How to Know the Will of God: The Word of God Reveals His Will for Us

The following message from Pastor Greg Laurie is made possible by Harvest Partners, helping people everywhere know God. Hey, I want to hear from you. Would you consider emailing me? You can reach me at gregatharvest.org. Again, that's gregatharvest.org.

And you can also make me one of your friends on Facebook and drop me a comment. How can we know God's will for our life? Here's something that may surprise you. God wants to lead you even more than you want to be led. It is God's desire to disclose His will to you. Today on A New Beginning, Pastor Greg Laurie says God isn't trying to keep His will a big secret. There's no mystery, just misunderstanding. God does not play hide and seek.

He wants to reveal His purposes and plans to you. This is the day when the lost are found. This is the day for a new beginning. Amazing grace, how sweet the sound.

Again, you hear only angels are singing. This is the day, the day when life begins. Some people haven't picked up their Bible in ages, but then they get all excited because God clearly spoke to them through a fortune cookie. Billy Graham made it clear.

He said if you were ignorant of God's Word, you will always be ignorant of God's will. And today on A New Beginning, Pastor Greg Laurie helps us dive into God's Word to investigate how we can determine God's plan for our lives. We will clear away the clouds of mystery and come away with good biblical insight. This is the day, the day when life begins. Well, this is our last message in our series that we have been calling what every growing Christian needs to know.

And I think of all the topics I am asked about, this is probably one of the most popular. One that we all deal with as young Christians and even as older Christians. And that is, how can we know God's will for our life? We wonder, does God still speak to people today? Is He actually interested in what happens to us as individuals? Does the Lord have a master plan for our lives?

And if He does, how do I discover it? How can I learn how to know the voice of God? How can I discover the will of God? Because there are those big questions, especially when you are younger, you are wondering about who you are going to marry.

Who is the right person? You wonder about what should my career choice be? Or how can I serve the Lord?

Or what should I order at In-N-Out? No, that is not one. But I am talking about the serious things of life.

Well, here is the answer. Yes, God has a master plan for your life. Yes, God speaks to us today. Yes, the Lord wants to reveal His will to you. Because we as Christians are not victims of chance, hoping that our luck will be good or not run out. God has a plan for each of us.

Here is something that may surprise you. God wants to lead you even more than you want to be led. It is God's desire to disclose His will to you.

Here is the good news. God does not play hide and seek. He is not hiding from you. He wants to reveal Himself to you.

He wants to reveal His purposes and plans to you. In fact, God said to Abraham, Shall I hide from Abraham the thing that I am about to do? Now this is an interesting thing because Abraham is uniquely described in the Scripture as the friend of God. And did you know that God wants to be your friend too? Oh yes, He is our master. Certainly He is our Savior. But He actually wants to be our friend.

Jesus said in John 15, I no longer call you servants for a servant doesn't know what his master is doing. But I have called you friends for everything I have heard from My Father I have made known to you. Friends share secrets with friends.

Right? When something good happens what do you want to do? You want to tell your friends. Hopefully your best friend is your husband or wife. But when something good happens I want to call my wife.

Or if I am grappling with an issue I want to talk to her. But maybe I will shoot off a text or a group text. I hate it when I get stuck in these group texts.

And we have moved long beyond the original issue. And now people are saying random things and sending emojis. And your phone is ding, ding, ding. You know stop. Let me out of this group text. But you know you can disclose information to a friend. A friend will keep your confidence.

If you say look this is an area of my life I am struggling with. I am asking you to keep this a secret. A friend won't go out there and post it on their Facebook page. They are not going to tweet it out.

They are not going to shout it from the rooftop. They are going to keep your confidence. And you know what else? A friend will tell you the truth. And God is our friend. God will always tell us the truth. God will always keep our secrets. And God wants to reveal His secrets to us. In fact Psalm 25 14 says, The secret of the Lord is with those that fear Him.

But here is the problem. Some of us are afraid of God's will. Because we have a warped concept of God. We think God is effectively out to get us.

He is out to ruin our lives. I heard a story and I have shared this before about a robber that broke into a house. It was very dark. And as he was making his way through he heard a voice suddenly pierce the darkness. And the voice said, Jesus is watching you. Freaked him out.

Who said that? He is shaking. He is trying to get his flashlight on. Again the voice says, Jesus is watching you.

