Many people wonder what God's will for them is. It can be a puzzling question that we wrestle with for most of our lives. Especially if you are in university, in the middle of a career change, or deciding where you should move, it can be a daunting question that brings a lot of anxiety and worry. No one wants to miss God's will. Everyone wants to know God's will for their lives. It's normal, and it's human.

But sometimes it's not the case that we're not hearing the right answer, but we're not asking the right questions. So in this article, let me lay out of few ways to frame that question in a way that might get some answers about how to know God's will for your life.

Knowing God's Will #1 - It is God's will for you to be saved

The Bible says that God wills for all men to be saved. That's His heart and that's His will for all mankind. If you've not believed in Jesus to save you from sin and eternal damnation, you're out of the will of God. You can become very successful, wealthy, healthy, and help a lot of people, but if you're not saved, you are not in the will of God. It's that simple.

Knowing God's Will #2 - It is God's will that you live in holiness

Making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit (Ephesians 5:16-18).  Knowing God's will definitely involves us knowing that God wants us to be holy.

Secondly, if you're a believer but not walking in holiness in this world, you are not in the will of God. It is the will of God, according to Ephesians 5, that you live clean and filled with the Holy Spirit.  Knowing God's will means that we are walking in holiness.

Romans 12:1-2 - "Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God - this is your spiritual act of worship. 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." According to this verse, knowing God's will involves knowing that his good, please and perfect will comes by us being transformed by the renewing of our minds.

Again, if you're successful, doing the right things, helping a lot of people, but not walking in holiness, you are not in the will of God. You will never be sure in knowing God's will for your life if you're deliberately walking in rebellion. It's much more important to God that you walk in holiness than for you to know where you're supposed to go to university, or know what job to take, or know where you should live.

Knowing God's Will #3 - It is God's will that you live your passion

What are you passionate about? There are an infinite number of things in this life that you could potentially be passionate about. Missions, discipleship, providing clean water for the developing world, alleviating poverty, church planting, preaching, worship, etc. The list goes on. Why are you passionate about the particular things you are passionate about? The reason is because God put them there! It's not by chance or random encounters that we are passionate about what we are passionate about. It's by God's divine providence. If you're passionate about something, odds are it's part of God's will for your life. If you want to start the process of knowing God's will for your life, begin to write down all the things that you're passionate about. I bet you'll be surprised at how the puzzle of your passions might fit together to reveal the bigger picture of God's will for your life.

I am very passionate about missions and fulfilling the Great Commission. I'm also very passionate about church planting because I believe the world will be changed primarily through the local church. I'm not quite sure yet what role I will play in these areas, but I know that whatever my roles are and will be, that I want whatever I do to impact these areas of passion. Because I have this passion, I can be confident in my knowing God's will for my life is to be a part of these things.

It's okay to not know exactly what you will do, but in order to find that out, you have to have a passion about something. Also, your roles will probably change over time.

For example, I'm very passionate about the local church. Because of my passion, I was willing to do whatever was needed at my church. If they needed ushers, I ushered. If they need a youth worker, I joined the youth worker team. Over the last 20 years, I've done everything from vacuuming in the carpet to preaching on Sunday morning. My roles change all the time, but my passion remains the same, and it becomes a guiding compass for knowing God's will in my life.

Knowing God's Will #4 - It is God's will that you live your personality and your talents

If God made you into a circle, He doesn't want to cram you into a square hole. He created you uniquely and with a specific purpose. Each one has been created uniquely and our particular design points us to God's will in our lives. Knowing God's will for your life will include you knowing you God has made you.  For example, I'm a fairly gifted musician, I have a pastoral personality and I love worship (passion). It naturally led me to become a worship leader. I did not hear a voice saying that I should become a worship leader. All those components of how I am led me to become a worship leader. Me knowing God's will includes, partly anyways, is to serve the body of Christ with the musical abilities He's given me.

Another example is that I've always felt called to church plant. It was just something that was in my heart to do. I always figured that I'd be on some church planting team as a worship leader and just to help the lead planter. Well, recently, I discovered that I have a 'D' personality on the DISC personality profile and that D's are well-suited to become lead planters. Not only that, but I also have a passion to preach as well as enough of an administrative ability to get a church or ministry started.  One of my discoveries in knowing God's will has been to find that I might be good at planting churches.

