Matthew 16:1-3 NKJV Then the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and testing Him asked that He would show them a sign from heaven. (2) He answered and said to them, “When it is evening you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red’; (3) and in the morning, ‘It will be foul weather today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ Hypocrites! You know how to discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times.
Ephesians 5:15-17 AMPC Look carefully then how you walk! Live purposefully and worthily and accurately, not as the unwise and witless, but as wise (sensible, intelligent people), (16) Making the very most of the time [buying up each opportunity], because the days are evil. (17) Therefore do not be vague and thoughtless and foolish, but understanding and firmly grasping what the will of the Lord is.
Colossians 1:9-10 AMPC For this reason we also, from the day we heard of it, have not ceased to pray and make [special] request for you, [asking] that you may be filled with the full (deep and clear) knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom [in comprehensive insight into the ways and purposes of God] and in understanding and discernment of spiritual things– (10) That you may walk (live and conduct yourselves) in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him and desiring to please Him in all things, bearing fruit in every good work and steadily growing and increasing in and by the knowledge of God [with fuller, deeper, and clearer insight, acquaintance, and recognition].
The Word is the Will of God
I do not believe that God desires for us to have to seek after the knowledge of His will like an Easter egg hunt where we waste so much time trying to figure out what it is but rather just walking in it.
The will of God for us can be divided into two categories:
- The general will of God that is made known unto us by His Word.
The Bible is filled with things that God tells us in His Word that are His will, His desire for our lives:
- The specific will of God for our individual lives – where do we live, where do we work, who am I supposed to marry?
Some of these questions are narrowed for us with the word of God.
- We are told in the Bible that we should work and provide for our families.
1 Timothy 5:8 NKJVBut if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.
Ephesians 4:28 NKJVLet him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need. We are told to not marry an unbeliever or someone that does not believe as we do.
- We are told not to marry unbelievers.
2 Corinthians 6:14 NKJV (14) Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness?
- We should pursue the spiritual interests for our family and then find a job that fits accordingly.
Hebrews 10:24-25 NLT Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. (25) And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of His return is drawing near.
Ephesians 4:16 TPT For his “body” has been formed in his image and is closely joined together and constantly connected as one. And every member has been given divine gifts to contribute to the growth of all; and as these gifts operate effectively throughout the whole body, we are built up and made perfect in love.
But even with this kind of help, there are going to be things that we will not be able to find in the Bible about our lives, yet God desires for us to know these things as much as we know the Word of God.
In the things that God has not given us direction for in His Word, He wants us to be led by His Spirit in our spirits.
We must recognize that God is interested in all the intimate details of our lives, not just the big things.
Luke 12:7 MSGAnd he pays even greater attention to you, down to the last detail–even numbering the hairs on your head! So don’t be intimidated by all this bully talk. You’re worth more than a million canaries.
Psalms 121:8 TPTYou will be guarded by God himself. You will be safe when you leave your home and safely you will return. He will protect you now, and he’ll protect you forevermore!
Psalms 40:2 AMPC He drew me up out of a horrible pit [a pit of tumult and of destruction], out of the miry clay (froth and slime), and set my feet upon a rock, steadying my steps and establishing my goings.
God is interested in you being successful in every area of your life; in your business deals, in your trips to the grocery store, on your job…
If you want God’s will for your life, you must do the will of God for life.
Proverbs 3:5-6 NKJV Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; (6) In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.
Before God can direct our paths, we must first be willing to acknowledge Him in every area of our lives.
Proverbs 3:5-6 NLT Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. (6) Seek His will in all you do, and He will show you which path to take.
Proverbs 3:6 MSGListen for GOD’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; he’s the one who will keep you on track.
The Lord does not lead us through our intellect. He leads us through our spirits.
Accuracy in following God’s plan will not come through your head because your head does not have enough information. But your spirit (by the Holy Spirit) does.
For instance, you do not know the future or the full past.
Isaiah 46:9-10 NKJV Remember the former things of old (which I did), For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me, (10) Declaring the end from the beginning, And from ancient times things that are not yet done, Saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, And I will do all My pleasure,’
If we will acknowledge Him, He will direct our paths.
The first thing to do to find out the will of God for our lives is to ask Him!
James 4:13-17 AMPC Come now, you who say, Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a city and spend a year there and carry on our business and make money. (14) Yet you do not know [the least thing] about what may happen tomorrow. What is the nature of your life? You are [really] but a wisp of vapor (a puff of smoke, a mist) that is visible for a little while and then disappears [into thin air]. (15) You ought instead to say, If the Lord is willing, we shall live and we shall do this or that [thing]. (16) But as it is, you boast [falsely] in your presumption and your self-conceit. All such boasting is wrong. (17) So any person who knows what is right to do but does not do it, to him it is sin.
Presuming to know what the will of God is without asking and inquiring of Him, is wrong.
It is important that we do not make random plans and use up blocks of this tiny wisp of time (called our lifetime) but instead ask God what His will is for our lives and let Him tell us what to do.
