Dear brothers and sisters. It is January. And if you’re living in Africa, you would have heard many of our biggest pastors reveal prophecies about the will of God for your life for 2024. So I thought I’d take this opportunity to also make some declarations over your life, decreeing the perfect will of God for your life and loved ones.
I thought I’d take this opportunity to also make some declarations over your life.
However, I’m not going to start where most of those famed pastors and celebrity prophets do. Instead I want to first highlight that discerning God’s will for your life is a matter of utmost importance. Then we’ll turn to hear from God himself what his will is for our lives and those we love.
We Must All Discern the Will of God
Hear Jesus’ warning: “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 7:21).
This is a matter of utmost importance.
Thus Paul would later write: “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect” (Romans 12:1-2).
But What Is His Will for You?
At this point, it’s worth us asking if God has specified anything when it comes to his will. For, however well meaning the bold declarations of Africa’s biggest names in the church, in the end we want to follow God’s path and not anyone else’s. Thankfully, God has much to say. Consider these verses:
- “This is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality” (1 Thessalonians 4:3, 4:11); “that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people” (1 Peter 2:15)
- “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18)
- “Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God” (1 Peter 4:1-2)
- “Follow God’s example, therefore…among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people. Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving” (Ephesians 5:1, 3-4)
- “He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” (Micah 6:8)
- Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is” (Ephesians 5:15-17).
It’s Less Complicated Than We Make It
We can conclude at least one thing from the scriptures quoted above. God’s will for how we will live our life in the year(s) ahead is fairly clear in the Bible. You don’t need a prophet to tell you. Nor must you wait for some profound pronouncement from a famous preacher. Our focus this year, like every other year, must be on doing the will of our Father in heaven. And almost all of those verses I’ve quoted above tie this in with personal holiness and putting off sin.
Almost all of those verses I’ve quoted tie God’s will in with personal holiness.
Now, I’m aware what some readers will be asking, even protesting. What about particular, unique situations? For those we see the importance of using the wisdom God has given us, walking with the help of God’s indwelling Spirit to test and weigh the options before us (Ephesians 5:15-17), discerning what the will of God is in our peculiar contexts (Romans 12:1–2). Yet even in those we must pursue obedience and holiness, resisting sin. Furthermore, we should “rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-17).
May God be with you this year, as you strive with the help of the Holy Spirit, to live out his will for your life, revealed in his word.
