Many Christians are confused about how to find the will of God for their lives. This book is an attempt to help them. It presents no perfect formula for infallible guidance, for the Bible presents none. We must beware of seeking Divine guidance in a mechanical rather than in a spiritual way.
This book is not meant to provide you with all the answers. Its main purpose is to encourage you to be more dependent on the Holy Spirit. Watchman Nee has said,
"We human beings are not to produce 'perfect' books. The danger of such perfection is that a man can understand without the help of the Holy Spirit. But if God gives us books they will ever be broken fragments, not always clear or consistent or logical, lacking conclusions, and yet coming to us in life and ministering life to us. We cannot dissect Divine facts and outline and systematize them. It is only the immature Christian who demands always to have intellectually satisfying conclusions. The Word of God itself has this fundamental character, that it speaks always and essentially to our spirit and to our life."
May this book impart not merely information to your mind, but above all, life to your spirit.
A word concerning the content of this book: No paragraph, or even chapter, is complete in itself, if it is not read in the context of the whole book. In some cases, even if one sentence in the book is ignored or carelessly read, it may result in an entirely different impression being conveyed, from the one intended. I would therefore urge the reader to read through the book slowly and carefully (read it twice if possible) in order to get the message correctly.
Chapter Two is perhaps the most important chapter in the book. If we fulfil the conditions for finding God's will, then guidance invariably becomes a simple matter. When we get bogged down, it is usually due to some prerequisite remaining unfulfilled in our life. May the Lord help each of us to glorify Him by doing His will on earth as it is done in heaven.
I have not used the King James Versions herein, lest its archaic language prevent us from understanding the real meaning of Scripture. I have instead, used modern translations for all Scripture quotations. I once heard an adaptation of the incident described in Acts 8:30, 31. Philip asks the Ethiopian statesman, "Do you understand what you are reading?" The latter replies, "How can I unless some one gives me a modern translation?"
Scripture quotations are from the Amplified Bible * except where otherwise stated, "JBP" refers to J.B. Phillips translation of the New Testament. ** "TLB" refers to "The Living Bible" Kenneth Taylor's paraphrase of the Scriptures. "NASB" refers to the New American Standard Bible. I gratefully acknowledge permission to use the quotations from these versions.
I am indebted to a number of the Lord's servants who read through the original manuscript of this book and offered helpful suggestions.
