How do I get my heart into a state where it has no will of its own?

[geoffparker88]

Hey everyone,

A friend of mine sent me a link to a site about how to ascertain the will of God.

There are six steps:

1. Seek at the beginning to get your heart into such a state that it has no will of its own in regard to a given matter. Nine-tenths of the trouble with people generally is just here. Nine-tenths of the difficulties are over come when our hearts are ready to do the Lord's will, whatever it may be. When one is truly in this state, it is usually but a little way to the knowledge of what His will is.
   
   
2. Having done this, do not leave the result to feeling or simple impression. If so, you will make yourself liable to great delusions.
   
   
3. Seek the Will of the Spirit of God through, or in connection with, the Word of God. The Spirit and the Word must be combined. If you look to the Spirit alone without the Word, you lay yourself open to great delusions also. If the Holy Ghost guides us at all, He will do it according to the Scriptures and never contrary to them.
   
   
4. Take into account providential circumstances. These often plainly indicate God's Will in connection with His Word and Spirit.
   
   
5. Ask God in prayer to reveal His Will to you aright.
   
   
6. Thus, through prayer to God, the study of the Word, and reflection, you will come to a deliberate judgment according to the best of your ability and knowledge, and if your mind is thus at peace, and continues so after two or three more petitions, you proceed accordingly.

The list was written by George Müller (1805-1898), an English evangelist and philanthropist. That probably explains the slightly archaic language.

I can understand the language, however. The thing I'm having trouble with is how in the heck do I do these things? I have questions about all six steps, but for the purpose of this forum, I'm just focusing on step 1: getting my heart into a state where it has no will of its own.

How do I even go about doing this?

I posted this under "For New Christians" because, being a Christian from late October 2009, I am myself, I suppose, a new Christian. And, I figured that perhaps "experienced" Christians, if there even is a thing, would know the answer to this.

 

[oi_antz]

Hey everyone,

A friend of mine sent me a link to a site about how to ascertain the will of God.

There are six steps:

1. Seek at the beginning to get your heart into such a state that it has no will of its own in regard to a given matter. Nine-tenths of the trouble with people generally is just here. Nine-tenths of the difficulties are over come when our hearts are ready to do the Lord's will, whatever it may be. When one is truly in this state, it is usually but a little way to the knowledge of what His will is.
2. Having done this, do not leave the result to feeling or simple impression. If so, you will make yourself liable to great delusions.
3. Seek the Will of the Spirit of God through, or in connection with, the Word of God. The Spirit and the Word must be combined. If you look to the Spirit alone without the Word, you lay yourself open to great delusions also. If the Holy Ghost guides us at all, He will do it according to the Scriptures and never contrary to them.
4. Take into account providential circumstances. These often plainly indicate God's Will in connection with His Word and Spirit.
5. Ask God in prayer to reveal His Will to you aright.
6. Thus, through prayer to God, the study of the Word, and reflection, you will come to a deliberate judgment according to the best of your ability and knowledge, and if your mind is thus at peace, and continues so after two or three more petitions, you proceed accordingly.

The list was written by George Müller (1805-1898), an English evangelist and philanthropist. That probably explains the slightly archaic language.

I can understand the language, however. The thing I'm having trouble with is how in the heck do I do these things? I have questions about all six steps, but for the purpose of this forum, I'm just focusing on step 1: getting my heart into a state where it has no will of its own.

How do I even go about doing this?

I posted this under "For New Christians" because, being a Christian from late October 2009, I am myself, I suppose, a new Christian. And, I figured that perhaps "experienced" Christians, if there even is a thing, would know the answer to this.

It sounds like George has documented a procedure for a very specific purpose of a non-Christian learning to read The Bible. Many people just plainly can't accept what The Bible says strangely enough. That process of step 1 is the hardest for a non-Christian but if you really trust God 100% and you are fully prepared to accept whatever He says when you read The Bible (your heart must be approaching God honestly) then it's usually a matter of praying and seeking God's answer by reading His Holy Word until you receive enlightenment and a new understanding. Prayer is the most powerful connection we have to The Lord, it is never abused and it is always heard.

I wouldn't believe the process of seeking answers should always be refined to 6 steps like this, for instance step 4 appears to be somewhat conditional to some queries you might bring to The Lord.

 

[heymikey80]

The direction of your heart should not be to have no will that you own for yourself. That's clearly not what God intends by anything He's said. He made human will -- why would He now seek to destroy it?

No, the direction of your heart should be toward discovering what's good and right, and desiring to do it in concert with the will of God.

I think the first item, the one before step 1, should be to begin to recognize as much as you can, your own bias in an issue. Start looking at what your own specific, personal motivations are for holding a particular viewpoint. Are they good? No, are they truly, really good at heart? In what way might they be different from Jesus' motivation, if Jesus were in your place? I think, when you start there, you start to get a realistic view of your own will. And then you're in a much better state to examine your will and compare the moral aspects of your will with God's in a particular instance.

