Knowing The Will Of God #1 Series

Knowing the Will of God – 6th January 2008 am

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. Knowing God’s will is the key to prayer, spiritual growth and fruitfulness in our individual lives.

I. The Bible clearly tells us that God has a definite will for our lives

Psalm 37:23 The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord

One of the most inspiring truths in all the Bible is the fact that God has a plan for every life. God has a plan for you – where you work, who you marry… God doesn’t just call preachers…His divine will applies to all of us…what is your calling? We all must seek the face of God. Find out His plan!

God knows our strengths and our weaknesses; He knows our capabilities and our inabilities; He also knows our desires and our deepest fears.

No one is more qualified to lead, guide, and direct our lives, than God, and He has a divine plan for your life, and you can find it, if you’re willing to seek God and to do whatever He says to do.

Our God has a deep, vested interest in us, and it’s reasonable to believe that He doesn’t want us to go thru life filled with confusion and uncertainty, but to know where we are, why we’re there, and where we’re headed…to know His will!

Psalm32:8 I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye.,

How on earth can God guide us with His eye? He did it for Peter, when he was warming his hands at the world’s fire, getting deeper and deeper into a situation too big for him to handle, denying his Lord, cursing and swearing. At that crucial moment the Lord turned and looked on Peter.

That’s all it was, a look. He did not speak to him, simply guided His erring disciple with His eye: “Remember, Peter! Remember! Satan hath desired to have you but I have prayed for you. You’re in the wrong place, Peter; you’re with the wrong people.” It was all that Peter needed.

If the Lord is to guide us with His eye, it means that we must stay close to Him. If our children are doing something wrong and give them “THE” look, we have to be close to them we have to be within sight of them. If we keep our eyes on the Lord He will guide us and make it plain what His will for our lives is.

Hebrews 12:1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,

When someone runs a race there is a course set out for them to follow otherwise they would be running anywhere. It is the same for us, God has set out a course for each one of us.

Ephesians 2:10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath ordained that we should walk in them

This is an amazing statement. It means that God has a plan for our lives and that we should walk in His will and fulfil His plan. Paul is not talking about an impersonal fate that controls your life no matter what you might do. He is talking about the gracious plan of a loving Heavenly Father.

Good works are a part of God’s plan. They are not the price of salvation but the proof. The believer is not saved as a result of good works; good works are a result of their salvation. They are a result of God’s working in the believers heart. They are the evidence that he is alive from the dead. They are proof of the relationship between the believer and the Saviour.

II. God desires us to know His will for our lives

Ephesians 5:17 Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is

Failure to do what the Holy Spirit says is the height of folly. The Greek word for unwise is af-rone and its definition is mindless, that is, stupid, (by implication) ignorant, (specifically) egotistic, (practically) rash, or (morally) unbelieving: - fool (-ish), unwise.

John Phillips said, “Surely it is the height of stupidity to have in one’s hand the very Word of the Living God – inbreathed by the omniscient, all wise Creator of the universe – and neglect to read it, study it, memorise it, and obey it.”