5 Extraordinary Ways to Know God’s Will for Your Life
This guest post by Peter Guirguis first appeared on The Story of Hope in 2012 and went on to become one of the most read posts on this blog. I am re-posting it because I believe it will be a timely reminder for you. If you have a story of hope, purpose and leadership to share with the world, you’re welcome to guest post on this blog. To find out how, click here.
Life is short and you have a lot of choices to make. One right choice and it can lead to a lifetime of bliss, one wrong choice and it can lead to a long time of misery.
What life choices are you making today?
How then can you be sure that you’re making the right choices in life? How can you be sure that you choose the right career? Spouse? School?
These were the things that I used to think about when I was in college and in my early 20s. Unfortunately during that time, I wasn’t walking closely with the Lord.
In fact, I was actually rebelling against Him because I blamed Him for things that happened in my life that were very devastating.
In my twenties, I was living the party life and I was doing what was right in my own eyes. I was living just like the world was telling me to live: make money, have fun, and buy things. Lots of things!
Along with living that kind of lifestyle came the burden of making my own choices.
When you don’t have a Heavenly Father who is giving you His plan for your life, the next best choice is to make your own decisions without any guidance.
The result is that you’ll be surviving instead of winning!
So here are 5 steps that you can take in order to find out what God’s will is for your life:
1. Surrender your life to God
This one goes without saying but it’s necessary to point out here because it’s a foundational step. If you’re not a Christian, then you’re not communicating with the true and living God, which means you won’t have access to His life plan for you.
Not a Christian yet? To find out why you should become one, click here
2. Ask God to show you His will
You probably already know that you can simply ask God through prayer what His plans for your life are. However, you might not know how to listen for God’s response to your question.
That’s why the next few steps will be about how to listen for God’s answer to your prayer.
3. Listen for the still small voice
The Bible clearly points out that God has a still small voice through which He speaks to us (1 Kings 19:11-12). It is that inner voice that sometimes you hear in your mind or in your heart through which God can speak to you.
However, sometimes also the enemy speaks to you through your thoughts and you also have an inner voice that’s speaking to you ALL the time.
The way to be able to distinguish between which voice is God’s, yours, or the enemies, is by filtering it through the lens of Scripture.
Ask these questions:
- Is this voice filled with love, joy, peace?
- Is it filled with kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control?
All of these are fruit of the Spirit.
4. Look for open doors or closed doors
Many times the way that God speaks to you is by opening a door that He wants you to go through. Other times, He will close doors on opportunities that were once available. (Revelation 3:7-8)
God will either want you to walk through a door He’s opened for you by asking you to take a step of faith or He’ll close up that door completely.
5. Fast
Sometimes God wants to take you deeper in your relationship with Him. He may want you to fast before He reveals His will for your life. Consider fasting as an option during any time that you want to find out God’s answer to an important question in your life.
Key Takeaway
God loves you and He wants to reveal His will for your life. Sometimes we doubt His love and sometimes we doubt that He’s listening or guiding us. But that couldn’t be farther away from the truth.
Have you been blessed by Peter’s post (again)? Got a question for him on this subject? Leave a comment below and he will respond.
If you are interested in guest posting on this blog, take a look at my guidelines here
More about Peter Guirguis
Peter Guirguis started Not Ashamed of the Gospel in 2011 to help Christians strengthen their faith in God so they’d be equipped to share their faith. His number one passion is to see the lost get saved. Peter puts it this way: “I’m on a faith journey learning how to tell others about the One person that always blows my mind — Jesus”. You can follow him on Twitter.
Image courtesy of Giovanni Guastalla | Flickr
About Joseph Iregbu
From a homeless, near-school-dropout to living a story worth telling. Purpose is my passion. What's your story?
I know Jesus is my Lord and Savior but when I pray unless the answer appears I do not hear that still small voice. of what to do. Sometimes I just choose because it does not go against God’s word..Because of some rather difficult 7 years sometimes I feel that I know God hears my prayers but he has yet to answer and I am getting tired of waiting upon the Lord. Suggestions??
Never give up Jeades. Hold on. Patience is imperative. Hold on to God’s promises in His scriptures. All will be well.
