WHAT DOES GOD WANT ME TO DO?

Back in the '80's I was involved in Lay Renewal Weekends.  As I was looking for some material from those times, I came across this outline for how to spend time alone with God seeking for personal spiritual awakening and renewal.  I had printed it out to share with my Sunday School class and didn't have time to hand it out.  I was delighted to hear the evangelist this morning challenging us to seek personal, passionate revival.  I thought I would share this with you as I did with others at lunch today.  I pray that each of us will get alone and delight The Lord, and we get cleaned up, renewed, awakened and revived to be all that He has planned for us...individually and as His Body.~Betty

Quiet Time

Alone with God

What Does God Want Me to Do?

Spend the next hour and read slowly through this Meditation. Before you start, ask God to speak to you during this hour.

Just as you have done before, first you need to confess all known sin to the Lord. 
Read Proverbs 28; 13; I John 1: 8-9; Psalm 51: 1-6

Three kinds of sin must be confessed :

1.      Private – Against God alone – must be confessed to God alone

2.      Personal – Sins against others. There can be no peace until this sin is confessed to God.

3.      Public – Sins against the church, the Body of Christ….gossip, tale bearing, wrong & negative attitudes, whisperings, lack of involvement etc. James 4: 1

Am I too concerned with things?

Are there any habits I should forsake?

Are my thoughts pure?

What reading and listening material am I putting into my mind?

Should I be eliminating some of these things and replacing them with things of God ? Such as His word? 

II Timothy 3: 16-17

Am I faithful to my wedding vows? In deed and in thoughts?

Have I asked God’s help?   James 4: 2c

If these are not confessed, we cannot be filled with the Holy Spirit and we cannot make progress in understanding God’s plan for our lives or the way He has gifted us.

Remember the marvelous grace of God.

God has promised to forgive every confessed sin. Read Isaiah 1: 18, 44: 21-22; Hebrews 8: 12;  
Hebrews 10: 17; I John 1: 7,9

Do not despair….God loves you!  John 3: 16;  II Corinthians 4: 7-8

At this time, are you giving all that you are aware of to the Lord?

What are you holding back? Why are you holding back?

Read Galatians 5: 22-23 The fruit of the Spirit shows your maturity. Are you seeing fruit appearing in your life? What about love, joy, peace ( John 14: 27), patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control?

Which one of these is your biggest challenge as you grow as a Christian ?

As the Fruit of the Spirit appear, they become evidence that God’s Holy Spirit is beginning to take control in your life. How much evidence is there for you? 

Is it possible that God is waiting patiently for you to look closely at your life and take a new step of faith? 

I Peter 2: 9

Do you have any idea what that new step of faith might look like for you ? Hebrews 5: 11-12

Who might be someone you could trust to help hold you accountable for change ?  

Will you ask them today ?

Read Romans 12: 1,2

This passage brings to the surface several thoughts which are worthy of your attention

1. Paul says that you must make your life a life of sacrifice to others; that this would be the logical or reasonable thing for you to do if you understood what Jesus has done for you.

Do you come here today having already made that decision to live with God’s purposes living in you or are you still living with your purposes driving what you do? This is the key! You must make this decision or you will not make much progress understanding His will for you. 

Are you ready now to make that decision?  What holds you back?

2. Once you make this decision to make your life a life of sacrifice to others, you will no longer conform or look like those around you. As God’s purposes begin to drive you, your priorities will be different. You will be motivated towards different goals. Your styles, conduct, aspirations, ideas, habits, speech and mannerisms will all be affected.

What about your conduct? Does it look like those around you?

Do you find the same things are funny as those around you or are you uncomfortable with some things that others find humorous?

What about your habits, your speech; Is it different than those you associate with? 
I Corinthians 13: 11; I John 2: 15

God’s thoughts and ways are far beyond our ability to fully understand. Yet, scripture does give us a glimpse into God’s thoughts and desires. He has called us to forsake our worldly thought patterns and assumptions and learn instead His principles for life. By saturating our minds with God’s Word, we begin to see both God’s message and God’s methods. We consider such questions as these : How has God worked in history? How does He work in our lives?  What are the great concerns of God’s heart? What should be our concerns? Are they the same? Why not?

3.      This is the transformation the scripture talks about.

It takes place from the inside out. Now, you will be able to see God’s will for your life begin to emerge. Jeremiah 29:11

For you see :

You have no right to ask, “What is your will for my life Lord or “What is my ministry,” unless you are ready to do it – are you ?

You have no right to ask, “What Spiritual Gift have you given me Lord,” unless you are ready to use it for His purposes – are you?

Surrender your will to Him – He knows your heart 

You are giving yourself to one who loves you, who knows you, the future, the past, all about you, His will is best for you. It is good, acceptable and perfect for you!

Do not be afraid.

Take a step towards the darkness – and you will have more light!

Praying for more light is wrong if we are unwilling to act on the light we have.

Read John 17: 18 

Do you have a sense of being sent into the world? Pray for that. 

Now, take a few moments to write down how this meditation has been revealing to you. 

I Thessalonians 3: 12-13

Pray that many of your church members may come to an understanding of their giftedness and that many of them will step forward to serve Him thereby discovering His will for their lives.