Dave’s Monday Blast – February 8, 2016
Over the last two weeks we have been exploring some practical keys to understanding God’s will for our lives. In review, here are the first four:
1. Walk with your God: We must seek to know Him and not just seek to know about Him. Read that statement again…there is a huge difference.
2. Surrender your will to God’s: Before God will begin to reveal His will to us, we must be committed to doing whatever it is that He desires for us to do.
3. Obey what you already know to be God’s will: His will is clearly delineated throughout His word…we must be obedient to His instructions.
4. Seek Godly input. Choose your relationships carefully. Seek godly advisors and mentors. Isn’t this just what your parents always said to you?
What’s next?
5. Pay Attention to how God has wired you: God has created each of us to fulfill a specific role in this world. There is no one else who can achieve completely what God has INTENTIONALLY created you to do. I like to refer to this as our sphere of influence. I Peter 4:10 says, “As each of us has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.”
God has gifted every one of us to perform a special mission for which we alone were created. How amazing is that? So when you seek to discover God’s will for your life, pay attention to how He has gifted you. His plan for you will always be directly related to the gifts that He has bestowed upon you. The great news is that we will always be good at whatever it is that He has called us to do!
I would invite you to take a Spiritual Inventory Survey to help you discover your spiritual giftedness. I teach this very class for the church. We call it Seminar 301-Exploring Your Spiritual Gifting, and the next one is scheduled for Sunday, February 28 at 2:00 p.m. in the Fellowship Hall. You can sign up through the Sunday Service Bulletin.
6. Listen to the Holy Spirit: Pastor Chris Russell puts it this way, “I experienced a major turning point in my own prayer life when I learned to simply shut up while I was praying. That may sound odd to you, and it seemed odd to me at first. You see, I used to do all the talking when I prayed to God. But then, several years ago, I read Bill Hybel’s book, Too Busy Not to Pray. That book completely changed the way I approached God through prayer. Since reading that book, I have added a significant component to my prayer life…..LISTENING.”
We must take time to listen to what God is communicating to us through His Spirit. I highly recommend this book referenced by Chris Russell.
Next week I want to expand upon this idea of listening through our prayer time and then wrap up the keys to determining His will.
