Do you want to know God’s will in decision making? How do you know if it’s God’s will? How do we hear God when making a decision? Do you pray when making a decision? Does God help us make decisions?
These are the most frequently asked questions that Christian group leaders face, especially those involved in youth work.
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It is important to know God’s will. Jesus said that His true relatives are people who know and do the will of the Father: “For whoever does God’s will is my brother and my sister and my mother.” (Mark 3:35)
In the parable of the two sons, Jesus rebukes the high priest and the elders for failing to do the will of the Father; they “did not repent and believed” (Matthew 21:32). In essence, it is God’s will that we repent of our sin and trust Christ.
Below are the steps to discerning God’s will base on God’s will in Decision Making and how to know the true heart of God towards our life and future.
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Table of Contents
Is the decision compatible with the Bible?
For you to know the prayers to help make the right decision, Making tough decisions with God’s help, and getting connected to God’s guidance in decision making can be easily done via his word.
I firmly believe that God reveals himself to us, humans, through the Bible. Or to put it another way: What God has to tell us, humans, he does through the Bible.
Therefore it cannot be any other than that a decision which should be according to the will of God should be “compatible” with the Bible – otherwise God would contradict himself. Of course, I’m not saying that I’ll open the Bible at random and then jump to a passage.
What I mean by that is that it is pretty clever to take your time every day to read the Bible and thus to understand God in his greatness at least partially.
In fact, for me, I kept reading passages from the Bible that gave me the impression that God was leading me to a particular decision. So trusting god in making decisions via his word is very important.
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Is it about you or about Jesus?
This question will help you out base how to know gods will for your life there is one more thing I am convinced of: As a Christian, my life is not about me, but rather that Jesus becomes even more important both in my life and in my environment.
It’s not always easy, but always right. And in order to recognize God’s will in Decision Making the simple question is sometimes enough: Is it just about me or is it about Jesus becoming even more important?
Jesus once said – which I find quite provocative and challenging – the following:
Also Related: Memorize Scripture: 15 Hacks That Will Help You.
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Talk to other Christians!
Yes, I like to talk – and I get told that again and again by someone very close to me. BUT: I also really enjoy listening.
Especially when I have the impression that what the other person is telling me can become really important for my life. When I notice that someone here is speaking into my life in a way that will help me.
I find a statement by Dietrich Bonhoeffer pretty apt:
“THE CHRIST IN ONE’S HEART IS WEAKER THAN THE CHRIST IN THE BROTHER’S WORDS (AND I ADD: SISTER); THAT ONE IS UNCERTAIN, THAT ONE IS CERTAIN. “
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See how God confirms it!
Because God loves his children more than anything, he does not abandon them. So listen to the whispers of the Holy Spirit to God’s will in Decision Making. He will speak to you and not just send to you once what you have the impression that it is God’s speaking.
God doesn’t want us to sway back and forth like a flag in the wind but encourages us on the way. So he confirms what he wants to tell you by not doing it just once. It can look very different – depending on which channel you hear God best on.
For some it is the Bible mentioned above, for others it is prayer, others hear God especially when they sing songs to him and worship him, others in books, others in conversations, and others hear him in the greatness of his creation. But please do not believe that God would not express himself.
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You have to decide for yourself!
One of the ways out base How to determine God’s will in Decision Making and in a specific situation is by deciding yourself. If you don’t want your life to pass you by, then you should make a decision at some point.
And then I have to think of a very wise piece of advice that my father once gave me – which he himself only “stole” because Martin Luther actually wrote it in a letter (on August 1, 1521) to Philipp Melanchthon. This reads:
“SIN BRAVELY, BUT BELIEVE BRAVELY!”
That means: No matter what you do: It will always be human and therefore never perfect how you and what you decide.
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Understand the Gift of Choice
Along with a mind to think and reason, God gives us choice and the Holy Spirit when it comes to making decisions in line with His will(God’s will). We see evidence of this all throughout the Bible.
He gave Adam and Eve a choice to eat of all the trees in the Garden of Eden except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 3: 16 – 17 NIV). Ruth had a choice to stay in Moab or go to Judah with Naomi (Ruth 1: 11 – 14 NIV).
David had a choice to either kill Saul or to allow him to live (1 Samuel 24: 6 – 7 NIV). Jesus had a choice to command stones to become bread when he was tested in the wilderness by Satan (Matthew 4: 3 – 4 NIV).
- Have I sought the opinion of wise counselors?
In whatever we face, God has placed people around us who are more experienced than we are in various areas of our lives. We have the privilege of seeking out the advice of these individuals. This may not always be sitting down for hours at Starbucks.
Sometimes people who provide wise counsel may not have a lot of free time to offer. In 2018 wise counsel may also come from a book, podcast, or YouTube video.
This, however, should be in addition to a pastor, mentor, or a wise and trustworthy friend. Proverbs 11: 14 (AMP) says it like this, “Where there is no [wise, intelligent] guidance, the people fall [and go off course like a ship without a helm], But in the abundance of [wise and godly] counselors there is victory.”
8. Don’t listen to fear and guilt
How often do you act based on fear or guilt? Avoiding a conversation, changing your decision, not stepping up. I have done so many things in my life because of fear or guilt. And often, when I face a decision, these two things are at the forefront.
Whether I’m afraid I’m not good enough, or afraid of the unknown, or weighed down and timid because of guilt, I have found myself facing immense guilt and fear when it comes to some major decisions.
I have wrestled with the doubt that the fear I feel is a sign to stop and turn around. But God does not direct us from a place of fear or guilt.
For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline. -2 Timothy 1:7
9. Keep Moving
The greatest way that Satan can work in a time of decision and discernment is to paralyze us with doubt. There are so many crossroads as we grow in our faith and move forward in our lives.
We will face decisions of all different sizes. It may be as small as who to sit with or as big as leaving a job for ministry and everything in between. Decisions and discernment are part of life. And we cannot let that stop us from our true calling.
It is important to seek God’s will in Decision Making. However, do not let the process of discernment keep you from moving forward.
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. -Matthew 28:19
When you face a time of discernment, be sure to ask yourself this: Are you loving others and serving the Lord? So long as you are doing this, you will walk in God’s will. Don’t let Satan paralyze you when you face a decision.
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10. Be Still
God often does not shout above the noise in our lives. When we fill our days with busy schedules, distracted hearts, and occupied minds, we push out any opportunity to listen to God.
I have faced the most loneliness and discontent at the end of a busy day, a busy week, a busy season. It is only when we slow down, that we open our hearts to hear God’s voice.
The Lord said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.” Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind.
After the wind, there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. -1 Kings 19:11-12.
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It’s God’s promise to guide us To Walk In His Ways
We all face difficult and life-changing decisions, which are why I’m so grateful for God’s incredible promise in Psalm 32:8:
“I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you.”
This is one of the Scripture’s most encouraging promises. I regularly pray “Thank you, Father, that you have promised to instruct me and teach me in the way I should go and counsel me with your eye upon me.
Please guide me in this decision I am facing. Show me what to do. Please give me wisdom. Thank, you, Father that you have promised you will.”
Conclusion
So the above words are the steps to discerning God’s will in Decision Making in our life which is very important and essential.
The lord is our Sheppard our father and he is the omnipotent being that knows and sees all things that is known more than us and he is the only one that knows the best for our current life.
The future sometimes will make some plans for or future which might seem good but it ends in sorrow and sadness just as it was said in the book of proverb 14:12 (KJV) that “There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.”
Many believers are guided by circumstances alone. But this is not the God-pleasing way.
