Dr Paul Allen

Every Christian I have ever met is interested in and desires to please God by living according to His will. When it comes to personal decision-making, especially seemingly significant, life-affecting decisions (“Is this God’s will for my marriage partner?” “Is it God’s will for me to accept this job offer?”), we want God to give us His counsel, advice, and direction.  There is certainly nothing wrong with that. When we face tough decisions, we want to make an appointment with God, sit down across from Him, explain our situation and the decision we face, and then sit back and listen, having Him tell us exactly what decision to make. Or—maybe even more honestly—we want God to decide for us so we won’t have to. The question is, does God direct us when making personal decisions, and how can I find that guidance if so? Or, can I know God’s will for me in matters not explicitly spelled out in the Scriptures? While we cannot know God’s infallible will about anything except that revealed i...

Tim Shorely I have stage four, poor-prognosis cancer, and I believe in healing, either bestowed directly by the Lord or through the intercession of others. I’m convinced there are moments when God transcends and circumvents the normal to heal instantaneously and supernaturally (1 Cor. 12:7–9). I sincerely believe he can and often does this without any means other than his love-released power—to make the body whole, the spirit glad, and the tongue exult. My faith doesn’t embrace fraudulent faith healers, name-it-and-claim-it charlatans, prosperity peddlers, or positive-thinking gurus. I believe God can and often does grant actual, supernatural healings of the body, spirit, and mind, by which the truly sick are made truly whole through the authority of Christ’s name, often catalyzed by the believing prayers of God’s people. But I still have cancer. Despite thousands of prayers, many of which have been bathed in ample faith and anointing oil, I still have cancer, and my clock’s ticking. T...

Every Christian I have ever met has an interest in and a desire for pleasing God by living in accordance with His will. When it comes to personal decision making—especially in seemingly large, life-affecting decisions (“Is this God’s will for my marriage partner?” “Is it God’s will for me to accept this job offer?”), we want God to give us His counsel, His advice, His direction.  There is certainly nothing wrong with that. In especially hard decisions, we want to make an appointment with God and sit down across the desk from Him and explain to Him the situation and the decision we face and then to sit back and listen and have Him tell us exactly what decision to make. Or—maybe even more honestly—what we want is for God to decide for us so that we won’t have to. The question is, does God direct us when we make personal decisions, and if so, how can I find that guidance? Or, can I know in advance God’s will for me in matters not explicitly spelled out in the Scriptures? While we cann...

How shall I live my life so as to be found in the slipstream of God’s providence with the fullest knowledge of God, the greatest love of God, and bearing most fruit for the eternal good of other people for the glory of God? Do I look for signs or the word? Slipstream of Providence Do you remember what slipstream is? It’s when you get behind a boat or a car or a bike or an airplane, and you are drawn forward into the direction of the one that you’re following by the very force of the slipstream that, as it were, reaches back and grabs you and pulls you along. So, what we’re asking is, How shall I find myself drew along in the slipstream of God’s all-governing providence in such a way that we know him most fully, we love him most deeply, we bear the most fruit for the eternal good of other people, and all for the glory of God? And I see two possible answers to that question.  First, the wrong one, the unbiblical one: we can live by trying to read the providence of God, as if the hun...

What It Really Means to Pray, “Thy Will Be Done” Why did Jesus include “Thy will be done” in the model prayer that He gave the disciples? What exactly are we praying for when we ask God to do His will? LIFE When Jesus taught the disciples how to pray, He gave them a template that began with these words: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. You will be done on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:9-10). (The centuries-old King James Version has the arguably more well-known rendition of verse 10, which reads, “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.”) But what does that mean? When we pray to God, “Thy will be done,” what is it that we’re actually requesting from Him? And how should that affect the things we pray for and how we pray for them? What is the will of God? Three categories Understanding the will of God is a mammoth undertaking beyond the capabilities of any human being. God tells us bluntly, “For as the heavens are higher tha...

He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God ( Micah 6:8). The will of God for your life is your sanctification. Make the kingdom of God and His righteousness the main goal of your life, for God is not as concerned whether you live in USA or New Zealand . What does God require of us? He requires us to walk by faith, which means to walk trusting Him. First, He calls on us to act justly, to do what’s right. If we trust Him, we will obey Him. We will be a people who avoid sin and pursue righteousness. Sometimes doing things justly is painful and risky, but if we trust God, we will do what is right anyway. Second, He calls on us to love mercy. The word mercy can also be translated “lovingkindness” or “steadfast love.” Another translation can be “to love with loyalty.” Are we loyal in our love for those around us, or are we fickle? We could put it this way: Are we trustworthy? If...

