You Can Know the Will of God — Don’t Let Anyone Tell You Otherwise

Have you ever been told, “Nobody can really know the will of God for their life”?

Maybe a preacher said it. Maybe a well-meaning believer. Maybe you grew up hearing it in church. And because you believed it, you quit even looking for God’s will. You stopped asking, stopped listening, stopped expecting. Well, today we’re putting that lie to rest. Not only can you know God’s will — He wants you to know it.

The biggest reason people don’t hear God is that they don’t believe they can.

Yesterday we kicked off this series with Romans 8:14.

For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.

Romans 8:14 NKJV

Being led by the Spirit is how you grow up into a mature son or daughter of God — the kind who looks like their Daddy. But here’s the catch. You have to be one of the “as many” who actually allows themselves to be led. Nobody stumbles into hearing from God by accident.

And the first wall most people hit is the belief that knowing God’s will is impossible. If you don’t believe there’s anything to find, you won’t go looking. I talked yesterday about how I’ll stare right into a stocked refrigerator and miss everything in it because I already decided there was nothing there. That’s what religion has done to a lot of believers — convinced them God is silent and His will is hidden.

The verse religion uses to shut you down actually opens the door.

Here’s the classic one you’ve probably heard.

But as it is written: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”

1 Corinthians 2:9 NKJV

That’s where most people stop. “See? You can’t know the things of God. They haven’t entered into the heart of man.”

But religion always stops at verse 9 and never reads verse 10. Let’s keep going.

But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God.

1 Corinthians 2:10 NKJV

That little word but changes everything. Yes, eye hasn’t seen it. Yes, it hasn’t entered the heart of man naturally. But God has revealed it. Through His Spirit. And not just the surface stuff — the deep things of God.

So next time someone quotes 1 Corinthians 2:9 at you to prove you can’t know God’s will, just smile and say, “Keep reading, darlin’.”

You were not called into a surface relationship.

Let me put this in everyday terms. I’m not exactly a social butterfly. If I sit down next to a stranger on an airplane, I’m not spilling the deep things of my heart to them. I’ll work, sleep, or watch something. We’re strangers. I’m not going to open up about my life to someone I don’t know.

But God is saying the opposite to you. “I don’t want us to be strangers. I don’t want to sit next to you for eternity without ever speaking. I want to reveal the deep things of Myself to you.”

That’s what the Holy Spirit is there for.

For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so, no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received... the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.

1 Corinthians 2:11–12 NKJV

That we might know. Not guess. Not hope. Not wish. Know.

There is a purpose you were laid hold of for.

One of my biggest fears in life is dying and finding out my life didn’t matter. Not to God — He loves me no matter what — but that I went through everything I’ve been through, saw what I’ve seen, suffered what I’ve suffered, and it didn’t actually count for anything.

How do you make sure your life counts? By finding out what God created you for and going after it. Paul said it this way:

Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me.

Philippians 3:12 NKJV

Did you catch it? Jesus laid hold of you for a reason. First, because He loves you. But second, because there’s a purpose attached to your life — and you’re supposed to press in and take hold of it.

That purpose isn’t automatic. Paul said, “I press on, that I may lay hold of it.” You have to go after it. And the only One who can reveal what it is to you is the Spirit of God.

Paul’s own prayer proves you can be filled with the knowledge of His will.

If you still think knowing God’s will is for a select few super-spiritual people, read this carefully. This is what Paul prayed over an entire church:

For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding.

Colossians 1:9 NKJV

Filled with the knowledge of His will. Not a drop. Not a trickle. Filled. And not just filled with it — understanding it, with wisdom and spiritual insight.

Paul didn’t pray, “Lord, I know they can’t really know Your will, but keep them comfortable anyway.” He prayed exactly the opposite. He expected these believers to be fully loaded with knowledge of what God wanted for their lives.

If that was normal Christian prayer for the church at Colossae, it’s normal Christian prayer for you.

God is not hiding from you. He’s inviting you in.

Listen, God is not trying to keep you in the dark. He’s not testing you to see if you can figure it out. He’s not sitting in heaven with His arms crossed going, “Good luck, kid.”

He gave you His Spirit specifically so you could know the deep things of God. He gave you eternal life specifically so you could know Him. He laid hold of you specifically because there’s something He wants to do in and through your life. And He wants you in on it.

Every time the enemy whispers, “You can’t know what God wants,” you quote verse 10 back to him. But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit.

You can know. You’re supposed to know. Start looking today.

There is a will of God for your life. There is a voice on the inside of you that wants to lead you. And there is a purpose Christ Jesus laid hold of you for.

Quit believing the lie that you can’t hear Him. Quit standing outside the refrigerator complaining it’s empty when the Holy Spirit is right there with everything you need.

You can know the will of God. You’re supposed to know. Start looking today. Fight To Win.