If you don't know your personality or your gift mix, here are a few websites to help you find your strengths, gifts and personality.  Taking these inventories will help you in knowing God's will for your life in how He's made you.

DISC Insights - DISC Personality Profile

Mintools.com - Spiritual Gifts Inventory

Myers Briggs - Personality Test

Knowing God's Will #5 - It is God's will that you know God's will

Are you worried that you're missing God's will or you'll never figure it out? Don't worry! If your heart is to do God's will, He wants to show it to you more badly than you want to be shown. God doesn't want us to walk around not knowing His will or not knowing our purpose in life. In John 13, Jesus told His disciples that a servant does not know what his master is doing, but friends do. Jesus continued saying they were His friends. Knowing God's will was a part of something Jesus wanted his friends to take part in.  When we become believers, we become friends of God. And just like Jesus and the Disciples, we are God's friends who He was to reveal His will for us. He wants us knowing God's will for our lives.  God's heart is that we know His will. He wants us to know His will for our lives more than we do.

God planned your days and your destiny before the foundation of the world. He knew you, called you and had a great plan for you to walk in the good works that He prepared for you long before you were born (Ephesians 2). So don't fret. God's will is stronger than any other will out there, including yours, including your parents' and including the devil's.  Knowing God's will includes knowing that God's will is for you to know what some of that is.

Knowing God's Will #6 - It is God's will that you surrender your life

God wants complete control of your life. Question: why do you want to know the will of God if you're not willing to submit to it? Another questions is, why would God want to reveal His will to you if you're not already decided that you will submit to it?

When we come to ask God what His will for our lives is, we need to come willing and ready to accept it whatever it is. Many times, we want to know the will of God to see if it's something we want to do. I guarantee you, if you surrender your entire life to Him, He will reveal His will to you. Again, why would God reveal His will knowing that you're veiwing it as an option rather than a commandment? He wouldn't.

God has revealed much of His will to me in my life. He has shown me near term, mid term, long term what He has planned for me. Sometimes it's a bit sobering to have your entire life laid out before you. But I believe one of the reasons God has shown me is because He sees my heart and that I will, by His grace, do my best to accept whatever His will is.

If God were to say that His will was to send you to an Islamic nation to preach the Gospel, what would you say? If you would automatically say 'no' and not bend to that will, you're probably not in a place for God to reveal your future to you. In fact, you wouldn't want Him to because often times He'll reveal a will that will take us on the same road as Jesus, to carry a cross and to lay our lives down.

God's will is not just about where to go next or what the next step is. It's infinitely more weighty than that. It has to do with your eternal destiny and your heart. If you're seeking God's will for your life, ask yourself, are you saved, are you walking in holiness, and are you completely surrendered to him? If you say 'yes' to all those things, God will be reveal His will to you, because He wants you to know God's will more than you do.

Knowing God's Will #7 - Revelation

Although there is a direction we can point ourselves through the natural things in life like desire, personality and talents, but the ultimate in knowing God's will will come through revelation. Truth is not discovered, it is revealed. So ask God to reveal His will. It's something that only He can do and He loves us to confess our helplessness and His great ability. Don't be afraid to seek Him for a revelation. Below is a music video by Third Day that I believe really hits the heart of knowing God's will and the fact that we can go to Him for this and He will honor our hearts. The Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity, and one of His functions is to give us revelation in knowing God's will. The Holy Spirit is very interested in us knowing God's will. The Holy Spirit will help us in our quest in knowing God's will if we make ourselves available to Him. Knowing God's will sometimes comes only by revelation. Sometimes knowing God's will won't just come by us figuring it out or by using our own wisdom. Sometimes, knowing God's will will only come by the revelation of the Holy Spirit.

Knowing God's Will #8 - Prophetic Word

This might be more unfamiliar to my Evangelical readers and more familiar to my Charismatic ones. One of the most exciting ways to know God's will is through a prophetic word, especially one that comes from someone who doesn't know you. I've seen it happen many times. Someone, or I, get a prophetic word that either confirms a desire, something I already knew I was called to, or reveals something brand new that rings true in my heart. Getting a prophetic word can bring tons of encouragement and provide much needed direction for knowing God's will for you life.

