Q.  HOW CAN I KNOW GOD'S WILL FOR MY LIFE?

There are various ways that God uses to communicate His will to His people.  It usually starts with PRAYER! This is when you earnestly seek the will of God for your life and you come before Him and ask Him for guidance.  When you do this, there are various ways He will answer your prayer.  For example, there is that "still small voice" within us - a pulling on the inside that seems to be leading us in a certain direction.  Sometimes this comes to you as simply having a "peace" about something in your heart.  In all your walk with Him, the peace of God is a regulator in your life.  When you walk in His will for your life, you will have peace.  The circumstances may rage around you, but you'll have a peace on the inside.  On the other hand, if you step out of the will of God, the first thing that goes is your peace!  It's a good way to know if you're on track or not. Sometimes God may reveal His will through a dream or a vision, but there should be a peace in your heart that comes with it.  The one thing Satan cannot counterfeit is the peace of God!  In other situations he may use a prophetic word from a man or woman of God, or perhaps wise counsel.  Prov 19:20 says, "Listen to counsel and receive instruction, that you may be wise in your latter days."  However, make sure that person is a Spirit-filled believer and know that God will back up (or confirm) what they're saying by the other means I'm talking about here.  That word or advice that you're given will very often either confirm what you may have already been feeling on the inside, or as soon as you hear it there is something on the inside that says "yes, that's right".  These things really should line up and you should be aware that just because someone says "thus says the Lord", doesn't necessarily mean "thus says the Lord"! 

These two means of God communicating with us also need to line up with a third and very important way - with THE WORD OF GOD.  The more familiar you are with the Scriptures (the Bible) the better.  Psalm 119:105 says, "Your Word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light to my path".  My call to be a preacher came when I was 15 years old through one very simple Scripture.  Paul, speaking to Timothy (a young Pastor) said in 2 Tim 4:2, "Preach the Word..."  As a young man, both in age and in the faith, that Scripture almost jumped off the page at me and took a hold in my heart.  At that moment in time I knew that I was called to preach.  A few years later God showed me I was to do this as a Pastor, but that initial call pretty much set the direction of my life.  At that time I didn't have the knowledge of the Bible that I have now, but God used that one Scripture to show His will to a young man.  If you truly seek to know the will of God for your life, as Him to open His Word to you; ask Him to speak to you through His Word.

Seek God today to know His will for your life.  There is no greater fulfilment and joy in this life as a Christian than to be walking in the destiny God has prepared for you! 

more to follow!