Who is saying this to me? And he finally gets his flashlight turned on. And for the third time the voice says, Jesus is watching you. And he realizes it is a parrot. The parrot said, Jesus is watching you.

And the guy, oh man I am so relieved. And he took his flashlight and went down to the base of the parrot's perch and saw a Doberman showing his teeth. And then the parrot said, sicken Jesus. First of all don't ever name your dog Jesus ok. But that is how some people see God.

Sicken Jesus. Oh you are having fun. God is going to wreck it.

You are having a good day. God is going to ruin it. Oh you want God's will. No. No. That is not what you want at all.

We are afraid to surrender ourselves to the Lord. We sort of think of it like going on a diet. You know it is just going to be misery. It is going to be wheat germ and tofu and kale. When did kale become. What is the deal with kale? All of a sudden everywhere I go it is kale. You know kale burgers. Kale smoothies. Kale everything. Cars made out of kale. You know. They are Priuses of course.

But it just somehow fits. Only a Prius would be kale. But you know for me I am always attracted to the wrong foods. I mean like when I am in the south what do I want? I want a fried chicken. I want a biscuit. I want grits. You know.

Oh let's have a salad. Why? But some people see God that way oh it is just restrictive and it is miserable. Well there are restrictions. Well let's be honest.

The Bible does tell us to not do certain things but man what God tells us to do in their place is so much better. Listen to this. God's plan for you is good. I know it is a cliché.

I know you have heard it before. But I believe it is absolutely true. God really does love you and He really does have a wonderful plan for your life. It is biblical. I love Jeremiah 29 and 11. I am often asked what my favorite verse in the Bible is and I often write this one down because it is right there in the top ten for sure. And I have completely forgotten it. But if I could remember it I would have loved it.

No. No Jeremiah 29 and 11 God says, I know the thoughts that I think towards you says the Lord. Thoughts of peace and not of evil.

To give you a future and a hope. I just love that. Because I love the fact that God says, I know the thoughts that I think towards you. He doesn't say, I know the single thought I once thought about you. But even if He said that I would be happy. Do you think that the Creator of the universe actually had a passing thought about me?

But God says more than that. He doesn't say, I know the single thought I thought towards you. He says, I know the thought, plural more than one, that I think towards you says the Lord. But then we think yeah but what if they are bad thoughts?

Well no they are not bad thoughts. He says the thoughts of peace and not of evil. To give you a future and a hope.

Or a better translation would be an expected end. So yes God has a plan. God has a purpose. Listen to this. God is a planner not a reactor.

Let me say that again. God is a planner not a reactor. God is not like watching something happen. What is going on?

No. He is in charge. He is in control as we often say.

He is sovereign. Ok now having said those things let me say something else that may surprise you. The will of God is not always easy to discern. And anyone that tells you they always know the will of God and every morning God speaks to them audibly, they are either lying or they are crazy.

Alright. Because we have no biblical precedent for that. Not that God didn't speak to people in the Bible. But it is really rare that someone has an ongoing understanding of God's will in every given situation. You will see the greatest men and women of God not know His will at times and at other times.

They do know it. And so it comes down to a journey of faith really. A lot of times I find myself in the will of God by simply doing this. Reading the Scripture. Praying that God will guide my steps and making decisions based on what the Bible teaches.

You know just thinking well what does the Bible say. Ok well that is what I am going to do. That is the decision I will make here. And I don't always know in certain situations what to do. But you pray for His wisdom and then you take those steps of faith.

Not feeling. Steps of faith. The Bible says that just will live by faith. Listen to this. God's way becomes plain when we start walking in it.

Let me repeat that again. God's way becomes plain when we start walking in it. God's will is not an itinerary as much as it is an attitude. And so we want to ask Him to guide our steps. Now maybe some of you are listening to this thinking well I don't know that I have really ever heard from God. And if I have it was a long time ago it seems like I pray for wisdom and there is sort of an icy silence from heaven. Let me respond to that with this thought.

Maybe one thing God is waiting for before He reveals His specific plans to you is that you would act on what He has already revealed in Scripture. Pastor Greg Laurie will have the second half of his message in just a moment. We send these daily studies out via radio satellite and over the internet.

And we don't always know how these messages are touching lives. But when we hear the stories of our listeners it really is encouraging to us. Hi Pastor Greg.

