How Do I Know God's Will?

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test
and approve what God’s will is
—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
Romans 12:2

How do I know God's will for my life? How do I "renew" my mind? There is only one way to have a renewed mind that is transformed and not conformed to the patterns of this world. Without this way you will never know God, never grow spiritually, and never understand what it means to follow Jesus.

There is Only One Way

So, what is the secret to knowing God's will? Read your Bible and talk to Him. Do you want to know what God expects from you? Read your Bible and pray!

Do I sound like a broken record? Yet, we are admonished by the Lord to do this very thing: "And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise" (Deuteronomy 6:6-7).
What happens to the believer who studies the Word of God diligently? They begin to transform into people who can "test and approve" God's will. What does it mean to "test and approve" God's will? I thought we weren't supposed to test God? The Greek word used here is dokimazō, which doesn't mean putting God to the test. It means to "test, approve, prove, or scrutinize whether a thing is real or not." Did you get that? When our minds are transformed and renewed, we grow spiritually into people who are more discerning of God's will.

My mind became renewed when I first picked up a Bible and discovered Jesus. The more I read, the more I liked Him, and the more I liked Him, the more I wanted to put my trust in Him. And so the moment came when I discerned that trusting God with my life and committing it to Him was God's will for me. His good, pleasing and perfect will. When I said yes to God, my life was instantly transformed, and my mind became renewed because it was now focused on pleasing and knowing God. And so my new life began through reading my Bible and talking to God.

But, if I had not continued to read my Bible, if I didn't bother to pray, I would not know anything more about God. I would be like a baby who refused to grow up and learn. I would not know how to live my life in accordance with God's ways and His plans. I would not be able to discern His will in all things. I would only be able to rest in the knowledge that I trusted in God once a long time ago. How would our relationship grow if I had done nothing more than saying yes to accepting Christ as my Saviour? How would I be able to discern His will for me? I could easily fall back into my former way of life simply because I did not invest my time into our relationship. This is how marriages fail. Couples get married and don't invest time in each other like they did when they were dating. They become accustomed to each other and soon take each other for granted. They stop talking. Our prayers are precious to God. He loves hearing from us. 

If you are not investing time in your relationship with God, your faith will start to wither and dry up. You will begin to have doubts about your salvation and about God. For your mind to be continually renewed and transformed, you must be in the Word of God every day and talk to Him. Then, when we talk to Him, our prayer life becomes more intimate and fruitful. I never actually stop praying or talking to God throughout the day now. It has become second nature to me.

Reading your Bible helps build
your belief in God.
It shows you unequivocally that He is real!

When we grow in our knowledge of the Word, we strengthen our belief in God and our prayer life, and without even realizing it, our ways become conformed to His ways and we are transformed and are able to discern God's good, pleasing and perfect will.