Understanding God's Will

Once we arrive at a clear discovery of GOD’s will for our lives, we see His purpose for creating us.But, once we have this information it must be translated from information to knowledge and the knowledgemust be transformed into action.

In this lesson we will take information extracted from God’s word coupled with each of our personalrevelation of His will for our lives to arrive at a lucid and precise understanding of God’s will for our lives.

God’s word on understanding God’s will

"He hath showed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to
love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God." ~Micah 6:8

‘So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.” ~ Ephesians 5:17 (1-21)

“...in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” ~1 Thessalonians 5:18 (12-24)

Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority, or to governors as sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do right. For such is the will of God that by doing right you may silence the ignorance of foolish men. ~ 1 Peter 2:13-15

What God has reviled to you

What do you believe to be God’s will for your life, as He has revealed to you?

Does your personal revelation of God’s will for your life complement or contradict the previous Scriptures?

Can you glorify God and edify others by doing what has been reviled to you?

Will you live a fulfilled life apart from doing what has been reviled unto you?

Conclusion: Ephesians 1:11-14
​Also we ​​have obtained an inheritance, having been ​predestined ​according to His purpose who works all things ​​after the counsel of His will, to the end that we who were the first to hope in ​​Christ would be ​​to the praise of His glory. In ​​Him, you also, after listening to ​a​the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also ​​believed, you were ​​sealed in ​​Him with ​the Holy Spirit of promise, who is ​a​given as a pledge of ​​our inheritance, with a view to the ​​redemption of ​God’s own possession, ​to the praise of His glory.

Discovering GOD's Will

There a Three arenas of God’s will that we as believers need discover. They are as follows;

Individual will ~ This is the specific purpose for which God has created each of us.

Now the word of the Lord came to me saying, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,

And before you were born I consecrated you; I have appointed you a prophet to the nations.” - Jer. 1:4,5

Corporate will ~ As believers it is the will of God that we unify ourselves for the purpose of sharing His love.

I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me. - John 17:23

Ultimate will ~In the grand scheme of our existence, God was fully aware that we would forsake Him therefore He set in order a divine plan which would redeem us to himself.

He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace which He lavished on us. In all wisdom and insight He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him. - Eph. 1:5-9

With the knowledge we have of God’s Corporate & Ultimate will the only part left to discover is His will for our individual lives. According to George Müller (1805-1898), an English evangelist and philanthropist, discovering God’s will for our lives is a daily undertaking that should be relished by every believer. We will conclude this lesson by examining an excerpts from Müller’s essay “How to Ascertain the Will of God”:

I seek at the beginning to get my heart into such a state that it has no will of its own in regard to a given matter. Nine-tenths of the trouble with people generally is just here. Nine-tenths of the difficulties are over come when our hearts are ready to do the Lord's will, whatever it may be. When one is truly in this state, it is usually but a little way to the knowledge of what His will is.

Having done this, I do not leave the result to feeling or simple impression. If so, I make myself liable to great delusions.

I seek the Will of the Spirit of God through, or in connection with, the Word of God. The Spirit and the Word must be combined. If I look to the Spirit alone without the Word, I lay myself open to great delusions also. If the Holy Ghost guides us at all, He will do it according to the Scriptures and never contrary to them.

Next I take into account providential circumstances. These often plainly indicate God's Will in connection with His Word and Spirit.

I ask God in prayer to reveal His Will to me.

Thus, through prayer to God, the study of the Word, and reflection, I come to a deliberate judgment according to the best of my ability and knowledge, and if my mind is thus at peace, and continues so after two or three more petitions, I proceed accordingly. In trivial matters, and in transactions involving most important issues, I have found this method always effective.