You share the same birthday as my dad. Thank you for the online videos of your sermons. I was a prodigal child and I stumbled across your videos and decided to recommit my life to the Lord.

I've never felt better. You have brought me back in my faith and now I want to live right and serve the Lord. One of your videos about prayer helped me learn how to pray. I hope one day when this pandemic is over that I can visit your church in person.

Thank you. Do you have a story to tell of how Pastor Greg's teaching has impacted you? If so, why not email him at gregatharvest.org. Again, that's gregatharvest.org. Well today Pastor Greg is helping us learn how to find the will of God for our lives. It's a message called How to Know the Will of God, available at harvest.org. Let's continue. Did you know that there are certain things the Bible tells us that are the will of God for every Christian?

I don't care who you are, how old you are, if you're a guy, if you're a girl, if you're rich, if you're poor, where you live. It doesn't matter. These things are true for every Christian. And I think we should start with the things that are clearly revealed before we start thinking that God isn't speaking to us enough about the things that are not yet revealed. Listen to this. Obedience to revealed truth guarantees guidance in matters unrevealed.

Let me say that again. Obedience to revealed truth, that which is given to us in the Bible, guarantees, it guarantees that there will be guidance in matters unrevealed. So let me just share three really quick things out of the will of God for every person. By the way, there's a lot more in the Bible.

But here's just three. So if you're taking notes you might write this down. Point number one, this is God's will for every one of us. God wants you to be filled with and controlled by the Holy Spirit. God wants you to be filled with and controlled by the Holy Spirit.

You might say, well Greg, how do you know that? Because the Bible tells me in Ephesians 5, don't be foolish, but understand what God's will is. And what is God's will? That I not get drunk with wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead be filled with the Spirit. Speak one to another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs.

Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything. So God wants me to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Did you know you can be filled with the Spirit and have a great emotional experience?

Has that ever happened to you? Well you said, Lord filled me and He just sensed His presence. But did you know also that you can be filled with the Spirit and have no emotional experience at all? So we don't want to sort of determine if we were filled or not filled based on if we felt something.

No. It is just really something I should do every day and just say, Lord fill me with the Holy Spirit. Because maybe we don't even understand what it means to be filled with the Holy Spirit.

Look. Every person when they become a Christian has the Holy Spirit live inside of them. Because the Bible says that we are sealed by the Holy Spirit. He lives in every believer. Then He empowers us for service as we are baptized by the Holy Spirit.

And He gives us the gifts of the Spirit. But having said that I still need refills. It would be like buying a car and saying, oh man this piece of junk stopped running after two weeks. What do you mean? It just stopped running. It won't start. Did you put some gas in it?

What? I thought it was electric. I have been plugging a thing into it.

Yeah. No it is not electric. You need to put gas in your car. You need to fill your gas tank and then when you use that gas you need to refill your gas tank.

And what is true for a car is also true for a Christian. I need to be filled a lot. And in the Greek by the way that is a term that means to be constantly filled.

So it is not a one time event. I am constantly filled and it is also a command. So God is not suggesting I be filled. He is saying I command you to be filled with the Spirit.

There are a couple of ways this word is played out in Scripture. One use of the phrase filled conveys the idea of wind filling a sail. So maybe you are out there in the harbor and you are cruising around and you are waiting for a gust of wind because you are in a sailboat. You need wind to fill your sail. And then another use of the word is the idea of salt permeating meat.

The way that they would preserve their meat in the old days 2,000 years ago before they had refrigeration is they would rub salt in the meat and it would last for a prolonged period of time. And so God wants the Holy Spirit to permeate every area of our life and He wants His wind to fill our sails. So you are to be filled with the Spirit.

Here is another thing that is the will of God for every Christian. Have an attitude of gratitude. Every Christian should have an attitude of gratitude. 1 Thessalonians 5 18 says, In everything give thanks for this is the will of God in Jesus Christ concerning you. So God wants me to be filled with the Spirit and He wants me to have an attitude of gratitude. So you might say, well Greg I am going through a hard time right now.

You don't know what I am facing. Yeah but God didn't say give glory to Him when things are going well. He said in everything give thanks. He didn't say in some things give thanks. In everything give thanks for this is the will of God in Jesus Christ concerning you.

