you agree with the Apostle Paul that it should be holy and pure? Then there is the fact that we no longer own our bodies. Our body is bought at a price. The price is Jesus life and His blood. We can no longer do what we want with our bodies.
Flee Any Impurity
Look at another passage the Apostle Paul wrote to the church at Ephesus: “But sexual immorality and any impurity or greed should not even be heard of among you, as is proper for saints.” (Ephesians 5:3 CSB)
As a temple of the Holy Spirit, we are to have no sexual immorality, impurity, or greed. Then Paul caps it off by calling us saints. We are no longer a sinner saved by grace. We were a sinner, grace saved us, and now we are saints. Now we must act like the saints of God.
Paul says in the fourth verse: “Obscene and foolish talking or crude joking are not suitable, but rather giving thanks.” Paul is expressing that God takes this holiness thing seriously.
So serious in fact that the Holy Spirit inspired Paul to write to the Roman Christians: “Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, so that you obey its desires. And do not offer any parts of it to sin as weapons for unrighteousness. But as those who are alive from the dead, offer yourselves to God, and all the parts of yourselves to God as weapons for righteousness. For sin will not rule over you, because you are not under the law but under grace.” (Romans 6:12-14 CSB)
If you want to know and live in the will of God, you must regard sin as a serious offense to God. That means any sin. No more winking at sin and flirting with it in your daily life. There is a big difference between sinning by mistake and knowing it is a sin, then do it anyway.
How to Present Your Body as a Living Sacrifice
To present our body as a living sacrifice, we need to first surrender our will. We surrender our will by making the quality decision to put God’s Word first in our life.
What is a quality decision? It is a decision that you will never back down from. For example, draw an imaginary line on the ground before you. Tell yourself, “I will always obey and act on the Word of God regardless of how I feel.” Then step across that line and never back down. This is a quality decision.
Once you have made this quality decision you are then prepared to present your body as a living sacrifice. How do we do this? By living our life as a servant. A servant to God and a servant to others.
Look at what Jesus said: “But it is not so among you. On the contrary, whoever wants to become great among you will be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you will be a slave to all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:43-45 CSB)
When you present your body as a living sacrifice, you become a servant to God and a servant to other people. This is living a life of sacrifice. As a servant, you put God’s will and desires above your own will and desires. As a living sacrifice, God’s will rises above everything you want and desire. It is humbling yourself under the mighty hand of God. (see 1 Peter 5:6)
The Second Step: Being Transformed By The Renewing Of Your Mind
Once you have presented your body as a living sacrifice, then you are ready for the second step: transformation. Transformation can only be done by the power of God’s Word.
Do you remember what Paul wrote to the Hebrew Christians? “For the word of God is living and effective and sharper than any double-edged sword, penetrating as far as the separation of soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. No creature is hidden from him, but all things are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give an account.” (Hebrews 4:12-13 CSB)
God’s Word is alive and powerful. It is effective in penetrating the separation of spirit and soul. It will judge our thoughts and intents. This is the purpose of the Word of God. It will reveal our true thoughts and motives. Once the Word has accomplished that, then the transformation can begin.
God’s Word will reveal in us our proper and improper thoughts and our intents. It will reinforce what is of God and will show us how to change what is not of God.
God’s Word Is Light Revealing Our Path
“Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light on my path.” (Psalm 119:105 CSB)
Therefore, God’s Word is light for our life. Once it reveals what needs to change in our life, then the Word will light the proper path we need to walk down.
For instance, let’s say you are quick to get angry. In fact, anger is controlling your life. God will lead you to scriptures such as:
Psalm 37:8 “Refrain from anger and give up your rage; do not be agitated—it can only bring harm.” (CSB)
Proverbs 15:8 “A hot-tempered person stirs up conflict, but one slow to anger calms strife.” (CSB)
God has now disciplined you and shown you where you are wrong in your thoughts and intents. Why your thoughts and intents? Because the thoughts and intents of our heart lead to our actions. Change a person’s thoughts and intents, and you will change the actions of their life.
