God's will

His sovereign will

"Whatever the Lord pleases He does, in heaven and in earth...." Psalm 135:6

"He has made the earth by His power; He has established the world by His wisdom...
When He utters His voice, there is a multitude of waters in the heavens:
He causes the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth..." Jeremiah 51:15-16

"And the land will tremble and sorrow; for every purpose of the Lord shall be performed..." Jeremiah 51:29

"...My word be that goes forth from My mouth; it shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please." Isaiah 55:11

"...all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of Man will be accomplished. For He will be delivered to the Gentiles and will be mocked and insulted and spit upon. They will scourge Him and kill Him. And the third day He will rise again.'" Luke 18:31-33

"...now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places, according to the eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through faith in Him." Ephesians 3:10-12

“...our God is in heaven; He does whatever He pleases." Psalm 115:3

The example of Jesus

“I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me....” John 6:38

"Jesus said to them, 'My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work."' John 4:34

“Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.” Luke 22:42

He has told us His will

"...He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him...." Ephesians 1:4

“...walk in love, as Christ also has loved us.... Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not be partakers with them.
       "For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), finding out what is acceptable to the Lord. And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them. For it is shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret.... See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is." Ephesians 5:2-17

If we love God, He enables us to see and do His will

"If anyone wants to do His will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God or whether I speak on My own authority." John 7:17

“He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.... If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. He who does not love Me does not keep My words...
     "...the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you." John 14:21-25

"...we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life." Romans 6:4
"To You, O Lord, I lift up my soul. O my God, I trust in You....
Show me Your ways, O Lord; Teach me Your paths.
Lead me in Your truth and teach me, for You are the God of my salvation;
On You I wait all the day." Psalm 25:1-5
"Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure." Philippians 2:12-13

By His grace we are freed from bondage to sin

"...reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace." Romans 6:11-14

"God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness." Romans 6:17-18

"I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! ...
      "There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.... Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God." Romans 7:21--8:8

The secret of victory

"...you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment." Mark 12:30

"...seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you." Matthew 6:33

"And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment, that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ, being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God." Philippians 1:9-11

Avoid temptations and distractions that cloud His will

"Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever." 1 John 2:15-17

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding;
In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.
Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the Lord and depart from evil." Proverbs 3:5-7

“No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon." Matthew 6:24

“He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it." Matthew 10:37-39

"For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ." Galatians 1:10

God's promise to those who love Him and seek His will

"Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him. " 1 John 5:14-15

"...the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” John 10:3-5

"...whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother.” Matthew 12:50

"Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, 'This is the way, walk in it,'
Whenever you turn to the right hand or whenever you turn to the left." Isaiah 30:21

"Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever." Hebrews 13:20-21

My will is not my own, 'till Thou hast made it Thine.
If it would gain a monarch's throne, it must its crown resign.
It only stands unbent, amidst the clashing strife,
When on thy bosom it has lent, and found in thee its life.

From "Make me a captive, Lord"