Let me explain that. It doesn't mean that I necessarily have to thank Him a bad thing happened. But even if a bad thing happens I can thank Him that He is still in control. I can thank Him that He is paying attention.

Coming back to Jeremiah 29 11. I can thank Him that He has thoughts toward me. And His thoughts are good.

And they are not evil. And they are thoughts that will lead to an expected end. God has a plan and He has a purpose and He is moving toward completion in my life. And so I should have an attitude of gratitude. Recognizing God is in control.

And you know I think we need to understand that there is nothing wrong with asking for direction in life. I think maybe one of the reasons the Israelites took so long to get through the wilderness, 40 years, is because men were in charge. And men don't like to stop and ask for directions.

Right? Do you know it takes about 40 days to get from Egypt to Israel on foot? And it took them 40 years.

That is because they were going around and around in circles. And they weren't asking for direction. And so God wants to give you direction. And James 1 says if you need wisdom, if you want to know what God wants you to do, ask Him and He will gladly tell you. So it is a good thing to pray for wisdom.

Here is the third point. Live a pure life. God wants you to live a pure life. So before we get to God's will for you as an individual, let me ask you. Have you been asking Him to fill you with the Holy Spirit?

Have you been living with an attitude of gratitude? And have you been living a pure life? You say, well how do you know that is God's will? Because 1 Thessalonians 4, 3 says, This is the will of God, even your sanctification, that you abstain from sexual immorality. Now the word sanctification means holiness or consecration or dedication to God. This is the will of God that you would be set apart for Him. And that you would abstain from sexual immorality. What does that mean?

Let me just break it down. If you are single, it means you don't have sex before marriage. And if you are married, it means that you are faithful to your spouse. Now you say, well I don't know. Great, because the Lord has been really speaking to me in a different way about that. I have had people say the craziest things.

Maybe a couple, you know they are not married yet and they are sleeping together. But yeah, but the Bible says you shouldn't do it. No, the Lord spoke to our hearts and said, My children, I am cool with this. No, He didn't say that.

You made that up in your head. Either the devil said it to you or you said it to yourself. But I guarantee God didn't say it to you because God will never lead you contrary to His Word.

So let's just start with the no brainers that we have identified and do those things. Do what God tells you to do. In Psalm 143 verse 10 David says, Lord teach me to do Your will. He didn't say, Lord teach me to like Your will. He didn't even say, teach me to understand Your will. He said, teach me to do Your will.

I will be honest with you. I don't always understand God's will. I don't always even agree with God's will. But I know it is right. And I know if I disagree that I am wrong and I need God's help to do His will. Teach me to do Your will. You say, well Greg did you just say you don't always agree with God's will?

Yeah. There are things that have happened in my life and I have said, God I don't agree with this. I don't like this at all. You say, well that is not very spiritual. It is just honest. Okay.

But listen to this. Did not our Lord struggle with the will of the Father? In the Garden of Gethsemane when He said, Father if there is any way possible let this cup pass from Me. He was under such pressure. Dr. Luke tells us, He sweat as it were great drops of blood. Some medical experts think that Dr. Luke, a physician, the author of that gospel, may have been describing what is now known as Hematridrosis. It is a rare medical condition when a patient is under extreme stress they will actually have bits of blood in their perspiration.

And so some doctors have thought maybe Luke was describing this. Well whatever it was he was under intense pressure. But what did he say?

If there is any way possible let this cup pass from me. But ultimately he said, nevertheless not my will with Your speed God. So that is what we need to do. We need to say, all right Lord I want Your will. Pastor Greg Laurie with some important thoughts today on knowing the will of God. And there is more to come from this message here on A New Beginning.

Now you can go online for an instant replay of today's study. Just go to harvest.org and look for the title How to Know the Will of God. Or just call us for a CD at 1-800-821-3300.

That's 1-800-821-3300. And then we are excited to make available Pastor Greg's book on the Jesus movement. The spiritual awakening of the 60's and 70's. The book is called Jesus Revolution. And you know Pastor Greg recently I've been more interested in the great awakening of the early 18th century. I recently learned that my relatives came to America about that time.

So it's really piqued my interest. But that revival was one of four that have swept this country. Isn't that right?

