Finding God's Will For My Life — Carter Conlon

Pursuing God's Will Through a New Life in Christ

Psalm 40, if you have a Bible with you or some kind of a device that you can get the Word of God on, I want to speak to you about finding the will of God for your life. If you are a believer in Jesus Christ, whether you've been walking with Him for many, many years or you're brand new to the faith in Christ, it should be the pursuit of your heart to say, God, I want to know what you want my life to be.

I want to walk with you all of my days. You promised that in Christ, I am a new creation. So I want this new life that you said belongs to me. I want to know what it is. I want to begin to walk in it.

And in Psalm 40, verses seven and eight, it begins with these words, in verse seven and eight, that is, the Psalmist David, a man after God's heart. It's not like he was perfect. He obviously made some mistakes along the way, but he had this inherent nature in his heart to say, God, I want you.

I want your will, I want your ways. And even if I've gone off on a crooked path, I want you to bring me back to a straight path again. I want to be the person that you created me to be. Is there anybody here this morning that you feel in your heart that life has something more for you than you're living right now?

You see, God planted that there. And if you're a believer in Jesus Christ, you have the presence of God's Holy Spirit within your life. And because of that, God is constantly whispering. As a matter of fact, the scripture says, the Spirit of God is groaning within you, that you and I would come into an agreement with him as to what is the divine purpose of each one of our lives.

David says in Psalm 40, verse seven and eight, then said I, behold, I come. Matter of fact, I could give an altar call right now. We're going to finish with that verse when I'm done speaking. In the scroll of the book, it is written of me.

I delight to do your will, oh my God, and your law is within my heart. What is written of you in the records of God? Can it be said in my heart and in your heart, God, I delight to do your will, even when his will is not delightful?

There are some things that God asks us to do that are far from delightful. As a matter of fact, sometimes it even produces a revulsion in our own spirit, but there has to be something that overrides that revulsion within us, and we say, God, I delight to do your will.

I'm putting a higher law over the law of my own heart. For example, the Bible tells us to forgive our enemies. That's a tough thing to do. I know there are people here that think people have done things to you, said things to you that may be past or present or may be in the future, but the Lord tells us to forgive as we are forgiven, and that is the will of God.

It's not a delightful thing to do that. It's a difficult thing to do that, so we have to want to do the will of God more than the will of our own hearts, and your law is written within my heart. Now, this is the testimony of every one of us who have yielded our future into the hands of God.

Becoming a New Creation Through the Holy Spirit

When I came to Christ, I was told by the man who led me to the Lord that if anyone be in Christ, he's a new creation. The old things in his life are passed away, and behold, all things are become new, and I remember thinking, is that possible?

Can the things in my life actually change? Can I be a different person than the person that I am? The things that I try to change in my own strength, I find I can't change, I'm just getting worse. Paul the apostle talks about that at length in Romans chapter six to Romans chapter eight.

I want to change, I know what to do, I know what is, I know I should be a good husband, I know I should be a good father, I know I should be truthful in all things, I know I should be a good person, and I want to in my heart, but I don't know where the power comes from to do these things.

But the day that I receive Christ as my Savior, as with you, the Holy Spirit now, the power of God comes to take up residence inside of each one of our lives. God begins to speak to us through his word, and by the power of his Holy Spirit, the old things are passed away, and behold, all things have become new.

We are born again by the Spirit of God. We become the person that God intended us to be, and we start walking in the way that God intended us to walk. Acknowledging that once we belong to God through Christ, we're set apart and we're called to a journey where Jesus himself will glorify his own name in and through each one of us.

Father, glorify thyself. It's still the cry of my heart, you know, that I'm 69, I turned 69 this past week. I can't wait for 70, because 70 sounds younger than 69, but I still have that cry in my heart.

God, I'm not done yet. There's something that you want to do. It's a whisper in my heart. I don't fully know what it is, but oh God, not my will, but thine, be done. Now it's assumed that being a follower of Jesus Christ, that you now want his will and his way to govern your future.

