My approach to knowing God's will for my life and ministry.

My approach aligns very closely with a statement Dr. Nuttall made during the lecture: "If our heart is right with God, what we want to do is God's will."  This captures the essence of my approach.  Not only does it remove the focus from demanding that God tell us what He would have us do, placing the focus instead on simply knowing Him more, it also redirects our goals in our walk with Him from solely doing what He would have us do to being who He would have us be, and as such fostering a closeness to Him and a heart attitude ready and willing for anything.  So how does this play out in practice?  It motivates me to study God's word more, to spend more time in His presence, communing with Him.  There are certainly decisions and situations that weigh heavily on my heart in those times, but as was said in the lecture, bringing my heart attitude into alignment with His really means that the decisions I have to make will already have been made.  They are not that difficult.  It's often said that God's revelation in the Bible contains everything we NEED to know to live a life according to His will, and I think oftentimes we miss the point.  We skim through the pages looking for specific answers to practical questions like we are thumbing through a how-to manual.  And in doing so we overlook the fact that it is God's heart and character that is revealed in the Word, and knowing that above all else brings us into alongside His will.  Certainly, His essence is revealed through His deeds and actions, but if we look at the stories alone and try to conform some sort of blueprint from them to a situation to our lives, we shortchange ourselves out of a chance to glimpse a piece of the bigger theme running through the Bible--the knowledge of God.