Our Lord Jesus Christ that the food or meat that He eats is to do the will of the Father. And in doing the will of the Father He would accomplish the work of the Father.

The two main prayer requests that I get from all over the world are "Pastor, pray for me because I want to hear God's voice" and "Pastor, pray for me because I want to know God's will. I wrote 2 books on hearing God's voice. However, the key topic of this study is how to know and do God's will. It is important to see that these two topics go hand-in-hand. Hearing God and doing His will are mutually inclusive.

In Part 1 we looked briefly at...
1.  Realizing the responsibility of knowing and doing the will of the Father. (Ps.40:8).
2.  Realizing that we need to ask God to teach us to do His will. (Ps.143:10)
3.  The importance of doing the will of the Father? (Matt.7:21, Mk.3:33-35, 1 Jn.2:17).

If I am to do God's will then it would stand to reason that the Father is not going to keep us in the dark about it. God does not play the game of hide-n-seek when it comes to us knowing His will and doing it. He does not set us up for failure. He is more concerned and committed with us knowing His will and His work then we are. Therefore He has placed some clear instructions in His Word concerning His will for us to get us started in the area of hearing and obeying His will.

What do the Scriptures say concerning the will of the Father that we are commanded to accomplish? These should be so important to us that they are the bread of life which sustains us.

SCRIPTURE #1 OF GOD'S WILL FOR US: It is God's will that we give thanks IN ALL circumstances no matter what they are or what they look like or what they cost us. We are not commanded to have a heart of thanksgiving FOR them, but we are to have a thankful heart IN the midst of them.

1 Thessalonians 5:18 ESV (18) give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

SCRIPTURE #2 OF GOD'S WILL FOR US: It is God's will that we be pure and holy and free from sexual sins. I will break this 1 Thess.4:3 passage down word by word.

1 Thessalonians 4:3 ESV (3) For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality;

The Greek of 1 Thess.4:3 would say that the will of God is that we walk in sanctification, purity, holiness. In doing so we should abstain, refrain from, and hold oneself off from, sexual immorality. The sexual immorality of this verse is in word, deed, and thought and includes, sex outside of marriage (fornication), harlotry (adultery and incest), and idolatry (spiritual fornication).  The Greek word here for sexual immorality is "porneia" and is pronounced "porniah". It is where we get the English word porn and pornography.

So, here are two areas of God's will that we can take to the Father, confess, hear with the intent to do, then be obedient and do.

John 7:16-18 ESV So Jesus answered them, "My teaching is not mine, but his who sent me. (17) If anyone's will is to do God's will, he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own authority. (18) The one who speaks on his own authority seeks his own glory; but the one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and in him there is no falsehood.

The purpose of reading John 7:16-18 is to turn our thinking from the “old man” to the new man in Christ. It’s to cause us to hear the Holy Spirit when He is speaking.

THE HEART THAT IS "WILLING TO DO"
In John 7:17 there is a principal expressed. It is a principle which is expressed in many places in both the Old and New Testaments. Our Lord Jesus Christ is saying, “He that is willing to do God's will that person shall know of the teaching whether it is of man or of God.” 

The principal teaching of John 7:17 is, "BE WILLING TO DO." The one who is willing to do, is the same one who SHALL KNOW. With God, knowing only comes to those who are first willing to do.

Luke 1:38 ESV And Mary said, "Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word." And the angel departed from her.

Mary, the mother of our Lord, stated this principle when she said “be it unto me according to thy word.”

Typically with us, we want God to say what it is He wants us to do so we can judge whether or not we will do it.

God will not speak to the heart of a man who is unwilling. God speaks to the man or the woman or the child who first presents to Him a heart that says, “I’ll do it!” 

The interesting thing about the mother of Jesus and her encounter with the angel is the angel did not approach Mary asking her permission concerning her role. The angel, by way of the knowledge of heaven, already knew the answer Mary would give. And that was why she was most favored. The angel knew that in Mary’s heart she was already available to God for whatever God spoke to her.

What does God the Father already know about you? Are you willing to do? Is there a YES in your heart towards the will and way of the Father?