Obeying Jesus in the Hard Commands of Luke 6

In Luke chapter six, in verse 46, now Jesus is speaking to a lot of people that are following him because, for various reasons, they're following him because demonic powers are being broken, bread is being manufactured out of nothing.

People are feeling hope for their future. But now he starts to say to the crowd and to his own disciples some things that are hard to hear. He says, love your enemies and do good to those that hate you.

That's hard. That's hard to do. I've had to battle with that. I know you've had. Please don't give me your sanctified. Look, you know how hard it is to do good to those who hate you. The person across the hall, you don't have to go any farther than that.

If you live in an apartment building, there's a person who hates you right across the hall. You know, God says, take them a cake, and you say, no, I'm not doing that. I'm not going to do good to those who hate me.

How about this one? Bless those who curse you. Curse you. Bless them. Do something good for them. Bring them flowers. Do something nice to them. And pray for those who despitefully use you. Now, I'm not talking about pray that they get run over by a bus.

Pray that God will bless them, change them, help them. Whoever strikes you on the one cheek, offer him the other. I'm not good at that. I don't know about you, I'm not very good at that. I have a one-strike law that goes on in my heart.

How about this in verse 30 of Luke 6? Give to everyone who asks of you. If somebody needs something, and you have it within your means to help, don't turn away. Verse 37 says, don't judge, and you shall not be judged.

That's a tough one. And then he finishes it by saying, forgive, and you shall be forgiven. Then he turns to the crowd, and he says these words in verse 46. But why do you call me Lord, Lord, and you don't do the things that I say?

You know, a lot of people follow Jesus Christ for various reasons, a lot of different reasons. But not necessarily to follow him in obedience to the things that he speaks into their heart. I love it because, some would say, because he gives me a sense of peace.

He gives me a sense of well-being. I mean, who wouldn't want an assurance that when we die, heaven is gonna be our home? There are various, various reasons that people follow God. But is it written in the book of God, Lord, I delight to do your will, and your law is written within my heart?

Persevering in Salvation and the Desire to Obey

The writer of the book of Hebrews, in Hebrews chapter six, is speaking to people of his time who have a tendency to embrace, I guess, wholeheartedly an initial relationship with the Son of God. But then they choose to back away.

They say, no, I like the old ways better. I like my old life better. I like the old ways of doing things. What's so wrong with going out to a club on Saturday night anyway? I'll be in church on Sunday morning, and such like.

And they draw back into this old way, and the writer of Hebrews is cautioning the people, said don't play games with the Holy God. He has stretched out his hand, and he's offered us eternal life. He's offered us an abundant life in this world, but don't play games with that.

There's a danger in that. And the writer says, but beloved, in Hebrews 6, 9, we're confident of better things of you, yes, things that accompany salvation. And I am personally confident today that many who are here listening to the sound of my voice, you want, most of all, to do his will.

It's a desire in your heart as a new believer in Christ, or as somebody who's walked with God for a season. I want to do the will of God. That was the cry of my heart as a young believer, way back in 1978.

A lot of you weren't even born then. And I remember I would open the word of God, and I would say, God, this is my future. This is the way you asked me to think about things, including marriage and friendship, and what is right and what is wrong.

It's all written inside your word, and I would pray, God, help me to understand your word, and help me to obey it when you speak to me. So this is where, I want to talk about the will of God in two contexts, and these are my definitions.

The Common Will of God Revealed in Scripture

But there is, number one, there's a common will of God. That will of God that is clearly revealed, it's spoken in the scriptures, it's available, and commanded, may I say, of everyone who calls himself by the name of Jesus Christ.

The common will is clear. You have to study the word of God. Paul, the apostle, says to Timothy, his disciple, in 2 Timothy, chapter two, and verse 15. He says, be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

Actually, I like the original King James better. It says, study, study the word of God, study to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed. It means a worker who will not be triumphed over in this life, a worker who will not start out one way and not finish the things that he's begun to build.