 

[chilehed]

...The thing I'm having trouble with is how in the heck do I do these things? I have questions about all six steps, but for the purpose of this forum, I'm just focusing on step 1: getting my heart into a state where it has no will of its own.

How do I even go about doing this?....

To have no will but God's is a state of extreme spiritual advancement; it should be sought by all but is attained by very few. One of the first things you need to realize is that you can't do it, but you must cast yourself on God so that He might do it for you.

You might want to read "The Story of a Soul" by St. Therese of Lisieux (http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/16772/pg16772.html), and afterward "The Ascent of Mt. Carmel" by St. John of the Cross. (http://www.ewtn.com/library/SOURCES/ASCENT-J.TXT)

 

[GaryP]

I would ignore those writings of creation. The Will of the Father in Heaven was to
slay His Son. And Jesus accepted the Blade doing the Will of the Father. Now the question is do you go to the Father in Heaven or do you take another path?

 

[salida]

Get some inspirational friends that love God by their actions, read the bible and pray daily. Its a life long lifestyle and you will know God more and more. Take a day at a time. Feel free to email me.

Visit: www.TheBibleProofBook.com. And you can read The Evidence That Demands A Verdict by Josh McDowell (its overwhelming circumstantial evidence of bible) and Examine the Evidence by Muncaster a former athiest/The Case for Christ by Lee Strobel a former athiest. Christiananswers.net, www.equip.org (articles), http://www.gotquestions.org/

　

 

[heron]

I don't know what state of yieldedness you've reached so far, but be careful of overdoing it. I have watched some people walk into scary territory by totally giving up their minds and wills.

It has to be directly to God -- not to a pastor or prayer partner or whatever voices you happen to hear (go shoot everyone in the PO, pounce on the prime minister of Malaysia).

And it doesn't need to be mystical. It is just a parent-child relationship He asks of you, as a father would say "rake the lawn" and you would find later your muscles were built up and the yard was clean for your friends coming over.

When I started drinking coffee, I didn't like it and knew it wasn't good for me. But something in my head said that I deserved to have that experience everyone else claimed to enjoy. The same happened with beer, high-msg foods, salty greasy foods, all sorts of things. It wasn't common sense, taste appeal, or even true desire that made me try them. It was a strange sort of willfulness or jealousy, wanting to feel like I deserved something. Having something that I considered pampering.

Flip that around, and think about how you approach a decision. Do you hear an echo of "I don't know what I want to do"? That is an emotion-based approach. Try to put five people in a car and ask what people want to do... you might never get out of the driveway. Ask five people to pray about what to do next, and it is highly likely that a couple of the people will get an idea they had never thought of, and the others will be in accord about it.

Before Praying:
-Movie
-Fast Food
-Walk on Beach
-Concert
-Wander and see what comes up

After Praying:
- Visit grandparents and help them move a piece of furniture. Hey, why not. End up eating dinner together.

It's not that God wants things for us that we don't want, but sometimes His ideas don't look like junk food. They end up rewarding and substantial, instead of shallow and fruitless.

 

[SavedbyGod12]

Hey everyone,

A friend of mine sent me a link to a site about how to ascertain the will of God.

There are six steps:

1. Seek at the beginning to get your heart into such a state that it has no will of its own in regard to a given matter. Nine-tenths of the trouble with people generally is just here. Nine-tenths of the difficulties are over come when our hearts are ready to do the Lord's will, whatever it may be. When one is truly in this state, it is usually but a little way to the knowledge of what His will is.
   
   
2. Having done this, do not leave the result to feeling or simple impression. If so, you will make yourself liable to great delusions.
   
   
3. Seek the Will of the Spirit of God through, or in connection with, the Word of God. The Spirit and the Word must be combined. If you look to the Spirit alone without the Word, you lay yourself open to great delusions also. If the Holy Ghost guides us at all, He will do it according to the Scriptures and never contrary to them.
   
   
4. Take into account providential circumstances. These often plainly indicate God's Will in connection with His Word and Spirit.
   
   
5. Ask God in prayer to reveal His Will to you aright.
   
   
6. Thus, through prayer to God, the study of the Word, and reflection, you will come to a deliberate judgment according to the best of your ability and knowledge, and if your mind is thus at peace, and continues so after two or three more petitions, you proceed accordingly.

The list was written by George Müller (1805-1898), an English evangelist and philanthropist. That probably explains the slightly archaic language.

I can understand the language, however. The thing I'm having trouble with is how in the heck do I do these things? I have questions about all six steps, but for the purpose of this forum, I'm just focusing on step 1: getting my heart into a state where it has no will of its own.

How do I even go about doing this?

I posted this under "For New Christians" because, being a Christian from late October 2009, I am myself, I suppose, a new Christian. And, I figured that perhaps "experienced" Christians, if there even is a thing, would know the answer to this.

Love God with all your heart. Should do the trick.