3 Simple Steps to Finding Your Purpose in God

One of the most basic questions of life is, “Why am I here?” Finding your purpose in God will answer that question.

Every person in the world is on a journey. No one is here by accident or coincidence. Everyone has a reason for being alive at this point in time. The question is, “What is that reason?”

God’s Word says in Jeremiah 29:11

For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.

It also says in Ecclesiastes 3:1

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:

Do you know your purpose, why God has you here?

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The Importance of Finding Your Purpose

Each of us has a God-given purpose. God created you for a purpose! Knowing what that purpose in life is will help you to fulfill it and accomplish the things He created you to do.

Not knowing why God has you here in this life, not knowing your purpose, can be truly frustrating. Remember Solomon’s search for meaning and purpose in Ecclesiastes? No one wants to wander aimlessly through life, feeling lost, dissatisfied, and unfulfilled.

And we don’t have to. Because God planned for our lives before we were even born! And has a plan of fore-ordained works for each of us to accomplish in our lives – our purpose.

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

Ephesians 2:10

Finding your purpose in life, the work God has just for you, is necessary for guiding your choices and for living a life of joy and fulfillment!

And best of all, one day hearing your Saviour tell you, “Well done, good and faithful servant”! (Matthew 25:21)

But how can we know for sure what our purpose is? How can we find out what it is God has left us here to accomplish?

3 Simple Steps to Finding Your Purpose in God

Every person has been made by God with a specific reason in mind. We just have to find out what that is.

Finding your purpose in God, your place in God’s plan, is as easy as these 3 simple steps.

Step 1 – Pray and Ask God

The first step in finding out God’s will for your life is to pray. Ask Him what His plans are for you, and ask Him for the power to do whatever He needs you to do.

The whole reason we were created was to bring God glory.

Even every one that is called by my name: for I have created him for my glory, I have formed him; yea, I have made him.

Isaiah 43:7

What is our purpose on earth according to the Bible? Our ultimate purpose is to glorify God with our lives. But we each bring glory to God in different ways, through different callings.

In order to know what that calling, that purpose, is we must seek God in prayer, seek His direction. Simply pray as Paul did and ask Him,

Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?

Acts 9:6

There have been several turning points in my life when I needed God’s direction to know what He had for me to do next in service to Him. One such time happened when I lost my job as a Christian high school teacher several years ago. I had no idea what to do with my life next. I just knew that since God had closed that door, He must have something new for me.

So, I prayed. And prayed more. Especially as different opportunities would come up. Because I understood that not every open door is God’s choice for me.

Are you facing a time filled with unknowns? Are you floundering not knowing what God has for you next in life, not knowing His specific purpose and plan for this next phase of your life?

Let me encourage you to spend time alone with God in prayer truly, whole-heartedly seeking Him. God does not hide from His children. And He does not hide His will from us. He desires our good. And being in His will, following His plans for our lives, is for our good. God will direct you to His next path for you.

Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

Proverbs 3:5-6

Pray believing that God will direct your path, as He has promised. Wisdom is given to those who ask in faith. (James 1:5-6)

Step 2 – Study Bible Verses about Purpose

Perhaps the best way to find out our purpose in God is to look into God’s Word–the Bible.

The Bible is full of instructions, commands, and guiding principles for life. It’s important to read God’s Word so that we can know how God works in the lives of His children. Then we can recognize, and follow, His leading instead of following our own wills.

The book of Proverbs, for example, is packed with short, powerful guidance meant to encourage us and help us grow more like Christ every day. But it’s not a promise-book–it doesn’t say that if you do X, Y, and Z, then things will happen for you. The fact is that God wants us to know that if we love Him and let His words guide our lives, we will succeed at finding our purpose and doing things that matter.

Finding our purpose is not just about finding out what we should do, but finding out, through God’s Word, who we are in Christ. So, make a routine of having your quiet time with God in His Word every day; pray before you start reading, asking God to open your eyes and your heart so that His Word will be clear. The more you know of who God is and who you are in Christ, the more you will come to understand what He wants for you.