And the word of God tells us clearly, as we begin to study the word of God, like you see, you can't grow in grace without studying the word of God. A lot of people trying to walk with God based on emotions, that's a great thing.

Thank God for emotions. I had a surge of emotion today during the worship. I love those songs. You are the strength of my life, you're the source of my strength, you're the strength of my life. I just love the words, I love to worship God.

I love the fellowship of God's saints. I love the way I felt when I walked into the sanctuary looking at a lot of old faces and a lot of new faces in the house of God. I just love being in the house of God among God's people.

But that itself will not keep me. Fellowship is not going to keep me. Fellowship is a great thing. Worship alone is not going to keep me. I have to get into the word of God and I have to study the word of God because this is where I'm going to learn the will of God for my life.

Listen to what it says in 1 Thessalonians chapter five. I'll just give you a couple of things. 1 Thessalonians chapter five and verse 18. In everything give thanks for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

In everything give thanks. Thank you Lord for my marriage. Thank you for my family. Thank you for my job. Thank you for the house that I live in. Thank you for New York City. Thank you God for my friends.

Thank you for my enemies. It does say in everything. In everything give thanks. So everything is everything. There's no caveat there. There's no little asterisk at the bottom of the page. It does not include your enemies and those who honk their horns at you as you're driving home after church today.

In everything give thanks. A thankful life is a great life to have. We spend a lot of our time saying God get me out of here and I'll be so thankful if you get me out of here. Get me out of this relationship.

Get me out of this job. Get me out of this city. Get me out of wherever I happen to be in and I will be the best Christian ever. And the Lord says no. The will of God is that you learn to give thanks in everything, everything.

Nothing, nothing is by chance in the Christian life. God has you where you are supposed to be at this time in your life. God gave you the body that you're supposed to have. Give thanks. He didn't make a mistake.

Don't try to change what God is doing inside of your life. In First Thessalonians chapter four, listen to this, verse three to seven. For this is the will of God, your sanctification that you should abstain from sexual immorality, that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel, it means his body, and sanctification and honor, not in passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God, that no one should take advantage of and defraud his brother in this matter because the Lord is the avenger of all such as we also forewarned you and testified.

For God did not call us to uncleanness but to holiness. You see, the will of God is clear. This is the point I'm trying to make is you don't have to search for the will of God. It's right here. You search in a sense in the Bibles.

You study the scriptures. It is clearly revealed. It's not a needle in the haystack, the will of God. There's a common will. You can't find it apart from studying the word of God. You have to be a person of the book.

You have to be in the Bible. You cannot live your Christian life on emotion. You can't live it on feelings. You can't live it on anything else. You have to get into the word of God to know what the will of God is for you, the common will of God, which is common to everybody in this and all other churches.

And then you have to trust the Holy Spirit for the anointing, the power, the ability that God gives to be the person that he says that we're supposed to be. God, I can't give thanks in all things. And you can suddenly think of 15 things you can't give thanks for.

But the Lord says, let me teach you. Let me empower you. As David said, it is written of me. It is written of me in the scroll of the book. I delight to do your will. Oh my God. And your law is within my heart.

I don't know how. I can't tell you the number of times over the years that I was reading the Bible and said, God, I don't know how to do this. I remember when I first read in Ephesians 5, it says, husbands, love your wives.

It says, Christ loved the church. I blurted out. I said, oh yeah, that's easy for you to say. I was talking to the apostle Paul. He said, you weren't even married. If you don't play the game, you shouldn't be making the rules for everybody else.

But I said, God, you're gonna have to help me. You're gonna have to show me because I'm naturally selfish. I'm not inclined to be given for others, God. And you say I'm to be given for my wife as Christ has given for the church.

Oh Lord, that's such a tall order. And the Lord spoke to my heart and said, for you it is, for me, it's not a tall order at all. If you will let me, I will teach you how. First of all, though, you have to want, you have to want what's written in the word.

You have to drop all the excuses for why you're not what I've called you to be. And let me change you from the inside out. Now that's the general will of God, which leads us now to the specific will of God.

