NOTE: This article is written as an example of how I determined the will of God in a specific area of my life. It is meant to illustrate the practical application of the process for Obtaining the Counsel of God outlined in yesterday’s article.
I look back on my life in Christ and am thankful for His leading, and how He has watched over me. I am amazed at how He led me when I was a baby Christian, and how I was able to operate in this Christian walk without really knowing very much. I believe it was because of the number of teaching tapes and books about Faith and Prayer that I often did things instinctively that ended up being right.
In another article I told about the night I received my Salvation. The woman who led me to the Lord was, at that time, my girlfriend. We had dated a month, and the life she and her family lived in front of me convinced me that there was a God, and a relationship with Him was exactly what I wanted in my life.
After I became a Christian the relationship with this young woman grew closer. It seemed we fit together in so many ways. As I grew in the Lord, the relationship with her also grew. Within a few months I asked her to marry me, and she accepted.
Over the next couple of years I tried to get her to set a date for marriage, but she resisted. She had been married previously, as had I, and I think she was somewhat nervous about taking that step again.
During our courtship I obtained a contract to do some work for Gulf Oil Company in southern Florida. This meant the two of us had to carry on a long distance relationship, seeing each other once or twice a month. Still, the relationship grew, and I was quite happy with the situation.
Awareness
We were finally getting close to setting a date when an event took place in my life that sort of woke me up to the fact that I had never asked the Lord about His will concerning my choice for a marriage partner. I had come into my Christian walk emotionally attached to this woman, and realized that I had just assumed our marriage was a good thing for the two of us. She was a Christian, I was a Christian. She was intelligent, I was intelligent. We enjoyed a lot of the same things, and had hopes and dreams concerning our future together.
This new awareness, though, hit me like a brick. Of all the things in the world that I should be concerned about, who I committed to spend the rest of my life with was the most important. I had already gone through one wrong marriage. I didn’t want to make the same mistake… and who would know better about the future than God, who knows all and sees all? It was disconcerting to me that it had never dawned on me to ask HIS advice and counsel. And while I really had no concept of how I would find out, I was bound and determined that I WOULD find out.
All Manner of Prayer
Immediately I decided that I needed to spend time in prayer. I had a job to perform, so I couldn’t just drop everything and shut myself in a closet. What I could do, though, was pray every opportunity I could get.
Now please realize, I spend a lot of time praying in the spirit (i.e. praying in tongues).
“… the Spirit helps us in our weakness (our inability to produce results). We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.” – Romans 8:26
“… the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will.” – Romans 8:27
“And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests…” – Ephesians 6:18
“… if I pray in tongues, my spirit is praying, but I don’t understand what I am saying. Well then, what shall I do? I will pray in the spirit, and I will also pray in words I understand. I will sing in the spirit, and I will also sing in words I understand.” – 1 Corinthians 14:14
“Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.” – 1 Corinthians 12:2
I have learned that when I don’t know exactly how to pray, and when I want to know the WILL OF GOD, I can pray in the Spirit, and the Spirit will reveal God’s will to me.
During the Day
Over the next few days I my job assignments required a lot of driving time. I spent hours each day driving and praying. At every available moment during the day my mind would turn to the issue at hand, and I would turn my heart to God in prayer.
There were times when, as I was driving, I would break out in tremendous sobbing and tears. It was a heart-wrenching time for me. I was laying it all on the line and saying, “God, whatever you want for me… whatever you think is best… THAT is what I will do… no matter how much it may hurt. Why? Because YOU know best.”
In the Evening
At night I would arrive at my house, prepare my evening meal, then sit down with my Bible. I wanted to focus my mind on the things of God… and I wanted WISDOM… so I would turn to the book of Proverbs and read. I would talk to God and bare my heart… I would pray in tongues… and I would read… until it was time for bed.
The next day I would do it all over again.
How Long Does It Take?
I really didn’t care how long it would take. I wanted to KNOW more than anything else in the world. I wanted to know, more than I wanted food, more than I wanted sleep, more than I wanted social interaction with others. I was willing to take as long as it required to get the answer.
Suddenly
Then, late one morning, on the 10th day of prayer, I drove out of town to do some research in another county. As I was praying, PEACE dropped into my heart… into the core of my being. All of a sudden I KNEW the answer… there was no doubt about it. It was so monumental to me that I could take you back to the place in the road where it happened. I knew that I knew that I knew that I knew. And I knew that the only one who could talk me out of knowing would be me.
The answer? I think you’ve guessed by now… The answer was, “No. Don’t marry her.”
Sad? Yes. But I knew it was right.
Why did God tell me “no”? I don’t know for sure. I have some theories. But it really didn’t matter. I didn’t need to know the why… I just needed to know that my Heavenly Father loves me, and he knows what is best for me. So why argue? Why turn away from His counsel? Why do it my way when I know I’d be setting myself up for failure?
Peace – The Umpire
That peace was so strong… so real. It settled the question… finally… once and for all.
“And let the peace (soul harmony which comes) from Christ rule (act as an umpire continually) in your hearts [deciding and settling with finality all questions that arise in your minds]…” – Colossians 3:15
In baseball the umpire is king. Whatever he says is the final decision. The batter can yell, the manager can yell and go through all kinds of theatricals… but whatever the Umpire has called is the final decision.
In the above verse we see the correlation. When you receive PEACE FROM GOD, let that peace rule… let it settle WITH ALL FINALITY any question that may arise.
Some couldn’t understand the decision I had made. Some even suggested that I hadn’t heard God… that I hadn’t received enough counsel from others. But I had the “word of the Lord” on it… I had “prayed through” and had obtained His peace… His knowing. It was an easy thing to stand in the face of their questions, even though I didn’t know the answers to all their questions. I still knew what the ANSWER was, and that was the one I was going to stick with.
Was it easy walking it out? Was it easy breaking the news to her, and to her family? No… but it was right.
How Will I Know?
People have asked me, “How will I know when I get the answer?”
The only thing I can do is say, “You will know. If you stick with it… if you are determined… you will know. And then you will know how to get answers from God on practically anything else. All you’ll have to do is decide that it’s worth the time and the effort to continue seeking Him until the answer is revealed.”
This may be the most important kind of prayer you will ever learn…
“Keep on asking and it will be given you; keep on seeking and you will find; keep on knocking and [the door] will be opened to you.” – Jesus (Matthew 7:7 – Amplified)
“… (God) is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” – Hebrews 11:6
