How to Ascertain the Will of God
Here is some very practical help from a great man of faith, and prayer warrior, George Mueller. He answers the question: How can I discover the will of God? I hope you find it helpful. Here are the 6 steps:
1. 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 is just here. Nine-tenths of the difficulties are overcome 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.
2. Having done this, I do not leave the result to feeling or simple impression. If so, I make myself liable to great delusions.
3. 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 Spirit guides us at all, He will do it according to the Scriptures and never contrary to them.
4. Next I take into account providential circumstances. These often plainly indicate God's will in connection with His Word and Spirit.
5. I ask God in prayer to reveal His will to me aright.
6. 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 at peace, and continues so after two or three more petitions, I proceed accordingly. In trivial matters, and in transactions involving the most important issues, I have found this method always effective.
1. 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 is just here. Nine-tenths of the difficulties are overcome 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.
2. Having done this, I do not leave the result to feeling or simple impression. If so, I make myself liable to great delusions.
3. 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 Spirit guides us at all, He will do it according to the Scriptures and never contrary to them.
4. Next I take into account providential circumstances. These often plainly indicate God's will in connection with His Word and Spirit.
5. I ask God in prayer to reveal His will to me aright.
6. 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 at peace, and continues so after two or three more petitions, I proceed accordingly. In trivial matters, and in transactions involving the most important issues, I have found this method always effective.
Labels: Guest Post, Prayer
posted by Petros at
12:48 AM
26 Comments:
Speaking of the will of God. When dinner calls, why don't we men do some cooking? By popular demand, here's my sweet potato recipe:
Boil 8-10 large sweet potatos till soft. Drain, put potatos with skins into a food processer. Add 1 cup of grade B Maple syrup, 1/2 tsp of cinnamin, 1/2 tsp of nutmeg, blend until creamy. pour into a glass oven pan, bake covered at 300 degrees for 30 minutes. Serves 10 -15 people. Enjoy.
My thoughts.....
Four stars. Very creamy and nice flavour. I've heard they are better when made the night before to give the spices a chance to meld together.
Four Stars? How many stars are possible? I was thinking more like 5 stars, since the recipe can double as "pumpkin pie" filling. Really, it's a very versatile recipe.
Peter, I wholeheartedly agree with Mr.Meuller on this subject. God gives us so much general wisdom in his word. Your blog today keeps us from both extreems. Thanks for posting a very helpful resource,
JR
Peter: Yes, very helpful summary---very important point made too about the connection between the Spirit and the Word-thank you.
JR: The best in the world, bro.
I love how he says 'in trivial matters and...the most important issues."
Nothing was too insignificant for him to bring before the Lord and to expect help and guidance from Him.
JR--"To eat a sweet potato, I would not do"...unless they're JR's famous...;)
As to your bold claim of their being the 'world's best,' I would question your claim on the basis of there being no way of determining which is the best, apart from tasting every whipped sweet potato in the entire world. Since no human could ever accomplish this (new recipes being invented every day and the issue of time and funding), this presents a problem.
Now, if you said that God told you that they are the best, you would have an argument, seeing that the only way we can know anything about everything or everything about anything is by consulting a Being that knows everything about everything.
This would, however, present the problem of discerning whether this extra-Biblical revelation is from God or from a sweet potato-adoring evil spirit.
......some Van Tilian argumentation for you.....
Peter, I heartily say amen to the other comments. This is a great resource. Thanks so much for bringing these steps into the open. Similarly, Calvin in the Institutes taught at least six reasons to pray and four rules for prayer. It is fascinating and convicting to realize how highly these godly men thought of prayer, how earnestly they practiced it, and how far short I come in the discipline.
This is the most random and scattered blog conversation to date!
Yes--Peter's post is very very good--and I might pick up on his good thoughts in a blog later this week when I get back off a couple days off.
As for the rest of this, I worry about people's attention span and focus!
Besides, I'm convinced that eating sweet potatoes was never part of God's will for any of us. They were intended to be used for some other purpose not yet discovered.
Just give me plain old mashed potatoes swimming in butter.
Tim
Tim---I think the appropriate word is---touche.
Robin, I believe you need to see that it is JR's presuuposition that his sweet potatoes are the best.
OK, I must come clean. I was challenged by my care group tp post a recipe because there have been so many on the ladies blog.