Embracing God's Specific Calling

The specific will of God is that which I am uniquely called for His purposes. It's something that God has given me to do in His kingdom. It's maybe different from you because, you know, in the scripture it says there's all kinds of different callings and operations within the body of Christ.

But the specific will of God won't come my way, in my opinion, until I have embraced the general will of God, or the common will of God, until I'm a man that wants the will of God, that wants the word of God to be enacted and alive in my life.

And as I begin to walk, the best I know, as David said, the best I know with His word entrenched in my heart, then the specific calling of God will come my way. Luke chapter 22, and I want you to see this because this is where it's really gonna come to the fore.

In Luke chapter 22, we see Jesus Christ, the Son of God, He knew what He was called to do. There was never any doubt in His mind. He knew it from the time that He was a young boy. But at about the time, the specific will of God for His life, the specific will of His Father was coming into view.

In Luke chapter 22, in verse 41, it says, He was withdrawn from them about a stone's throw, and He knelt down and prayed. And He said, Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me. Nevertheless, not My will, but Yours be done.

We don't want to think of Jesus Christ as having a will of His own, but He did. You see, He was not only fully God, He was fully man. The Bible says He was tested in all points, like as we are, yet without sin.

And so here He is at the very moment now where the specific will of God for His life is about to be fulfilled, and He's praying, and He says, Oh, Father, if it's possible, take this from Me, but nevertheless, not My will, but Thine be done.

And as I look at that, I wonder, there's a My will in Jesus' prayer. We always just assume that He just was a hop, skip, and jump right to the cross and into the tomb, but it wasn't, He had a will. The human side of Him had a will.

I don't know what that was. I mean, I could conjecture His will is obviously not to suffer, to be separated for any space of time from His Father. They'd never been separated from all of eternity, and to suffer the wrath of God the Father, and to suffer physical pain, and the crucifixion, the rejection of man, and is it possible?

I'm only throwing it out to you that He just wanted to live a normal life for a season. There was a My will in His prayer, just as there's a My will in my prayer sometimes. God, I don't know if I want to do this.

Then, in verse 47, it says, and while He was still speaking, behold, a multitude, and He who was called Judas, one of the 12, went before them and drew near to Jesus to kiss Him. So, as He's praying in Gethsemane, not My will, but Thine be done.

Oh, Father, if it's possible, take this cup from, as He's praying, He doesn't have to seek the will of God at this point, because the will of God, this specific will of God is coming His way. It's a crowd led by a man called Judas.

And if you can hear it today, I don't know if you can, but if you can, Judas was in the will of God as well. He was chosen by God to betray the Son of God. Scripture bears witness to that. Now, he's in hell today, I understand that, but he was selected because of the crookedness inside of him to do the thing that he did.

And so, the point is, as Jesus is praying, not My will, but Thine be done, the will of God, the specific will of God is coming towards Him. What I'm trying to say is, you don't have to find the specific will of God, it will come your way.

The battle you and I are going to fight is very similar to Christ. Remember, He said, if anyone will be My disciple, let him or her deny himself, take up your cross, and follow Me. So, we will fight the same fight.

The battle He was fighting is when the specific will of God came and embraced Him that He wouldn't push it away. Remember, Judas came with a crowd, and how did Judas come? He embraced Him and kissed Him.

Jesus could have easily pushed away the will of God at that point and say, no, I'm not doing this. The battle He had to fight was to allow the will of God to embrace Him. You see, the specific will of God might not be your first choice, might not even be your 10th choice.

Receiving God's Call to New York City

I remember in 1994, it was May 1994, I was invited to New York City. Matter of fact, I didn't even agree to come and speak here on a Tuesday night, it was my wife who agreed and told David Wilkerson, my husband will be there.

Never even asked me, just told him when he called, she said, no, he'll be there. I remember when she called me, I was at a prayer meeting, she said, David Wilkerson just called, and she had called me and said, it's an emergency.

