Page 134 - First Steps 2023

• Specifically ask God to reveal his will for your life to you. God’s not
being coy or trying to keep a secret from you. God is deepening you as a
Jesus-follower so you’re ready and able to act on what’s revealed to you.
That takes time…experience…and maturity. Asking him to speak to you is
one sign of that maturity.

“For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not
stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the
knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that
the Spirit gives, so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and
please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in

the knowledge of God” (Colossians 1:9-10).

5. God’s will can be hindered.
Though God is in control, we can get in the way of discovering God’s
will for our lives through…

• Having wrong motives for asking. Asking out of impatience, or in
the hope we’ll have a high-profile purpose in life doesn’t reflect a reliance
on God or a willingness to serve. James 4:2-3 says that we sometimes
don’t get what we want because we ask with wrong motives.

• Having bad relationships. A pattern of shattered relationships is an

indication that there’s fundamental, transformational work God has to do
in you before sending you off to do what he has for you to do.

• Embracing ongoing, willful sin. No Jesus-follower is perfect, but a
choice to continue in sin is a choice to sabotage God’s ability to use you
effectively.

• Growing weary. It may be growing weary of waiting, serving without
a sense that you’re in the ideal spot, or simply growing tired of trudging
along behind Jesus without a clear sense of where he’s taking you. All of
those can keep you from discovering God’s unique will for your life.

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