Peter, thanks for letting us have some fun on your blog.
Tim, were not losing our minds, just developing our taste.
Robin, Bruce agreed that they were the best in the "world", perhaps he has a sweet potato adoring spirit? Also, Dr. VanTil would have always yielded to empiracle evidence, but alas, he cannot taste them posthumously.I also refer you to the Johanine use of the word "world", it never means everyone.
My thoughts........
JR
PS I am willing to concede the possibility that my sweet potato's may have a rival unbeknownst to me.
I believe I once heard Al Martin preach that it was sinful to indulge in any potato recipe that includes more than a maximum of 2 added seasonings.
God created the potato to be a plain and simple source of nourishment. We must, therefore, content ourselves with those limited enjoyments afforded by nature, and not crave these extravagant and unnecessary adulterations suggested in JR's recipe. Cinnamon... indeed!
JR's recipe is but another example of the cravenness attendant to our fallen condition-- perpetually unsatisfied with the simple pleasures ordained by creation.
I think perhaps a bit of salt, and possibly one level teaspoon of butter per potato might be permitted... but surely my brothers and sisters, to have them "swimming" in butter, as Tim, of all people, our pastor, has suggested, is once again, to bow the neck under the yoke of the flesh, by which once again we prove that in our hearts, yes, we would have Egypt over Canaan!
I urge you, readers of this Free Truth--- Shun the recipe proposed by JR, and simply boil your potatoes, and eat them with gladness in your heart.
I'm surprised at you JR... 8 YEARS with Al Martin... and yet you present a recipe like this!
You probably believe in allowing women to use pain medications during the labor and delivery process too!
Peter-----excellent indeed! I didn't know you had it in you.
Very impressive!
Peter, what if I told you that it was Pastor Martins recipe? I refer you to Herman Bavinck on the "Cultural Mandate" of Genesis 1.
My thoughts....
JR
Ladies and Gentlemen, Spudmasters and Such,
I am afraid that I must refrain from giving any "meat" conerning this blog, however tempting this may be. For your spirited discussion concerning the fruit of the "bog" is far over my head. Perhaps a discussion on the good old american hot dog might tempt me to give a few suggestions,which of course are borrowed from my wife
"Alas, as a bachelor, I am but a wretched outcast, and not permitted to speak on such delicate matters..."
What movie is that from?
Peter, Cograts on having the blog record for the most responses. The prise, why sweet potato's of course, what else?
JR
JR--Just for the record, my wife, who is very jealous over such matters, would have you know this is not the record for responses to a post. I still hold that lofty distinction!
Besides, judging from the quality of these responses I think that this whole thing is a conspiracy to snatch that distinction from me.
And since I am contributing to the number it cannot mean too much to me.
That said, there may be no more comments on spuds and the like--unless of course someone wants to extol the virtues of scalloped potatoes, complete with generous supplies of onion and smoked shoulder, cooked to tender perfection, with a slight crispy layer on top.
Ahhhh.
Smoked Shoulder????
I wonder if George Meuller is scratching his celestial head... How (he may wonder) did his careful instruction on "How to ascertain the will of God" devolve into "potato talk"! And to make matters worse... it all began with a comment from our resident theologian, JR, trying to get what Al Martin may well have described as "cheap laughs."
Next weeks blog response,"A childhood without sweet potato's, the theological, emotional & pschycological consequences", followed by John Calvin's classic opus entitled, "A life Without Sweet Potato's, An Inquiry Into the Nature and Consequences Of Sweet Potato Deprivation".
Translated from the original French by JR.
With plenty of footnotes... IN LATIN.
How am I doing Gayline... have I broken the record for blog comments yet??
With this comment, I think you've got it Peter!
The new blog champion!
Tim
Fellow Blogster's, it worked, we took the record from Tim, and gave it to Peter. I must confess, I didn't think your idea would work. We now know that the best way to get a man's interest is "food", Congrats to Petros.
JR
Has anyone noticed the irony that two posts ago was entitled "Is Not Life More than Food?"
JR, will you be translating Calvin's long-lost literary gem from the original French into old English or modern English? And I agree with Peter--if Philip Schaff can pull off Latin, Greek, German, French, and English footnotes all in the same chapter, surely we can expect a little Latin.
crede quod habes, et habes
Dei gratia
JR
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