How do you know if your following God's will for you?

Question

After you know what the bible say, you pray about something, you ask for input from your pastor and friends... how do you know for sure?

Answer 1

You can never know for 100% sure: that's where trust in the Holy Spirit comes in.

My experience is that people who are totally sure that what they're doing is God's perfect will, are usually the ones that are farthest from God.

It sounds like you have a good basis: scripture, prayer, input from others: after you've done all that, the next thing is to step out in faith with a clean heart and trusting spirit.

If you actions lead to more love in your life and the lives of other people, then that's a good sign that you are following God's will. If your actions lead to separation, confusion and animosity, then you might have to reassess.

Answer 2

There are two keys for knowing God's will for a given situation (1) Make sure what you are asking for or considering doing is not something the Bible forbids. (2) Make sure what you are asking for or are considering doing will glorify God and help you grow spiritually. If these two things are true and God still is not giving you what you are asking – then it is likely not God’s will for you to have what you are asking for. Or, perhaps you just need to wait a while longer for it. Knowing God’s will is sometimes difficult. People want God to basically tell them what to do – where to work, where to live, who to marry, etc. Romans 12:2 tells us, "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is - His good, pleasing and perfect will."

God rarely gives people that direct and specific of information. God allows us to make choices regarding those things. The only decision God does not want us to make is the decision to sin or resist His will. God wants us to make choices that are in agreement with His will. So, how do you know what God’s will is for you? If you are walking closely with the Lord and truly desiring His will for your life – God will place His desires on your heart. The key is wanting God’s will, not your own. “Delight yourself in the LORD and He will give you the desires of your heart” (Psalm 37:4). If the Bible does not speak against it, and it can genuinely benefit you spiritually - then the Bible gives you the "permission" to make decisions and to follow your heart.

Recommended Resource: Cure for the Common Life: Living in Your Sweet Spot by Max Lucado.

Answer 3

learning about God's will for you is a PROCESS. you don't just magically one day KNOW what His will is and that's it.

and many times what works for somebody else will NOT work for you.

why is that?

because it's about your personal relationship with God.

God is very personal. How He chooses to talk to someone else may not very well work for you or would be something that you would really recognize, i.e. not really your language. God talks to people in different ways, He really does make it personal.

you need to keep searching to find out how God talks to you. and He will do that in numerous ways. but eventually you should be able to begin to see some types of patterns and if you will, "languages" come through - basically, ways that God speaks to you.

for me, sometimes i actually hear Him talk directly to me. sometimes He speaks to me in a dream or even a vision. sometimes it is a scripture. sometimes He talks to me through other people, or through certain circumstances that are not coincidence. sometimes it's just merely silence too - and i don't get a real answer, and so i end up waiting on Him and being comfortable with waiting.

ultimately, you need to learn to hear the voice of God for you. if you rely on merely what others think, you will probably end up on many wrong paths. there were many times in my life where NO ONE thought i was doing the right thing, and i was standing completely alone, except for the LORD. i don't like being in that predicament, it's not very comfortable. but it has happened, and i've had people come back to me and tell them that the LORD talked to them and to say thank you for not listening or giving into them, that i was right on in what i was doing, and hearing the LORD correctly.

suffice it to say, you can't depend on if everyone thinks you're doing the right thing or the wrong thing in any way. ultimately, you have to put the time in over the years to learn the voice of the LORD and how He speaks to you.

the best advice i can give about learning to hear the voice of the LORD is to literally tell Him that is your heart and that is what you want and cry out to Him about it. you know that He will answer you about that! although it may not come in ways you think it should or expect!

hope this helps!

cherieann


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Answer 4

When you have done something out of pure intent, with the motivation of true love, and in complete faith (trusting the outcome no matter what) because you see it is the right and only thing to do, you are in in line with the His will.

Answer 5

I let the Holy Spirit guide me...I know when I'm not following. I can feel the correction in my spirit. I feel a distance between me and God when I don't follow.

Answer 6

god's will is a very cunning excuse created by cunning pastors...
day by day pastors are becoming smarter and smarter to cover the big dumb holes in their dumb book. But those dumb concepts work only with faith full dumb heads who have no common sense or general knowledge.

Answer 7

You know as long as what you are doing what is in concert with what the WORD tells us you're doing good. Pray for discernment to know it is from GOD and not satan.

Answer 8

That's the job of the Holy Spirit.

If what you are being directed to do is in line with Scripture, it IS of God!

If it ISN'T in line with Scripture, it's from satan.

Answer 9

When God wants you to do something, He will tell you through the Holy Spirit that lives in you.

If you don't do what the spirit tells you to do, He will continue to place obstacles in your path until you do it.

You cannot run away from it, just like Jonah. He ran away from what God wanted him to do, and nature took over and Jonah was placed exactly where God wanted him to be.

grace2u

Answer 10

Follow your heart.