Learning God's will

“Teach me to do Your will, for You are my God; may Your good Spirit lead me on level ground.” Psalm 143:10
We can often think of God’s will as some abstract concept, an unsolvable mystery, something God keeps hidden from us. But the Bible teaches otherwise. In fact, it even gives us some general statements about what the will of God - e.g. that we be sanctified (1 Thess. 4:3), that we do good works (1 Pet. 2:15), etc. God wants us to draw ever closer to Him, being conformed to the image of His Son. God also has a specific will for each of us. For Paul it was being an apostle (Eph. 1:1 etc.). For some people, it may be to endure suffering for His name (1 Pet. 4:19). For Jesus, it was pleasing the Father in all that He did (John 8:29).
The key to learning what God’s will is for us is two-fold. Firstly, we need to be reading the Bible, because this is the primary way that God reveals Himself to us. Secondly, we need to be mindful of the Holy Spirit leading and guiding us. He does this by tweaking our conscience. We might make a decision in one way, and have a pang in our heart that it is not the right decision. That’s the Holy Spirit convicting you. It takes a lifetime to learn this, but it’s something we can all aspire to.
Finally let’s close with these words from James: “If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him” (James 1:5). It is very wise to seek out what God’s will is, both generally and specifically. All you need to do is ask Him – and obey.