"Dear God, how do I know your will for my life?"

Sometimes it seems difficult to really know what God's will is for my life. But I have always found that His will is available to me if I am willing to seek Him. I sometimes begin to get a feel for where He want me to go or what He wants me to do about an area I'm wrestling with just by praying myself or by reading my bible. Sometimes the answer seems to reveal itself over several days as I continue to pray.

But more often, God's answer is harder to find. My next step is to begin to ask other people in my life to pray for me, telling them about my uncertainty and asking that they pray for God's will to be revealed.

But all too often, even this is not enough. Do you know why? After many times down this path, I think I understand what I need to do and why I need to do it. God so very often waits until I completely surrender my will to Him before He reveals the path that He wants me to take. I have to say "yes" before I know what He is wants me to do. When I do finally say "yes", it seems so immediately clear which direction to go. Looking back, it may have been clear to me all along, but perhaps the path He chooses is the harder path to take, and I was avoiding it.

100% surrender. I do not get there very often; honestly maybe once every few years. Now I'm talking about 100% total surrender, the kind of surrender where you tell God that if he wants you to move to Africa and be a missionary, then you are going to go. He's not asked for anything that drastic (yet), but He does want my full submission to His will before He reveals "the big stuff" to me. If He were to reveal it first, I could question it and would be able to consider if I wanted to follow it or not. But if He already has my answer first, I am already committed.

Do you want to know what God wants you to do with your life about something right now? Try complete and total surrender to Him, and see what happens. You are likely to be amazed.

"Submit to God and be at peace with Him; in this way prosperity will come to you.

Accept instruction from His mouth and lay up His words in your heart.

Job 22:21-22

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Ask and It will be given to you; seek and you will find;

knock and the door will be opened to you." Matthew 7:7

I think God's will for man is in every chapter of the Bible. God tells us to obey his laws, live righteously, keep our faith in him, tell others of him and how to find him so they too can share his grace and peace and the victory over death. These are just a few things that our Father wants for his children.

I think the problem of not knowing God's will is ours. It is up to us to keep the line of communication active so he can reveal his intentions to us. To live in our Father's plan is simply placing him in our heart. I found after I opened my heart to God, he started working through me to do things that many people tell me that they couldn't do. I have found that his plan for me is to help others and do what I can for them, to live in his spirit and be his light to others. This could be calling to check on someone, asking someone if they need help, or speaking kind words to someone, that's all I'm doing. I give what I can, when I can.

To know God's plan is simple to me. I live with him daily. I ask him, seek him and knock on his door.

Have you ever heard of "The Prayer of Jabez" (1 Chronicles 4:9-10)? I think his prayer was his seeking God and God's plan. Jabez earnestly and sincerely pleaded with God to: Bless him, enlarge his territory, to have God's hand with him, and to keep him from temptation and sin so he would not cause pain to himself or others. Isn't that what all of us as Christians want? I have heard that this prayer has changed the lives of many Christians.

This is what the Lords says, "For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you, not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart, I will be found by you. "Jeremiah 29: 11-14

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Dear God, How do I know your will for my life?

That is a question I struggle with myself. When we were marking the questions we most wanted to hear about, this is one of the ones I chose. I think that, for me, the main reason I struggle with this question so much is that I don't like the answer. I want a pat answer. A "to do" list of ways to act and some beautiful goal my life is supposed to achieve. Something challenging but not impossible, something truly exceptional but not uncomfortable. All of that delivered on a silver platter so I don't have to think about it, so I can just do. But it doesn't work that way. No matter how much I run from it I know in my heart that the only way to learn God's will for my life is to seek it. That is hard for me, I don't want to put the time and effort into seeking, I don't want to risk my own will and my own desires. Its tough... but seeking my own will leaves me hollow, seeking His satisfies. Still I struggle, still I seek my own way. That may be the hardest part, learning God's will isn't a once and done kind of thing. Its something you have to work at every day, and every hour, and every minute. I know it's difficult, but I also know that the rewards are beyond measuring.

Acts 17:27-28 "that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and exist"

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Dear God. How do I know your will for my life?

Anyone who has struggled with life's problems has asked that question. Even now, as I go though my daily routine, I wonder what God has planned for me, and if I am living my life according to God's will. I think that the first thing that we need to do to live according to God's will is to enter into a relationship with Him (1 Timothy 2:3-4). I don't think that one can fully understand, or accept, God's will until we are able to fully trust and accept Him. After the first step is taken, things will begin to fall in place. This is not to say that you will always know what direction you are being led in, but there will be signs. I have felt this. The "nudge", as I've heard it called. It is unmistakable and undeniable. God calls on us to be his Disciples (Luke 9:23). In trying to discern God's will, I will have to admit that I am not one who normally turns to prayer. Rather, I like to just ponder, for lack of a better word, what I should do. Psalms 46:10 really speaks to me during these times: "Be still and know that I am God". The Bible does teach however, that if you prayerfully ask God for wisdom and discernment, He will give it (James 1:5). I have experienced first hand what submitting to God's will means. First, I submitted to God's will and accepted his grace and peace. When I submitted to God's will and accepted him, I felt His presence. Since then, when I just "be still and listen", I can see God working in my life. I have been led to ministries where I was able to help others during their time of need; I have been led to this Church, where I have had opportunities to serve others. I know that God has big plans for me, and sometimes that is a scary thought. I know that He has helped me through the roughest of times, and I know that whatever God's will is for me; He will equip me, guide me, and always be present with me. I don't want this to sound too much like a cliché, but, because I have accepted Him I know that he will always be present with me and that all things are possible through Him. The first step is to trust and accept Him. It is a big step, but it is one that will fill your life with abundant splendor.

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"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." (Jeremiah 29:11)

Is there anyone among us who has never wondered what our futures will look like? Has anyone among us never had to make a decision that will impact the rest of their lives? Has anyone among us ever been able to make such a decision with complete certainty?

I think it is safe to say that we have all had to make decisions that determined which path our lives would take, whether it was deciding which college we would attend, what our major course of study would be, where we would live on our own, or who we would marry. These decisions come up in all of our lives, and more often than not we find ourselves asking others for advice. "What would you do?" we ask them, expecting their perspective to shed light that our own cannot provide and hoping they will have some profound wisdom to give us. Should their advice not be what we expected, we often get angry, frustrated, and ignore their well-meaning words, eventually disregarding them altogether and going to someone else for guidance.

I've done this so many times, and there have been few times that I have been able to make a decision and feel with 100% certainty that I was doing the right thing. Though I prayed and asked my most trusted friends, I still did not feel like I had a definite answer. What I did have, though, was a sense of peace. I knew that God had a plan for me, and while I remained clueless about what that plan might be, He knew exactly what my life would hold. I had peace because I knew that if I was seeking His guidance and trying to do what he would want me to do, there would be no wrong answer. He would guide my steps. He would lead me where He wanted and needed me to go for His will to be done.

I know that sounds vague and probably somewhat unhelpful, but try it the next time you have a big decision to make. I give you permission to disregard the opinions of those around you and to seek the guidance of the One who knows where you need to be. He'll keep you on the right track if you ask Him to.

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