Learn more about the importance of God’s Word in these articles:
First Bold Step to Your Success | Read Scripture Daily
Meditate Scripture | The Next Essential Step to Your Successful Life
Obey Scripture to Release God’s Success in Your Life
The Renewing of Your Mind
After God has disciplined you, it is now time to renew your mind. God then leads you to scriptures such as:
Psalm 86:15 “But you, Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger and abounding in faithful love and truth.” (CSB)
Ecclesiastes 7:9 “Don’t let your spirit rush to be angry, for anger abides in the heart of fools.” (CSB)
Colossians 3:8 “But now, put away all the following: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and filthy language from your mouth.” (CSB)
The renewing of your mind happens when you meditate on these scriptures and apply them to your life. Allow the Holy Spirit to correct you every time you get angry, then publicly apologize to those you were angry at. It won’t take long until you have conquered your anger.
Discovering God’s Will For Your Life
Once you have presented your body as a living sacrifice and started the process of renewing your mind, you are now positioned to discover God’s will for your life. Before this you have done these two steps, you were not positioned correctly.
What is it called when you present your body as a living sacrifice and renew your mind? Surrender. That’s right. Now you have done what Jesus commanded us to do.
Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone wants to follow after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of me will find it.” (Matthew 16:24-25 CSB)
Once you have positioned yourself, then “you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.” Positioning is the part many Christians miss when they are trying to discover God’s will for their life.
Only when you have completely surrendered will you be able to discover God’s will for your life. It is just like a soldier in boot camp. A soldier gets renewed or prepared in boot camp before advancing to any other training.
It All Starts with God’s Word
Once you are positioned correctly, you are now ready to take the remaining steps to discover God’s will for your life. Here are the remaining steps:
1. Obey the Word
2. Bible study
3. Prayer
4. Finding yourself in scripture
5. Hearing God’s voice
Knowing God’s will starts with the Bible, then His revealed will (revelation knowledge) will follow. If we are not willing to obey what is clearly stated in scripture, how will we ever obey God’s word spoken in our spirit?
Obeying God’s commands, which are clearly written in His Word, comes first. We must obey what He tells us to do in His Word, regardless of if it makes sense to us. Put obedience to God’s Word first place in your life.
Bible Study
This is more than just reading a devotional. There is nothing wrong with devotionals. I read one every morning. We need more than a spiritual snack. We need a solid spiritual meal daily.
There are several ways to do your Bible study. If there is a challenge or pressing problem in your life, then search the scriptures for passages that relate to that problem. Maybe it is a theological concept or simply a passage you want to know more about.
Our job is to study the Bible so that we can rightly understand the meaning. (see 2 Timothy 2:15) It is through Bible study we can find the answers to problems and challenges in our life.
It is also through Bible study we learn Who God is, His attributes, and His character. All the great and precious promises come through our knowledge of Him. (see 2 Peter 1:3)
Prayer
The prayer I am addressing here is done in our prayer closet, where it is just you and God. This prayer is an intimate, one-on-one conversation with our Heavenly Father. It is more than rattling off a few requests and giving a few praises.
This type of praying takes time. It is like a conversation with your spouse or a loved one, involving talking and actively listening to what God says.
Intimacy like this doesn’t happen overnight. It takes time to develop this intimacy and it takes time to learn to hear God’s voice.
Take the time to do this. Go into your prayer closet with your Bible and a notepad. This way you can write down whatever the Father tells you. Spend time talking to God, but also spend time listening for His voice and what He has to say.
Finding Yourself In Scripture
Then beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted for them the things concerning himself in all the Scriptures. (Luke 24:27 CSB)
Jesus found Himself in scripture and because of that He knew Who He was, His purpose, and His mission. We are to do the same. We must find ourselves in scripture so that we know Who we are, our purpose, and our mission.
The Bible tells us who we are in Christ. It also tells us about our purpose on the earth and then through that, we find our mission. There is no shortcut to this process.
Hearing God’s Voice
It is only after doing all the previous steps can we then be in the position to hear God’s voice clearly. We must first completely surrender our lives to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Then we must obey the Word, study the Bible, pray, find ourselves in Scripture, and then we can hear God’s voice.
Please understand, that you don’t have to do all this perfectly. We don’t earn ourselves into discovering God’s will for our life.
We need to start the process and continue the process for it to work. As we grow in spiritual maturity, we will begin to fully develop each step in the process.
The Journey of Discovering God’s Will for Our Life
Just like everything else in our Christian life, discovering God’s will for our life is a journey. It is a continuous growth process with the Holy Spirit leading the way. Relax and enjoy the process. It is a fun, exciting, and satisfying journey. It is also worth the time and effort.
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