Throughout our Bible there are many stories about the challenge people faced to determine God’s will for a situation or for a particular need they had. One of the best examples is found in Genesis 24:1-27. Please read the entire story about this event in your Bibles.
This portion of scripture is about Abraham’s chief servant who was on a mission sent by his master Abraham to find his son Isaac a wife. We see that Abraham’s servant sought God’s will in prayer not just for his success but principally for the benefit of his master Abraham and his son Issac which is clearly seen in verses 12-14.
Genesis 24:12-14
12 Then he prayed, “O Lord, God of my master Abraham, give me success today, and show kindness to my master Abraham. 13 See, I am standing beside this spring, and the daughters of the townspeople are coming out to draw water. 14 May it be that when I say to a girl, ‘Please let down your jar that I may have a drink,’ and she says, ‘Drink, and I’ll water your camels too’ — let her be the one you have chosen for your servant Isaac. By this I will know that you have shown kindness to my master.”
In this example of seeking God’s will, Abraham’s servant did not have the written Word of God or the promise of the presence of the Holy Spirit to assist him in his time of need as we do today. However, what this servant had was the constant example of his master’s relationship with God, which was displayed or exemplified in the life of his master Abraham. Because of this, the servant knew he should pray to God, “O Lord, God of my master Abraham” to determine His will for the challenging situation he was confronting. He also had the confidence that God was going to provide the answer to his prayer, “…let her be the one you have chosen for your servant Isaac. By this I will know that you have shown kindness to my master.” As previously stated, we see that the servant’s interest in the answer to his prayer was not for his own benefit or success but for Issac and Abraham.
In last week’s study which was posted on Facebook and on our website but was not mentioned in Sunday’s sermon, was what we can learn from Isaiah 55:10-11 which it tells us about the importance of knowing God’s Word and being confidant of His Will. The better we know God’s word-our Bibles, the better we will know who God is and the more assured we will be of knowing God’s will.
Isaiah 55:10-11
10 As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, 11 so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.
Isaiah 46:11b, What I have said, that will I bring about; what I have planned, that will I do.
The confidence we have of knowing God’s will or purposes is because we know who God is and His Word. We also see this expressed in the New Testament.
Romans 8:28 New Living Translation
And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.
Romans 8:28 is a very popular verse, however, it starts out with three very important words that many Christians over look, “And we know”. How do we know? The answer is very simple. How well do we know who God is and how well do we know God’s word? The better we know them the more confident we will be that we are “called according to his purpose” or in other words we are acting or living “according to His plan and purpose” which is God’s will for us.
Also, in this verse Paul mentions a very important part to our “knowing” or confidence of being in God’s will, it is our loving God, “those who love God”.
What Jesus says concerning knowing God’s word or his “commands” and doing or living by what God’s Word says is very clear to us in the following verses. However, it is important to note that our obedience to His words demonstrates our love for Jesus.
John 14:15
“If you love me, you will obey what I command.
John 14:21a
21 Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me.
John 14:23-24
“If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. 24 He who does not love me will not obey my teaching.
John 15:10
If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love.
From these verses from the gospel of John we see a very important connection of knowing who God is, knowing what His Word says and its relation to our obedience to Jesus’ teachings and commands which demonstrates our love for Him. Our obedience to Jesus’ teachings and commands is synonymous to how we respond to God’s will.
The following excerpt is from an article found in the Fire Bible Responding to the Will of God. The Bible’s teaching about God’s will is more than doctrine (i.e., teaching, belief) or spiritual principles. His will relates to our lives in a practical way in everyday living. Nothing he has planned for us will contradict what he has already revealed in his Word.
The better we know God’s Word the better we will understand “what the Lord’s will is” in almost every situation that we might confront in our lives. This is clearly stated in Ephesians 5:15-17.
Ephesians 5:15-17
15 Be very careful, then, how you live — not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.
Another portion of scripture that teaches us about living in God’s will and knowing God is 1 Thessalonians 4:3-6. However, it is important to note a few points of this verse. First, Paul is telling the Christians not only about one important aspect of God’s will for a born-again believer’s life, “It is God’s will that you should be sanctified”, but he goes on to make a contrast this to this point comparing it to those “who do not know God” which is the second point.
1 Thessalonians 4:3-6
3 It is God’s will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; 4 that each of you should learn to control his own body in a way that is holy and honorable, 5 not in passionate lust like the heathen, who do not know God;
Hebrews 13:20-21 NIV
20 May the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, 21 equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
In the concluding words of his letter, the writer of Hebrews in a prayer asks God to equip his readers “with everything good for doing his will, or God’s will. The Bible commentator Warren Wiersbe tells us how. “How does He equip us? By tracing this word katartidzo in the New Testament, we can discover the tools that God uses to mature and equip His children. He uses the Word of God (2 Timothy 3:16-17) and prayer (1 Thessalonians 3:10) in the fellowship of the local church (Ephesians 4:11-12). He also uses individual believers to equip us and mend us (Galatians 6:1).”
The following verses are three promises for the born-again believer who does the will of God.
1 John 2:17
The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.
1 John 5:14-15
14 This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 15 And if we know that he hears us — whatever we ask — we know that we have what we asked of him.
Revelation 2:23 NIV church in Thyatira
To him who overcomes and does my will to the end, I will give authority over the nations—
Pastor John
