Three Keys to Knowing God’s Will

Knowing God’s will is a big topic.

Books have been written, sermons preached, and prayers prayed to help us know His will about our lives, circumstances, or nation.

As believers, it’s helpful to remember that knowing God’s will is never separate from knowing Him. Truth is a person, the Man Christ Jesus (John 14:6), and He has a plan for your life.

Here are three key truths to help you discern God’s will for your life.

1. Ask God to reveal His plan for you, then thank Him for it.

Before God created you, He had a plan for your life.

Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed.
And in Your book they all were written,
The days fashioned for me,
When as yet there were none of them. (Psalm 139:16)

The Lord had already written a book all about David before forming him in the womb. This means God had a will and a plan for making him.

And the Lord was faithful to accomplish that plan, even though David stumbled many times. Only unbelief and unrepentance could have kept David from his destiny.

For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep, and was laid among his fathers. (Acts 13:36, NASB)

David’s life wasn’t random—and neither is ours.

In Ephesians 2:10, Paul says that, “we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”

The Lord had a plan before He made you. He had a plan before He saved you. He has prepared good works for you to do—to go and to bear fruit that will remain (John 15:16).

Simply believing this, thanking God for it, and asking Him to reveal it will increase our faith. Putting God above our circumstances—affirming that He has a plan and will for us, regardless of how things look at the moment—is a powerful tool in seeking His will.

2. Focus on Jesus, not the Devil.

Jesus has this to say about Satan:

The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. (John 10:10)

Jesus did say we’d endure tribulation in this world, but promised perfect peace and comfort to those that abide in Him (John 16:33, Isaiah 26:3). In addition, David anticipated that “the Lord’s presence brings fullness of joy, and at His right hand are pleasures forevermore” (Psalm 16:11).

If we are experiencing theft, destruction, or death, we can ask Jesus to give us the abundance of life He promises. We will face many trials, but they aren’t to be our dwelling place. The Lord may highlight things that are causing the trial, give us peace to endure, and even help us find joy in the midst of them (James 1:2–8).

Our God loves to make rivers in the desert and call the things that are not as though they were (Isaiah 41:18; Romans 4:17). Hold on to these promises and speak them back to God in faith.

In seeking Jesus, we will overcome as He overcame (Revelation 3:21). This is His will for us regardless of the circumstances we’re facing.

3. See yourself in the greater story.

Start to finish, Scripture tells an amazing story: God creates the world. Creation falls when man rebels against Him. The Lord sends His Son to suffer and die, taking our punishment. Now salvation is spreading around the world until Jesus returns to reclaim the earth.

Our story is caught up in God’s story. He has a redemption plan, and we’re all part of it.

In following Christ, we may suffer, as He did, but our suffering won’t be in vain.

For instance, when persecution arose against the early church as described in Acts 8, it actually propelled them to share the Gospel outside of Jerusalem—doing what Jesus had commanded them before He returned to heaven (Acts 1:8).

The Lord is always working to accomplish His will—the spread of the Gospel to all nations, the purification of His Church, and the glorious return of His Son.

Each of our stories fits somewhere in that. We can ask God for revelation about what He’s doing in this season and how we can partner with Him. Knowing the greater context will give us hope, and confidence, even when things are hard.

And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose . . . to be conformed to the image of His Son. (Romans 8:28–29)

Conclusion

God’s will isn’t nebulous or impossible to know. Jesus has promised to be with us always, even to the end of the age (when things will be the most difficult), and He will comfort and guide us by the Holy Spirit (John 14:16, KJV).

As we press into Him, thanking Him for His plan and seeking our part in the greater story, we’ll experience peace, hope and joy—even the peace that passes understanding (Philippians 4:6–7). That’s God’s will for us.