Finding the Plan of God for Your Life

by Pastor Mitch Horton | March 2003

The last two months we've been discussing the importance of fulfilling the purpose of God for your life. We've mentioned that God has a purpose and plan for every life. It's up to us individually to find God's plan and fulfill it. In this issue, l want to show you how you can find God's specific plan and follow it.

In Psalms 139 we find that God has mapped out a plan for every day of our life before we were even born. In verses 1-5 (Living) we read, "O Lord, you have examined my heart and know everything about me. You know when I sit or stand. When far away you know my every thought. You chart the path ahead of me, and tell me where to stop and rest. Every moment, you know where I am. You know what I am going to say before I even say it. You both precede and follow me, and place your hand of blessing on my head." In verse 16 we read, "You saw me before I was born and scheduled each day of my life before I began to breathe. Every day was recorded in your book."

It's amazing to think that God already knows everything we're going to do before it happens. One part of God's glorious character is His omniscience, His all-knowing. And He only has good things planned for us! Jeremiah 29:11(Amplified) reads, "For I know the thoughts and plans that I have for you, says the Lord, thoughts and plans for welfare and peace, and not for evil, to give you hope in your final outcome." Any thought you have that God is "out to get you" is simply wrong! He's for you, not against you. And His purpose for your life is that you be blessed in every way.

Of course, the enemy's ambition is to "kill, steal, and destroy." Jesus came that we could have abundant life! And as we follow His plan, the abundant life will unfold before us. "If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land" (Isaiah 1:19). The more closely you follow the will of God, the more you will thrive and prosper in every area. It's walking in the will of God that causes all things to work together for our good (see Romans 8:26-28).

Many people think that the will of God is difficult to find, and when you find out what it is, you won't like it. BUT THAT'S NOT TRUE. The will of God is not a burden; it's the most blessed place you'll ever live!

I've found that if you will walk with God sincerely, He will place the desires for what He has for you within you! If you'll fellowship with Him regularly in the Word of God and in prayer, He will cause you to be filled with His thoughts, desires and plans! Psalms 37:4 reads, "Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart." One of the meanings of this scripture is that He will place a desire for what He has for you to do within you!

The Holy Spirit resides in our human spirits from the moment of the new birth. And when He comes, He knows the plan of God for us, and is ready and willing to make that plan known to us at all times! Psalm 16:3 (Amplified) reads, "Roll your works upon the Lord- commit and trust them wholly to Him- He will cause your thoughts to become agreeable to His will, and so shall your plans be established and succeed!" As we keep our relationship with the Lord in the center of our lives, He reveals His will for us by inward thoughts and desires!

Years ago, I began to have a very strong desire to help people grow spiritually and to disciple them in the their walk with God. Those desires were the seedbed for the pastoral ministry that the Lord has had me in now for many years. What kinds of desires do you have within you? What is the deepest desire of your heart? To answer these questions is to find the will of God for your life. HE PLACES HIS VISION FOR YOUR LIFE WITHIN YOU!

Praying in the spirit, or in other tongues, is another excellent way for the will of God to become known to you. When we pray in tongues, our spirit is praying the will of God for us! "For if I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit by the Holy Spirit within me prays, but my mind is unproductive, bears no fruit and helps nobody" (1 Cor. 14:14). And when you're praying in the spirit, you become more aware of the desires that are in your spirit. These desires are much deeper than thought and emotion. They are a deep intuitive sense that arises from the influence of the Holy Spirit upon our human spirit.

J.B. Phillips translation of 1 Cor. 2:11 reads, "For who could really understand a man's inmost thoughts except the spirit of man himself. How much less could anyone understand the thoughts of God except the very Spirit of God?" God's Word translation says, "After all, who knows everything about a person except the person's own spirit?"

You'll find that as you spend time daily in the Word and in praying in the spirit, you will become more sensitive to your own human spirit. That intuitive sense in you that God has placed in each one of us will get stronger and stronger. It will get to the point that certain desires just won't go away. You get up with them, you go to bed with them, and you carry them around with you all day long. They are stronger than emotion and they do not fade with time. As you yield to and act on them, you'll find the plan of God unfolding for your life, and you'll find yourself walking in a new dimension of peace, rest, and satisfaction in life that you didn't think was possible. And you'll become a different person. You will say and do things that you did not think were possible through you! You will have found the place in life for which you were created, and God will have found Himself a willing vessel to work through!