What Seeking God's Will Actually Looks Like

At this point, a reader might ask: this all sounds beautiful in theory. But what does it actually look like in practice? How do you seek God's will if you do not have an expert to tell you what it is? How do you avoid chaos and self-deception? How do you know you are not simply rationalizing what you want?

The answer is embodied in the life of Brother Lawrence, a seventeenth-century lay brother in a Carmelite monastery. Brother Lawrence was not a theologian. He was not educated in the formal sense. He was a simple man who spent much of his life washing dishes in the monastery kitchen. And yet his letters and conversations, preserved in a small book called The Practice of the Presence of God, reveal a man who had direct, simple, continuous communion with God. He did not need a system. He did not need an expert. He did not need permission from authorities. He simply practiced the presence of God moment by moment, in the midst of ordinary work.

Brother Lawrence's practice was this: he spoke to God about everything. When he was washing dishes, he prayed, in effect, that even the small work was done for the love of God. When he was uncertain about what to do, he asked God directly. When he needed guidance, he waited for the peace of God to settle in his heart. He was not passive. He was not waiting for a mystical voice from heaven. He was actively listening, actively engaged with God, actively seeking to align himself with God's will. But he did it without an intermediary. He did it without a system. He did it with the simplicity that Jesus taught: ask, seek, knock.

Seeking God's will in the vine framework involves three movements. These are not stages you pass through and leave behind. They are movements you cycle through repeatedly, moment by moment, decision by decision. Ask. Wait. Move.

Ask is direct petition. You bring your situation to God. Not theoretically. Not filtered through someone else's understanding. You pray: "Lord, should I take this job? Should I end this relationship? Should I confront this person? Should I forgive? Should I wait or should I act?" You ask specifically. You ask honestly. You ask with the expectation that God is listening and that He cares about your actual life, not just your eternal destiny. This is not the ask of someone trying to manipulate God into giving you what you want. This is the ask of someone who truly wants to align with God's will, even if it costs you.

Wait is not passivity. Wait is listening. You bring your petition to God and then you wait for clarity. You read Scripture and ask the Spirit to speak to you through the text. You listen to the counsel of believers you trust - not because you are dependent on their authority but because God often works through the wisdom of others. You notice the circumstances around you. You pay attention to the peace or unease in your spirit. You wait for the peace of Christ to rule in your heart.

"Let the peace of Christ be in control in your heart (for you were in fact called as one body to this peace), and be thankful."

— Colossians 3:15 (NET)

That peace is the umpire. That peace tells you which direction is aligned with God's will.

But wait also involves discernment. Not everything that feels peaceful is aligned with God's will. You must test what you are sensing against Scripture. You must ask: is this in line with God's character? Is this consistent with His revealed will? Is this consistent with what the Spirit has been teaching me? You are not passive in this waiting. You are actively engaged in discernment. You are testing your impressions. You are being skeptical of your own desires and your own rationalizations.

Move is obedient action. When you have asked and waited and discerned, you act. You do not wait for absolute certainty. You do not wait until you have consulted an expert and received their permission. You act in alignment with what you have discerned. And as you act, you remain open. You remain willing to be corrected. You remain in communication with God. If your action was misaligned with God's will, He will let you know. Other believers will tell you. Your conscience will convict you. Circumstances will redirect you. But you do not sit in paralysis waiting for perfect clarity. You move.

This is what seeking God's will looks like when direct access is real. It is not passive. It is not dependent on finding the right expert. It is active, engaged, responsive engagement with God moment by moment. Brother Lawrence, washing dishes in a monastery kitchen, was doing exactly this. And his life became a witness to the reality of God's presence and God's guidance available to anyone, anywhere, doing anything.

The mediatory systems fear this kind of direct seeking because it cannot be controlled or managed. If ordinary believers are asking God directly about their decisions, the institutional authorities lose their gatekeeping power. If believers are waiting for the peace of God rather than waiting for expert permission, the expert becomes optional. If believers are moving in obedience to what they have discerned with God, the institution can no longer manage the outcome. This is why both traditions have built systems that discourage direct seeking and encourage dependency on experts instead.

But seeking God's will in the vine framework is not reckless or anarchic. It is deeply responsible. It holds you accountable not to an institution but to God. It requires careful discernment, engagement with Scripture, openness to correction from other believers. It demands humility - the recognition that you are capable of self-deception and that you need others to help you see your blind spots. But it places the ultimate authority where it belongs: with God, who dwells within you through the Holy Spirit.

Brother Lawrence understood this. He was not isolated. He was part of a monastic community. He listened to others. He submitted to the authorities God had placed over him. But he also maintained direct communion with God in the midst of it all. He did not wait for the abbot to tell him God's will. He asked God directly. He waited for the peace of God. He moved in obedience. And his life became a testimony to the availability of God's presence and guidance to anyone who abides in the vine.