Led by the Spirit: How to Know God’s Will in Every Decision

Being led by the Spirit is a lot easier than many have made it out to be.

Look at what Jesus says on this subject in the book of John: “The Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you” (John 14:17).

Jesus says you know Him! So agree with Him! Even if you don’t feel it, even when you’re not sure, just agree with Him. You should never say, “I don’t know what to do.” Even if you don’t know what to do, don’t say that! Say what Jesus said about you! “I know Him, I know His voice, He is leading me, He is showing me.” If you want to make it easy for God to move in your life, you need to start by saying what He says about you instead of what your feelings and emotions are telling you.

He’s a faith God, and the only way He can help you at all is to get you in the arena of faith. Forget what you feel. I know that is counterculture in today’s social climate, but you will find most all the Word of God is counterculture. The kingdom of God and the kingdom of this world operate by two completely different systems.

Faith is Inseparable from Being Led

You cannot separate faith from being led by the Spirit of God. Faith begins where the will of God is known. You see, we don’t just have faith; we have faith in God. You must hear from God, either through His Word or by Him speaking to you, before you can have faith for anything. We can have faith for things that are clearly laid out in the Word that we know belong to us!

You can have faith that He is leading you because you just read and know that is without a doubt His will and plan for you. You can have faith for your healing and faith that His will is provision, because you have already heard from Him about that through His Word. But for specific direction in your life you must hear from Him specifically. You have to know at the very beginning on this faith journey that you cannot separate faith from being led by the Spirit.

How many times have people asked us to agree with them about something, and we really have no idea if that is the will of God or not. They, of course, are referring to Matthew 18:19, and I like the Amplified translation of this verse: “Again I say to you that if two believers on earth agree [that is are of one mind, in harmony] about anything that they ask [within the will of God], it will be done for them by My Father in heaven.” People may say something like, “Agree with me that I’ll get this promotion.”

First, of all, we haven’t prayed together or asked the Father for anything, so we are starting off by not even doing what this verse says. Second, I would have to hear from God that you are supposed to get that promotion for me to agree with you. I don’t know His will concerning your job. He usually doesn’t talk to other people about His will for you, and you shouldn’t be asking other people to find out His will for you. If I heard from God about it and I know you are supposed to get it, that is the only way I can agree with you about that.

That may explain a lot of why people have had so much that hasn’t worked out in their faith lives. I don’t know if that company is going to do away with that department in a month or two, and you would be out of a job altogether. I can agree with you on what the Bible says. I can agree that your steps are ordered of the Lord, that you know His voice and the voice of a stranger you will not follow, that you’re in the right place at the right time and His plans are to prosper you. The Good News Translation of Jeremiah 29:11 says, “I alone know the plans I have for you, plans to bring you prosperity and not disaster, plans to bring about the future you hope for.”

You Must Hear from Him

As soon as David had become king, the Philistines came against him, thinking they should try to cut him down right at the beginning of his reign before he even had time to get organized and settled in. Of course, David heard about it and inquired of the Lord if he should go against them, asking if God would give him victory. The Lord told David He would absolutely deliver them into his hand! David did, and God did exactly what He said He would do. And David won the battle (2 Samuel 5:17-20).

Then the Philistines came again and went to the same valley and tried it again. “Same story, second verse, a little bit louder, a little bit worse.” That’s not a scripture, that’s just a saying I quote all the time. And the Bible says, “David inquired of the Lord” again. You might think, Why ask again? We already know they are the enemy of God’s people. We already know it wouldn’t be God’s will for them to win the battle over us. We already beat them once, and this will be no different. I’ll just tell you what we are going to do. God has already shown us that He is with us. We are just going to go to the Valley of Rephaim and take care of business! This is not right for them to win over us!

Now wait a minute, did God tell you to go to the valley and do that same thing again? You can’t have faith to do something just because you want to do it or even just because its right. You have to hear from God specifically to have specific direction.

So, David inquired of the Lord again, and it’s a good thing he did! This time the Lord said, “You shall not go up; circle around behind them, and come upon them in front of the mulberry trees. And it shall be, when you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the mulberry trees, then you shall advance quickly. For then the Lord will go out before you to strike the camp of the Philistines” (2 Samuel 5:23-25). David did, and God did exactly what He said He would do. And David won the battle, again!

Maybe you’ve heard someone say about a situation, “I’m just going to go to such a such a place and do so and so because this isn’t right. The Greater One lives in me!” Now wait a minute! Did the Lord tell you to go? It sounds good, and we even quoted a scripture about our authority. After all, it is true that the Greater One is in believers. First John 4:4 says, “You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.” Yet, while that’s true, you are not on your own, and you must hear from God.

David made it a practice of inquiring of the Lord. We should make it a practice of asking Him too—even when we know what is right, and even when we know our authority. God may have an amazing plan that you hadn’t thought about. He might want you to wait a little longer while He gets things in place and set up for you. David wouldn’t have thought about going around behind, and certainly, he wouldn’t have known to wait to hear the wind blowing the tops of the mulberry trees. But God did, and that was the exact moment that God told Him to strike. God was setting things up for an amazing victory, and even the right thing at the wrong time is still wrong. Make it a habit to check in with God. He will lead you in amazing ways.