“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?” (Jer 17:9, NKJ)
We’ll look later on at what in particular misleads a believer to “incorrectly” hear God’s voice. But at this point, while we’re talking about the will of God, we need to highlight two aspects, one positive and one negative, that are all-important in the process of coming to the “knowledge of His will” (Col 1:9).
Let’s look at the negative aspect first. In the believer’s desire to walk in the will of God, it is vitally important to always pray and confess: “nevertheless, not my will, but Yours, be done”! (Luke 22:42). But because the flesh lusts against the Spirit and the Spirit is against the flesh, they stand against each other IN YOU, so that you do not do the things you wish to do (Gal 5:17). A person’s heart helps very little in this process as it is “deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked”. The God’s Word translation states it even more clearly: “The human mind is the most deceitful of all things. It is incurable. No one can understand how deceitful it is.” It is for this reason that your thoughts must continually be made to submit to “the mind of Christ” (1 Cor 2:16).
But because we actually lie to ourselves, our will becomes an idol in our decision-making. If we then go to God with a treacherous thought to gain His OK, then we are not asking for the will of God, but actually just the condoning of our own will under the guise that it is God’s will. Then a terrible thing happens: God sends a lying spirit (even in the mouth of a Godly prophet) to answer you according to the desire in your heart (Eze 14:4). Frightening.
Positive: Christ is the Prince of Peace (Is 9:6) and when a decision is in line with His will then you experience peace which your mind can’t understand (Phil 4:7). Keep testing your decision if there is a nagging splinter that bothers you. The peace that Christ gives, says Col 3:15, must “rule in your hearts”, especially when it comes to discerning God’s will.
- Sela: Under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, try to remember and discern any choices that you might have made in the past where your heart have deceived you. Deal with these and ask the Holy Spirit to continually make you walk “in accord with Christ Jesus” (Rom 15:5, ESV).
- Read: Ex 32; Ps 82; Mark 8
- Memorise: Mark 8:34-35
- Going deeper: Read about this subject in Tim LaHaye’s book: Finding the will of God in a crazy, mixed-up world. There are many practical guidelines, but also some aspects that are not altogether correct, so read with discernment.