In his mercy and kindness, the God of the universe revealed his will to us. It’s not discovered through an arduous quest of pagan practices bordering on divination, as described in Bruce Waltke’s excellent book . Instead, we open the Bible , and there it is. These simple principles apply to everyone, in them we find our joy and purpose. The next time you or someone you care about is wrestling with the will of God , try helping them out with these seven words.  1. Knowledge: Romans 2:18 …and know his will and approve what is excellent, because you are instructed by the law… Context is important because the Jews are being rebuked for hypocrisy, claiming to know the will of God, but rejecting it (see 2:24). However, the problem is not with the Word, but with the hypocrite who enforces it on others, while rejecting it himself. To know his will means being instructed in what is excellent in the sight of God. 2. Discernment : Romans 12:2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be...

God has always been selective. The blessing came through Isaac. Then the blessing came through Jacob. "Jacob I loved, Esau I hated." (Rom. 9:13) You say, "Wow, you mean God is that discriminating?" Verse 14 then says (and this is what the responder would say) "What shall we say then? Is this unjust? There is no injustice with God is there?" Mē genoito—the strongest negative in the Greek language—no, no, no, no. This isn't out of character for God to be selective. God never intended every Jew to be in the kingdom. For He says to Moses, God says, "I'll have mercy on whom I'll have mercy. I'll have compassion on whom I'll have compassion." And it doesn't depend on "the man who wills or the man who runs but on God who has mercy" (Rom. 9:15-16). And then He goes to Pharaoh, "'For this very purpose I raised you up to demonstrate My power in you, and that My name might be proclaimed throughout the whole ear...

The best way to know God’s will is to be familiar with the Bible. That is because virtually everything you need to know concerning the will of God is in the Bible. If you get to know God’s Word and understand it clearly, you can know the will of God (Ps. 119:6, 7, 9, 105). Another way you can know the will of God is through prayer, when you commune with God and learn what pleases Him. The Bible says, "Let the peace of God rule in your hearts" (Col. 3:15). This means that the peace of God is like a regulator, so that when you violate the will of God, His peace leaves you and you have inner turmoil, immediately discovering you are going against God’s will. Knowing God’s Word and knowing the peace that comes about through a continuous relationship with Him are the best ways of knowing God’s will (John 15:4). It is also true, however, that God will show us His will through a number of other means. He will show us His will through godly counselors (Prov. 19:20; 20:18; 24:6). ...

In numerous passages throughout the Bible, there are places where Scripture speaks of God’s “purpose” (Acts  4:28 ), His “plan” (Ps 33:11; Acts  2:23 ), His “counsel” (Eph  1:11 ), “good pleasure” (Isa 46:10), or “will” (Eph 1:5). In one way or another, each of these designations refer to what theologians call God’s decree. The Westminster Confession famously characterizes  describes God’s decree  as follows: “God from all eternity, did, by the most wise and holy counsel of His own will, freely, and unchangeably ordain whatsoever comes to pass.” So in those instances where Scripture speaks of God’s purpose, plan, counsel, pleasure, or will, these passages are referring to the divine decree by which God, before the creation of time, determined to bring about all things that were to happen in time. John Piper, summarizing God’s decree, says, “He has designed from all eternity, and is infallibly forming, with every event, a magnificent mosaic of redemptiv...

English: God called to Adam and said, Where are you? as in Genesis 3:9: "And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?"; illustration from the 1728 Figures de la Bible; illustrated by Gerard Hoet (1648–1733) and others, and published by P. de Hondt in The Hague; image courtesy Bizzell Bible Collection, University of Oklahoma Libraries (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) The secret things belong to the Lord our God ... ( Deut. 29:29). That refers to what we call the hidden will of God . Now usually when we're speaking of the hidden will of God we have in our mind the decretive will of God.  And when people say to me, "What is the will of God for my life?" I say, remember that the Bible uses the word "will of God" in several different ways. The first way in which we talk about the will of God is what we call the decretive will; and the decretive will of God is that will of God by which God sovereignly brings to pass whatsoever ...