Define well. All has been far from well for seven years Started 6 years ago and god has given Satan free reign in our families life.
A fast without prayer is called dieting. Many fast because they want to reduce their weight. Without prayer, fasting is of no use. We need to fast and spend time in prayer and God will surely reveal His will for your life.
True. Thanks.
I’ve never fasted before. I’ve never really thought of how beneficial that could be until now. How do you suggest I go about it? What kinds of things should I be prepared with/ for and can you give me some advice on things like how long you recommend fasting for?
Hi Shannon, that’s a great question. In the Bible there were were many fasts that were declared and they took place in many different ways. For someone that is starting out I would recommend skipping a meal like for example, lunch time.
Most people will just skip a meal and then go on their merry way thinking that that is all that it takes to fast. However, that’s not true. The first part is to deny our flesh but the second part is to seek the Lord. So during your lunch time, see if you can take time to seek the Lord with all of your heart through prayer and read your Bible. I’m sure you’ll be amazed by the results!
I hope that helps 🙂
Peter, thanks for the insight. I couldn’t have put it better.
Shannon, hope this helps. God bless you.
Love this post Peter. So important in a world where the “noise” is increasing every day! It can drown out God’s voice if we let it. I needed to hear this.
Absolutely right, Kurt. Spot on.
Glad to hear that Kurt, God is so good 🙂
A friend of mine said you are wrong on the bit about the enemy speaks to you through your thoughts, which he can’t do.
Hi Maria
I’m sure Peter will probably respond to you but can I just clarify that the devil is a spirit. I do understand your argument in general but Peter’s statement needs to be taken into proper context.
When you’re trying to figure out God’s will, the devil knows too. And Peter is saying that at that point, beware of the voices (suggestions, etc) you receive. He rightly said everything must stack up to the bible. We understand through scriptures that the devil moved the likes of David to number the people, Peter (not this one) to attempt to withstand Christ’s journey to the cross, hence Jesus rebuked Satan.
Bear in mid that the unregenerate mind is corrupt and controlled by the devil. I understand the point that he’s not all knowing but Peter’s point is spot on from the context in which I’ve explained (finding out God’s purpose and will on specific issues)
Hope this helps.
And of course, don’t forget the devil spoke to Jesus, tempting Him in Matthew 4.
Yes, that’s right Joseph. Also Maria I’d like to point out Ephesians 6:16 which is one of the verses that has to do with putting on the armor of God. It says, “…Above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one:” Those very darts are often interpreted as all of the evil schemes of the enemy which could include evil thoughts.
What we do reject is that a Christian can not be possessed by Satan or by any of his demons and with that I’m sure you do agree. I’m not sure if your friend was talking about possession or about fiery darts that can come from the enemy.
Hi Peter,thank you for you insight of the bible, and thank you Joseph for this blog, please how can one know the will of God concerning a specific assignment or issues
Nwabueze, good to see you join the conversation. I think Peter did a great job providing the answers to your question in his post. If you follow these steps, you can’t go wrong. God bless you!
Great post Peter, words of wisdom to live by! #5 is definitely one I need to work on. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks Greg, that’s the same one also that I need a lot of help with 🙂
Great thoughts Peter.
I especially like #5. When we strip ourselves of comforts/conveniences, we find clarity that cannot be found any other way.
Ngina,
I like the way you summed it up: clarity of life through inconvenience that can’t be found any other way.
Thanks for sharing.
Thank you Ngina, in my opinion you picked the most difficult one to be your favorite 🙂 Don’t you think it’s always a struggle for us to deny our flesh in order to seek the Lord? it’s true but as you and I both know, there is power in doing so. Blessings to you dear Ngina 🙂
oh it is not easy! :). Personally, I cannot fast without His strength. He is my help – helping me train my body, keep focus and find new levels in Him.
It’s a great privilege to have you here, Peter! You share so graciously and I couldn’t agree more. God desperately wants to reveal His will to us, we just need to listen up and obey His will. I pray many find this post both practically useful and spiritually enlightening. God bless you for being awesome!
Thank you so much Joseph, the privilege is all mine dear friend 🙂 I myself struggled with God’s will for years and I know that many of our brothers and sisters also have the same struggle. So I hope that this blog post will be a shortcut for them.