Thursday, March 23, 2006

Knowing God's Will

Do you wrestle with the question of what God’s will is for your life? It’s not unusual for this to be a hot topic among Christians. I recall my own intense time of seeking to know God’s will not long after my conversion. It seemed that everywhere I turned there were books and sermons on the topic: Ten Steps to Know God’s Will, etc.

When it came to knowing God's will, George Müller (1805-1898), an English evangelist and philanthropist, was remarkably and humbly gifted. A man of faith and prayer, Müller established orphanages in Bristol and founded the Scriptural Knowledge Institution for Home and Abroad.

Knowing God's will is the key to prayer, spiritual growth and fruitfulness in our individual lives. Here's how George Müller set out to ascertain the will of God on a daily basis:
  • I seek at the beginning to get my heart into such a state that it has no will of its own in regard to a given matter. Nine-tenths of the trouble with people generally is just here. Nine-tenths of the difficulties are over come when our hearts are ready to do the Lord's will, whatever it may be. When one is truly in this state, it is usually but a little way to the knowledge of what His will is.

  • Having done this, I do not leave the result to feeling or simple impression. If so, I make myself liable to great delusions.

  • I seek the Will of the Spirit of God through, or in connection with, the Word of God. The Spirit and the Word must be combined. If I look to the Spirit alone without the Word, I lay myself open to great delusions also. If the Holy Ghost guides us at all, He will do it according to the Scriptures and never contrary to them.

  • Next I take into account providential circumstances. These often plainly indicate God's Will in connection with His Word and Spirit.

  • I ask God in prayer to reveal His Will to me aright.

  • Thus, through prayer to God, the study of the Word, and reflection, I come to a deliberate judgment according to the best of my ability and knowledge, and if my mind is thus at peace, and continues so after two or three more petitions, I proceed accordingly. In trivial matters, and in transactions involving most important issues, I have found this method always effective.
The other morning one of the brothers in our small group was blessed by 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18. After reading the text, God granted him a noticeable joy. . Oswald Chambers says that you are God’s will.

In a nutshell: Because you are God’s will, be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

GEORGE MUELLER - MAN OF FAITH
taken from:
"An Hour With George Mueller - The Man Of Faith - TO WHOM GOD GAVE MILLIONS"
published by Warren Myers, Katong, Singapore, Asia.

This booklet was send to me by Warren Myers quite a few years ago. What is highlighted throughout this booklet is the reading and studying of the Holy Scriptures. G. Mueller's message for our "cold, calculating, selfish age" is this: FEED YOUR SOUL UPON THE WORD OF GOD!

GEORGE MUELLER'S SECRET:
"There was a day when I died:
-Died to George Mueller: to his tastes, his opinions, his preferences and his will.
-Died to the world - its approval or censure.
-Died to the approval or blame even of my brethren and friends.
Since then I have studied only to show myself approved unto God."

GEORGE MUELLER'S LONG LIFE:
"FIRST, the exercizing of himself to have always a conscience void of offence both toward God and toward men (Acts 24:16);
"SECONDLY,to the love he felt for the Sciptures, and the constant recuperative power they exercised upon his whole being(Prov. 3:2,8; 4:22);
"THIRD, to that happiness he felt in God and His work, which relieved him of all anciety and needless wear and tear in his labors (Psalm 55:22)."

Taken from George Mueller of Bristol, by Arthur T. Pierson, Loizeaux Brothers, Inc.