Once you know God more fully, what He wants for you, and how much He loves you, then finding the specific purpose He has made you for will follow.

Free Printable – Finding Your Purpose in God Scripture

Use LDN’s H.E.A.R. Bible Study Method to help you spend some time digging deeper into these verses to learn how God would have you apply them in this next season of your life.

Step 3 – Start Somewhere and Live with Purpose

In studying God’s Word we discover God’s general plan and will for us all. Such as the fact that it is God’s will that we all –

• Trust Him as Saviour
• Love Him more than anything else
• Tell others about Jesus and the way of forgiveness and salvation
• Live to the glory of God
• Be thankful
• Use our God-given spiritual gifts to serve others
• Go to church
• Serve Him in our church
• Love and care for our families
• And many other things.

But it is up to each of us to seek to know exactly what those things should look like in our lives. For instance, I know that I am to be faithful to God’s house, but the Bible does not tell me that my church home should be Grandview Pines Baptist Church.

My husband and I determined that specific plan of God through prayer and the leading of the Holy Spirit in our hearts – understanding that God directs our desires, our wills, as we seek Him and seek to please Him with our lives.

For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.

Philippians 2:13

Again, we know through God’s instruction in His Word that we are to be a faithful, serving member of God’s church, but the Bible doesn’t tell us exactly what ministry to be involved in.

So, we pray and keep our eyes open for the opportunities God opens to us.

When my first daughter was 2 years old, a friend in church asked me to help her in her 2 and 3-year-olds Sunday school class. Shortly after I started helping, she left to teach another class, and thus, I became the new teacher for the 2 and 3-year-olds!

Looking back over my life, I can now see how the Lord used that first teaching experience to move me into serving Him as a teacher. Teaching was never my original desire. But God’s plans for us are always the best, and most fulfilling! I have loved each time that God has used me as a teacher!

If you wanting to know God’s purpose for your life right now, then do what I did when I lost that high school teaching job I mentioned before. I reminded myself that God created me for a purpose and that He had not forgotten me.

Remind yourself of what you know to be true. Cling to the truth of Proverbs 3:5-6, and acknowledge God in all your ways – by continuing to seek Him in prayer and serve Him where you can, as you watch for the next open door.

In other words…Start somewhere.

To find God’s path for you, you must be looking for it. And moving. Trying new directions until God, by His Spirit, gives you peace that – This is it!

For me, I sought volunteer work. I volunteered at a crisis pregnancy center for a while. Then at a county food pantry. But neither of these opportunities “felt” right for me as God’s direction and purpose long-term.

But then God put in my heart a desire to share His Word over the internet. Ladies Drawing Nigh ministry was born! And I couldn’t be happier!

To find God’s path for you, you must be looking for it. And moving. Trying new directions until God, by His Spirit, gives you peace that – This is it!

I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye.

Psalms 32:8

God leads us while we are “in the way.” Not while we are sitting still doing nothing!

More Than Finding What You’re “Good At”

In the end, finding your purpose in God is more than just a matter of finding out what you’re “good at.” It’s about finding out who you are in Christ; learning what God’s will is for everyone; and discovering just what God’s plan is for you to uniquely fulfill that will.

Finding God’s purpose for your life can feel difficult but really is as simple as asking Him, learning what God has already said about our purpose, and starting somewhere to serve Him while being open to His leading.

Life is a beautiful adventure. When we understand that God has a good and perfect plan for our life. And we seek to live that purpose.

Drawing nigh to Him,

Teresa

LET’S TALK ABOUT IT

Many believers live a life far short of the abundant life God has waiting for them. Maybe you can relate? Do you long for more, yet can’t quite put your finger on what is missing? Chances are that these feelings are God’s way of directing you into His perfect purpose for your life.

Or, maybe you are enjoying knowing that you are right where God wants you to be serving Him. Mind sharing how you got there? Your story may inspire someone else today.

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