David Wilkerson just called, he wants you to speak in New York City on Tuesday night. I said, did you tell him I'd pray about it? She said, heck no, I told him you'd be there on Tuesday. So, I ended up here, not of my own accord, and I was in an apartment building the church had across the street on 51st, and was looking out the window.

Now, the only thing I knew about New York City is the cross and the switchblade. I didn't know anything about New York City. The cross and the switchblade, everybody's running through back alleys, stabbing each other, it's not exactly a pretty picture of the city.

I was looking out an apartment window, and what I was looking at at the moment kind of furthered that image that I had in my heart. And suddenly, suddenly, the Holy Spirit spoke to me. He said, Carter, would you be willing to come here if I call you here?

Now, I'm only coming to speak on Tuesday night. God's talking about something way beyond Tuesday night, and I know it's not my own thinking because I don't really want to be here. The first thing out of my mouth is, what about my wife and what about my children?

We have a wonderful church, we're in revival, we've got missions, teams going all over the place, we're packing people in on Sunday morning. My kids are in a Christian school, and they have their friends and their community.

And the Lord said, you put them in my hands. You trust me and you put them in my hands, and I will not fail you or your house. Then there's a knock at the same time on my door. I opened the door, it's David Wilkerson.

I had never met him before, I didn't know him. And we talked a little bit, then he said, would you come for a walk with me? I said, sure. So we went down and we went down on Broadway, and there used to be across the street a show called Cats.

And we stopped under the marquee and he looked, he stopped and he turned and he looked at me and he said, would you be willing to pray about coming here to help me? Now the Lord has just spoken to me on the 38th floor of this apartment building, and now David Wilkerson is speaking to me.

It's to receive the embrace of God's will. Honestly, it was not my first choice. There was nothing about New York City that attracted me whatsoever. We had a wonderful church. God was blessing us in a very powerful way.

I was traveling a good part of the country as a young revivalist slash evangelist, and everything seemed to be in order. And suddenly a phone call changes everything. It was the specific will of God. 1994, I went home and I prayed and I said, God, you want me to do this?

And he spoke to my heart and said, yes, and gave me five reasons, which I wrote down as to why I want you to come to New York City. And that's a long, long time ago. I don't regret a day of it. What a great journey this has been.

The dancing in the sanctuary, the thousands that have come to Christ, the great testimony of God that has gone all over the world and continues to do so in an even increasing way in this particular time.

I thank God that he has planted in many of our hearts the willingness to obey him, the willingness to do his will. I want it said of me, behold, I come in the scroll of the book it is written of me. I delight to do your will, oh my God, and your law is written within my heart.

And so here I am now at 69 years of age and I pray every day, God, what do you have for my life now? What do you want me to do? Not what I think I should do, but what do you want me to do? Whether it's something that I want to do or something I don't want to do, God almighty, would you give me the grace, would you give all of us the grace to obey you all the days of our lives?

Building on the Rock Through Obedience

Now, let me conclude with just this story where Jesus said to the people, why do you call me Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say? He didn't say that to them to condemn them. There was something in his heart that he was about to convey.

It might seem hard, a harsh statement. He's asking him to do all these things that are impossible to do apart from the inner strength that God gives. But then he says, don't call me Lord if you're not willing to do the things which I say.

But then he gives the reason. He said, whoever comes to me and hears my sayings and does them, I will show you who he's like. He's like a man building a house who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock.

And when the flood arose and the stream beat vehemently against that house and could not shake it for it was founded upon the rock. And you and I are living in a days of floods and streams now. We're living in a season of upheaval.

We're living at a time in this world where there's a Christ revulsion in a sense and the revulsion for the people of God that's rising up all over the world now. If there's anything in my heart that tells me we are near the coming of Christ, that does.

You shall be hated of all nations for my namesake. He warned his disciples. He told us that these days were coming. But he said, whoever wants to do my will, whoever hears the things that I'm saying, whoever turns to me in a sense for the strength that only I can give, they're building a house that when the floods come and the winds come and all of hell comes against their house, their house is going to stand because they have founded it upon the rock of truth.