Yeah that's right. Most historians agree there have been four great spiritual awakenings in the history of the United States. The first preceded our formation as a nation. It happened in the colonies. Pre-American revolution George Whitfield an evangelist from Great Britain came and preached on our shores. And brought the gospel of thousands of people. And many many people believed and it was a spiritual awakening. And then America was formed in the aftermath of it. So you could say that America was born from a revival. If we did not have that spiritual awakening I seriously question if there could have been an America. Okay so now you've mentioned the second revival.

And I've heard that President Lincoln when he was a younger man made a commitment to follow Christ during that great awakening. Then of course you fast forward to the Fulton Street revival the New York City revival. Where a man named Jeremiah Lamphere decided to start a prayer meeting. It wasn't very well attended. Then the stock market crashed. And then it was very well attended. And theaters and Broadway were packed to the gills. Churches were packed. People were gathering every lunch time in New York City and praying. And thousands of people came to Christ.

And then the last great awakening was the one that I've written a book about. It was called the Jesus revolution. The Jesus movement.

You know it's a funny thing Dave. In the day we called it the Jesus movement. But Time magazine dubbed it Jesus revolution.

And I think that's interesting because you know you hear a lot of talk these days about revolution. Our nation was born from a revolution. But this was a spiritual revolution. And I actually like the fact that it was called a Jesus revolution.

Because that's what it was. Not even a Christianity revolution or a religious revolution. It was a Jesus revolution. It was about Jesus. People were talking about Jesus. People were coming to Jesus. And that is where our focus needs to be. We need another spiritual awakening. We need another Jesus revolution. So in my book on this topic I tell my story.

There's a lot of historical backdrop given so you can understand what the culture was like. And I think as you read it you're going to say wow that parallels the times that we're living in right now. Riots in the street. Social upheaval. Racial division and more.

Yes it was all happening. But God stepped in. Thousands and thousands of young people came to Christ. I might also add the Jesus revolution.

And this is not common to every revival. But the Jesus revolution was a youth awakening. It specifically started with younger people. Other folks were impacted as well of all ages. But it was primarily young people coming to Christ.

And we look at our youth today. Oh how they need a relationship with Jesus Christ. How they need a touch of the Holy Spirit.

How they need their own Jesus revolution. So I'm hoping that you'll order a copy of this book that I'll send to you at no charge. All I ask in return is that you send your gift of any size that will help us to continue to teach the word of God as we do. And preach the gospel and call more people to Christ. By the way last year was our most spiritually fruitful year in the history of Harvest Ministries. Let's pray that 2021 is our greatest year ever. And that's going to happen if we all work together and pray together. And it will happen if you will help us financially as well I'm sure.

So in advance let me say thank you. And I'll look forward to sending you your own copy of the Jesus revolution. Yeah that's right we have a copy waiting for you here at A New Beginning. So we hope you'll contact us today. We'll be glad to drop it in the mail right away.

Hey Dave let me just interrupt for one moment. Don't forget to tell them that there's a study guide that we prepared to go along with Jesus revolution. Yeah it'll be automatically sent with the book.

You know it can really help you and your spouse or you and your small group dive more deeply into the insights and principles Pastor Greg shares in the book. So take advantage of this extra help. And again we'll send both of these resources to thank you for your generous donation to help us continue this important work. Write us today at A New Beginning Box 4000 Riverside California 92514. Or you can call our 24 hour phone number 1-800-821-3300.

That's 1-800-821-3300. Or go online to harvest.org. Are you receiving Pastor Greg's daily devotions? They're a great way to start your day with extra insight and inspiration. Sign up for his devotions today at devo.harvest.org.

That's devo.harvest.org. Hey everybody Greg Laurie here personally inviting you to join us for what we call Harvest at Home. It's a Bible study. It's a worship service. It's church in your home. Maybe you're not able to get out to your church right now. If so join us for Harvest at Home.

People are listening in from around the world and listen to this. We have seen thousands of people make a commitment to follow Christ. So join us this weekend for Harvest at Home at harvest.org. Well next time more from Pastor Greg's practical message about finding and following the will of God. Hope you'll tune in on a new beginning with Pastor Greg Laurie. This is the day, the day when life begins. The preceding message from Greg Laurie was made possible by Harvest Partners. Helping people everywhere know God. Sign up for Pastor Greg's free daily email devotions at harvest.org.