Prophetic words were vital for knowing God's will for the people in the Bible. I don't even have to mention the innumerable times a prophetic word was given in the Old Testament to reveal God's will. There were many, many instances of the prophetic word helping people in knowing God's will. Of course, Jesus had tons of prophetic words that revealed God's will, but so did most of the Apostles and there were even prophets in the New Testament church. A man named Agabus gave a prophetic word to the church to prepare them for a widespread, coming famine.

You still have to judge or evaluate the prophetic word with leaders in your church. Just because someone gives you a prophetic word does not mean it's from God. The Bible says that 2 or 3 other's should listen while one is prophesying to judge if the word is from God. In theory, this might seem difficult to do, but when it actually happens in real life, it's pretty clear cut in knowing if it was from God or not.

Knowing God's Will #9 - Waiting On God

You will never FULLY know God's will for your life. You most probably will know at least some portion of God's will for your life. God will absolutely reveal His will for you according to His own wisdom. But sometimes, even if we know God's will, we'll have to wait on God to fulfill those promises. Just because you know God's will does not mean it's now up to you to make it happen. God's will cannot be thwarted by anyone. If it His will, it will occur so don't fret. Read Psalm 119, there David repeatedly says he waits on God's word. David was waiting to hear God and was intent on knowing God's will for his life. He was willing to wait on God's word to come so that he would be confident in knowing God's will.

In Judges 6:37, Gideon wasn't sure God was going to be with him in battle and so he asked God to do a miracle.  He laid out a fleece on the ground and asked God to make the fleece wet and the ground around it dry the next morning to show that God was with him.  God granted his request and the next morning, indeed, the fleece was wet and the ground was dry.  Then Gideon asked again, except this time, he asked that God would make the fleece dry and the ground wet.  The next morning, indeed, that is what he found.  Gideon wanted to know God's will.  It was life and death for hundreds of people and for himself.

Although what we call 'fleecing' God is not an ideal way to ask God what His will is, it has been done in the Bible by Gideon and by others.  Thomas doubted that Jesus was resurrected from the dead, so he asked to see Jesus' scars on his hands and side.  Jesus granted Thomas' request and then rebuked him for his lack of faith.

There was a system of casting lots in the Bible as well.  You see it all the way up to Acts where the 11 remaining Apostles set out to appoint another Apostle to replace Judas according to scripture.  Many Bible scholars say correcting that this was the last time in Biblical history that we see this take place although it was commonly used in the Old Testament.  Many scholars believe casting lots stopped as a tool to know God's will because the Holy Spirit had come to direct and guide people and now it was the Holy Spirit who would reveal God's will to people.  Christians don't really use casting lots anymore, but we do still 'fleece' God which is a form of casting lots I suppose.

Either way, the Bible doesn't say we can't fleece God, although it doesn't encourage it.  God is gracious.

I remember when I was 14 years old and I was wrestling with surrendering all control of my life to Jesus. It was a difficult decision. I struggled with it for almost a year. And I remember one time as I was praying, I said these very words, "Lord, I'm afraid that if I surrender my life to you, that you will ask me to do something crazy like become a missionary to Africa." Well, I ended up surrendering my life to God, and what happened next? Well, He didn't immediately command me to go to Africa. But in fact, 10 years later, I was on the floor of my apartment, with a heavy burden for Africa, and I remember begging God to let me go to Africa. I remember being so afraid that God wouldn't let me go, that I couldn't share my heart about Africa with anyone. 5 years later, I stepped on the land of Africa. After a long journey of surrendering my life, I was beginning my journey into Africa, a place I once feared, but now I long for.

I believe if you surrender your life to Him, God will not only reveal His will for your life to you, but He will make it happen! Trust God. He's good, and has a great plan for your life!

Also, check out some of the other articles that I've written:

How To Find God's Will In Christian Dating And Marriage

Hope For HIV/AIDS Patients

If We're Saved By Grace, What's the Point of Works?