Jesus Christ wants you to stand. Wants you to be as the apostle Paul who said, having done all to stand, not overthrown by the adversities in life, but you've learned to give thanks in all things. Not taken down by the cursing and criticizing of the enemies of the people of God because you have learned to pray and to blast those who curse and criticize you.

You have embraced the will of God. It is written of me, I delight to do your will, oh my God, your law is written within my heart. Oh God, give us the sense to begin to obey the things that we know so that when things come against us that we can't defeat in our own strength, the strength of God will already have found a residence inside of each of our lives.

Young Christians that are here, let me tell you, you got to take seriously what you're hearing today because you're going to face some storms that many of us have not had to face in our lifetime. You're going to face difficulties, trials, accusations.

It's going to be difficult in the days ahead. But the promise of Christ is if you will obey, if you will delight yourself in the things that I speak to you, if you will let me change you from the inside out and make you into the person that only I can make you into, when the storms come, you will not fall.

Your house will not even be shaken, he said. You'll be standing upon the rock, Christ Jesus. I shared with the choir this morning before we came out into the service that God him, David the psalmist said, the Lord, I was sinking and the Lord heard my cry and he lifted me out of the miry clay and he set me upon a rock.

That's what he's speaking about here. And put a new song into my heart. He says, many shall see it and many shall fear and many shall trust in the Lord. A song of stability, a song that's in the heart of those who know where we're going.

We know who God is, we understand his power, we know what he's done and we know what he can do in the future. I shall not be moved, hallelujah. No matter what comes against us, we will not. That is the promise of God.

And we will have a song in this generation that doesn't need words to be sung. We will have a song that this world will be able to see of strength, of stability, of glory, of joy, of the presence of God inside of our lives.

All hell might be breaking out around us, but we don't even need a band to sing in the house of God. We don't even need anybody else singing. We come in and say, thank you, Lord God, for what you've done in my life.

Thank you for your strength. Thank you for your power. Thank you for your glory. Thank you for my children. Thank you, God, for my brothers and sisters. Thank you for my marriage. Thank you, God. Thank you, Lord.

Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord. I have put it all in your hands, and I believe that you're able to keep everything I have entrusted unto you against that day. I believe that we will stand one day at the throne of God.

We will throw our crowns at the feet of Jesus and say only you could have given us the strength to be the people that you call us to be. It is written of me, oh God. It is written of me. I delight to do your will, and your law is written within my heart.

Hallelujah. Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah. Glory to God, glory, glory, glory. Glory, glory, glory. Hallelujah. Paul the apostle said to those coming after him, follow me as I follow Christ. He was beaten, stoned, shipwrecked.

He said we are, I'm gonna paraphrase him, but he said essentially we're cast down, we're not destroyed, we're betrayed, but it doesn't take away our confidence. We have learned that we can endure all things through Christ who strengthens us.

I delight to do your will, oh my God. Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God. It's a constant prayer of my heart. Having come this far over these many years, Lord, don't let me live according to my own will now, because every one of us has to face it, not my will, but thine be done.

Every one of us has to look at something maybe that we would rather not do or places we'd rather not go, but there's nowhere else to go but the will of God and the embrace of God. So Father, thank you, God.

Thank you, Jesus Christ. Thank you, Lord. You have a people here in New York City and this sanctuary today and around the world that are listening, God, and we desire to be your people. We want to walk in your will and walk in your ways, but we recognize there's no stability apart from it.

We can't play games with you, Lord. You promise us life and you promise it more abundantly, but you tell us to study and show ourselves approved. God, help us to not reject the hard truths, the things of our character that need to change, God, and you promise you'll change them.

Help us, Lord Jesus Christ. Give us the grace to do what you're asking of us right now. And so here's where I want to finish today. What is God asking you to do right now? You know, it's amazing. On a personal note, I'm traveling a lot in the next couple of months, and recently the Lord said, I want you to stop traveling and I want you to wait on me.