3 Practices That Reveal God's Perfect Will

Would you like to know what God's will is for you? I know I do! So why is it often so hard for so many to feel confident about the purpose and will of God? There are many variables, but it's primarily because there are so many different opinions out there. We have the voice of my own feelings, my family's ideas, and the opinions of the culture that we live in every day. So, how do we wade through all of the noise to KNOW the will of God? I'm glad you asked! I've found that the three ways God speaks to us is: His Word, His Spirit, His People.God can speak and does use all three of those areas to reveal his will to us, but for the rest of this article I want to talk about the first and primary, which is His Word – The Bible. King David understood the importance of God's word in knowing God's will when he wrote Psalm 119.

Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path. – Psalm 119:105

There is a great passage in Romans 12 that ends with saying, "Then you will be able to approve what God's will is." If you're like me, you'll want to read the verses before that to figure out what this "secret formula" is for being able to know the will of God. So lets read through Romans 12:1-3 and pull out a few essentials that will help us be able to better know and do God's will.

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform 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. - Romans 12:1-3

1. Submit your life to His Will

When Paul urges us to remember God's mercy, and to respond by submit our lives to him, you get the first key to knowing God's will.

Knowing God's will begins by submitting to God's Way.

We must approach God with thankfulness for what he's done for us and bring our whole lives in submission to His will and purpose. If I don't submit my thoughts and actions to him and for him then I'm less likely to be open to the input and direction of God's word. If you haven't settled in your heart that God's word is the final authority then you'll have a hard time knowing God's will for your life.

2. Don't conform to the World

One of the big challenges with identifying what God wants us to do is that we have intentionally or unintentionally embraced the "pattern" of the world's way of thinking and doing. The desire to "Fit In" is a huge issue that will trip you up. If you want to follow God's way of doing things, then you need to be willing to go against the cultural norms. This can be tough because it's often all we've known. I encourage you to approach God's word with an open heart and mind ready to adjust your life according to what you hear, not adjusting God's word according to what culture tells you.

Become comfortable with questioning the status quo of culture.

3. Be transformed by the Word

I love the wording choice, "be transformed by the renewing of your mind." Here is the reality of learning to know God's will. While you can get some quick input and advice from seasoned followers of Jesus, learning to know what God wants is the ongoing process of transformation. And what is that transformation? It's the daily process of transforming the way I think into the way God thinks. The term "Repent" in the Bible is actually speaking to a change of thinking. The more time I spend allowing God's word to transform me the more I will know what God would want me to do. In the banking industry, when they are training someone to identify counterfeit money, they don't have them spend all day playing with fake money, instead they spend all day handling the real thing. Then when counterfeit money comes into their hands it's obvious. This is true in life, the more time I spend in God's truth, the more obvious the lies of culture become.I'm so thankful that God doesn't leave us in the dark about his will. I'm so thankful that he gave us his word. If you haven't been consistent in reading your bible, begin today by starting a basic bible reading plan through the Bible App and watch how God transforms your life and you'll begin to better identify and follow God's perfect will.