1 Samuel 13:14 NKJV But now your kingdom shall not continue. The LORD has sought for Himself a man after His own heart, and the LORD has commanded him to be commander over His people, because you have not kept what the LORD commanded you.”
Acts 13:22 NKJV And when He had removed him, He raised up for them David as king, to whom also He gave testimony and said, ‘I HAVE FOUND DAVID THE SON OF JESSE, A MAN AFTER MY OWN HEART, WHO WILL DO ALL MY WILL.’
To be a person after God’s own heart, means that you want to do all of His will for your life.
David had a habitual practice of “inquiring of the Lord.”
1 Samuel 23:1 NKJV Then they told David, saying, “Look, the Philistines are fighting against Keilah, and they are robbing the threshing floors.”
Are the “Philistines” still around today causing trouble?
David had defeated the Philistines before, and he could have thought, “We will handle this.” But pride assumes and humility asks!
Even though common sense would tell you that the Philistines need to be dealt with and Keilah needs help and you should do it is head reasoning.
You need to know who is to do this and how to do this.
To think I will do this the same way that I did the last forty times I dealt with the Philistines, and there is no reason to ask God is exactly how you miss God!
What may seem obvious to you, may not be the will of God for you.
1 Samuel 23:2 NKJV Therefore David inquired of the LORD, saying, “Shall I go and attack these Philistines?” And the LORD said to David, “Go and attack the Philistines, and save Keilah.”
The Hebrew means “to ask God for information.”
This is humility! You cannot act like you know it all and you don’t need the help of the Lord. This is asking like you are not your own Lord.
Why did David find out the will of God? He asked!
1 Samuel 23:3-4 NKJV But David’s men said to him, “Look, we are afraid here in Judah. How much more then if we go to Keilah against the armies of the Philistines?” (4) Then David inquired of the LORD once again. And the LORD answered him and said, “Arise, go down to Keilah. For I will deliver the Philistines into your hand.”
David wanted to make sure, so he inquired of the Lord again.
You cannot be too clear about hearing from the Lord, and you must be watchful about filling in the “blanks”.
1 Samuel 23:5 NKJV And David and his men went to Keilah and fought with the Philistines, struck them with a mighty blow, and took away their livestock. So David saved the inhabitants of Keilah.
Notice the specifics that David asked and the facts that God told him that were priceless.
1 Samuel 23:10-12 NKJV Then David said, “O LORD God of Israel, Your servant has certainly heard that Saul seeks to come to Keilah to destroy the city for my sake. (11) Will the men of Keilah deliver me into his hand? Will Saul come down, as Your servant has heard? O LORD God of Israel, I pray, tell Your servant.” And the LORD said, “He will come down.” (12) Then David said, “Will the men of Keilah deliver me and my men into the hand of Saul?” And the LORD said, “They will deliver you.”
1 Samuel 30:8 NKJV So David inquired of the LORD, saying, “Shall I pursue this troop? Shall I overtake them?” And He answered him, “Pursue, for you shall surely overtake them and without fail recover all.”
2 Samuel 2:1 NKJV It happened after this that David inquired of the LORD, saying, “Shall I go up to any of the cities of Judah?” And the LORD said to him, “Go up.” David said, “Where shall I go up?” And He said, “To Hebron.”
Notice how specific God was in His responses to David. He answered exactly what David asked.
Sometimes we do not get all of the information we need because we do not ask and God will not necessarily give all the information to you unless you ask.
2 Samuel 5:17-25 NKJV Now when the Philistines heard that they had anointed David king over Israel, all the Philistines went up to search for David. And David heard of it and went down to the stronghold. (18) The Philistines also went and deployed themselves in the Valley of Rephaim. (19) So David inquired of the LORD, saying, “Shall I go up against the Philistines? Will You deliver them into my hand?” And the LORD said to David, “Go up, for I will doubtless deliver the Philistines into your hand.” (20) So David went to Baal Perazim, and David defeated them there; and he said, “The LORD has broken through my enemies before me, like a breakthrough of water.” Therefore he called the name of that place Baal Perazim. (21) And they left their images there, and David and his men carried them away. (22) Then the Philistines went up once again and deployed themselves in the Valley of Rephaim. (23) Therefore David inquired of the LORD, and He said, “You shall not go up; circle around behind them, and come upon them in front of the mulberry trees. (24) And it shall be, when you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the mulberry trees, then you shall advance quickly. For then the LORD will go out before you to strike the camp of the Philistines.” (25) And David did so, as the LORD commanded him; and he drove back the Philistines from Geba as far as Gezer.
David is learning to ask for more specific information from the Lord.
Despite all the victories David had overall and specifically against the Philistines, David could have assumed that he knew what he should do and how he should do it.
David received specific information because he asked God for it.
We must not lean on our own understanding! We need to inquire of the Lord!
Trust His plan!
Proverbs 3:5-6 TPT Trust in the Lord completely, and do not rely on your own opinions. With all your heart rely on him to guide you, and he will lead you in every decision you make. (6) Become intimate with him in whatever you do, and he will lead you wherever you go.