How Can I Discern & Do God’s Will?
One of the most common questions of a believer is, “How do I know God’s will? And, how do I stay in God’s will?”
If you want to grow in following the Spirit, discerning His will, and not getting taken off course by the various temptations to do so along the way, this article is for you.
A great place to learn about this is watching God lead the apostle Paul in Acts 16.
Let’s check it out.
“Acts 16:6-8: They passed through the Phrygian and Galatian region, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia; and after they came to Mysia, they were trying to go into Bithynia, and the Spirit of Jesus did not permit them; and passing by Mysia, they came down to Troas.”
— (New American Standard Bible, 1995, Acts 16:6-8)
When it comes to hearing God in prayer by His Spirit regarding a decision or direction, there are four scenarios we can find ourselves in, and each one of them has its own temptation to take us off course.
In Acts 16 we see Paul face all four scenarios in one single chapter.
The first scenario is when what God is saying is unclear and the outcome is unexpected.
In this passage in Acts, we see that even Paul faces a lack of clarity from God. Paul and his companions are mission-bound but also mission-blocked. They are not blocked by human antics, but by the Spirit of God.
Paul had already faced his first missionary journey being cut short and a sharp falling out with his closest friend and ministry partner, Barnabas. He starts again and instead of breakthrough, Paul is faced with one closed door after another. First, he cannot get into the Phrygian and Galatian regions, and then he can’t get into Mysia.
Have you ever felt lost on what to do, where to go, or lost about what God is saying?
Paul isn’t hearing God clearly, and that’s unexpected because here is a man, stepping out in faith, who is all about the Great Commission and the business of the Kingdom. Not only is he not getting clarity about where to go, but when he does try to go, God says, “No!”
When you are in the quadrant of feeling LOST, where God’s direction is unclear and the outcomes unexpected, the enemy is working overtime, all the time, to get you to give up on trying to hear from God and to sink into apathy. He wants you to give up on seeking God’s will altogether. Don’t do that!
Instead of giving up, place your confidence in God’s character.
Trust God’s silence but don’t stop seeking. He will come through.
After getting several “No’s” from God, we see a shift, which moves Paul into scenario number two.
God speaks clearly, but when they do what God says, the outcome is unexpected.
“Acts 16:9-10: And a vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedonia was standing and pleading with him, and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” When he had seen the vision, we immediately sought to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them. ”
— (New American Standard Bible, 1995, Acts 16:9-10)
Finally, some clarity! But when they arrived, the result of following God’s speaking was unexpected.
When they arrived in Macedonia, they did not see the man anywhere. Even when they pressed on further to Philippi there were no men in sight.
It’s like, “God, we did what you said to do…but it’s not working out like we thought you meant! There is no dude that looks like that saying, ‘Help us!’ anywhere!”
But, look at the rest of the story.
Unbeknownst to Paul, the church at Philippi would eventually become a major financial supporter of the other churches and a personal support to Paul when he was in prison. God knew what He is doing.
But also, not finding any men, they instead found themselves in a seemingly insignificant place (on the outside of the gate), sitting and speaking to the women there. However, these very women outside the gate would be those who would lead to the reaching of the Macedonian men.
This time outside the gate resulted in Lydia’s conversion. This is so significant because Lydia was from Thyatira, in Asia, the very place Paul was trying to go to before, but God said, “No!” God wasn’t actually saying, “No.” He was saying He had his eyes set on both, while Paul had his eyes set on one!
Taking that to heart, let’s be people who stand on what God says rather than falling for what we see.
In this second scenario we find ourselves in the place of QUESTIONING.
When you are here, you might find yourself saying, “God, You spoke clearly but the outcome is unexpected. I had hope based on what You clearly said, but I’m not seeing what I hoped for.”
This is one of the most difficult tests of all to stay in God’s will.
It’s at this point we may face the temptation to doubt God, what He said, and if we heard correctly, but if God said it, we can trust it.
God showing a man saying, “Help Us” did not necessarily mean it was a foretelling of a precise event nearly so much as God calling them to Macedonia.
So what is the trust step in this quadrant?
Despite the temptation to doubt, we must adapt even when we don’t have immediate results. When God gives a word, that word will test us as we wait on Him. We should adapt to see the opportunity in front of us (the women in Acts 16) as the means that will lead to the outcome God spoke.
The third scenario in attempting to follow and stay in God’s will is when God’s speaking is unclear, but the outcomes (of our choices) expected.
“Acts 16:17-18: Following after Paul and us, she kept crying out, saying, “These men are bond-servants of the Most High God, who are proclaiming to you the way of salvation.” 18 She continued doing this for many days. But Paul was greatly annoyed, and turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her!” And it came out at that very moment.”
— (New American Standard Bible, 1995, Acts 16:17-18)
There is a lot in this passage to suggest that Paul knew that he could get this demon to shut it, but Paul wasn’t confident what God was telling him to do. In other words, Paul knew he could bring an expected result but wasn’t clearly hearing if he should.
If you’ve ever been there with your finger on the button so to speak, knowing you can simply push that button, pull that lever, do that thing to get this result, but you’re not confident God is telling you to, then you’ve been here before.
This is the quadrant we’ll call SOLO.
Paul, moved by his extreme fatigue, cast out a spirit from this young girl, which was an expected result to get her to stop annoying him. However, it resulted in more than they bargained for including putting them in jail.
The temptation here when we’re unsure what God is saying, but we’re sure of the result of making a particular choice, is to trust in my own wisdom rather than seeking God for His.
The trust step we need to take here is to ask God to lead instead of acting in self-reliance in order to discern and do God’s will.
The final scenario we’ll face in working to discern and do God’s will is when the message seems so clear and what we are expected to do seems so clear.
This is the scenario where we are CONFIDENT.
It’s in this quadrant we can be overly confident that we fail to stop and pray and test our assumptions.
The incident with the young demon possessed girl got Paul and Silas thrown into prison and what happened next seemed like it would have given clear direction.
“Acts 16:26: And suddenly there came a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison house were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were unfastened.”
— (New American Standard Bible, 1995, Acts 16:26)
Paul encountered his fourth scenario here.
All signs pointed to freedom: earthquake by God’s hands, open doors, and broken chains. Most would have gotten up and ran out assuming with great confidence what God was saying and what outcome is expected.
However, Paul and Silas did not get up and go. They stayed, and it was precisely that unexpected action which led to the conversion of the jailer.
Are circumstances seeming to say so loudly what to do you think you don’t need to pray?
Remember Paul and Silas. Open doors do not mean it’s God’s will to walk through them, not always. Stop and keep asking.
Even after the guard and his family came to Christ, the officials wanted to release Paul and Silas quietly. It would have been easy for Paul to assume that God had accomplished His purpose, but Paul knew to ask God. While most would say, “Praise God. Yes!” they refused the offer because a silent dismissal would discredit the Gospel.
Just because a door is open, does not mean we are intended to step through it. Open doors can often be an invitation to get off track. When faced with an open door, we must always ask God first.
When it comes to discerning and doing God’s will, we will all face times where God’s speaking is either clear or unclear (at least so far), and times when the outcomes are either expected or unexpected. Each of these has a unique temptation to get us off track.
We hope this helps you to discern and do God’s will as we know He loves to lead His sons and daughters by His Spirit.
© 2022 Shane Farmer, Rebekah Layton. All rights reserved.