Discovering God’s Plans and Purposes for Your Life

By Carol Doyel –

“’For I know the plans I have for you’, declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future’”.  (Jeremiah 29:11 NIV)

Do you believe the verse above? If you have any doubt about God’s intentions towards you then I encourage you to read the verse again, meditate on it for a while. Memorize it and read it daily, throughout the day, read it to yourself and replace “you” in the verse with your name. As you do, I believe overtime God will begin to reveal His plans and purposes for your life.

As I listen to my own heart cry and the heartbeat of God – I sense that this is an hour God is calling His daughters to dream. A time to discover God’s plans and purposes for your life so that you might live more powerfully. “God did not give us a spirit of fear, but power, love and a sound mind” (2 Timothy 1:7). To complete the work ahead we must know what our purpose is here on earth because all things work together and are connected in the kingdom of God.

We all have a part and need to get in place to do the incredible work at hand. To do that, we must know what our gifts and talents are so we can use them wisely to fulfill the plans and purposes God has for each one of us because we are a people of destiny! Here’s a test you can take free of charge at ChurchGrowth.org.

It’s time to dream. For many it’s time to dream again, reigniting the dreams that may have been forgotten, pushed aside, or maybe they need to be resurrected because they’ve completely died. Did you stop dreaming? When? Why? When is the last time you sat beneath a tree, or on the beach, or in the stillness of the early morning and just allowed yourself to dream? Doing nothing more than praying and listening to God, asking Him to show you what His plans and purposes are for the day, this year, for your life. Maybe you’ve stopped seeking, or asking and have given up due to daily challenges, a busy life, or past failures.

I want to encourage you to dream – BIG! The other day as I was driving down the 110 highway of Los Angeles I felt that all familiar feeling, the Holy Spirit wanting to highlight something, and as I looked up I saw a billboard and it read, “Think Big – STOP – Think Bigger”. As I thought about that it resonated with me that we may believe we’re “big thinkers” but as daughters and sons of the KING of kings, Lord of lords, creator of all things and whose image we are created in, are we thinking big enough?

If not, I want to encourage you to take time each day over the next 30 days to dream. Below are some simple steps that can lead to discovering your dreams, but more importantly, God’s thoughts towards you and His plans and purposes for your life.

Seek God First – We must know God’s heart and to know God’s heart requires us to seek Him first. We must put God before anything or anyone else in our life. We must love Him with all of our heart. He is a jealous God and wants our attention and our whole heart. The only way I know to do that is by getting to know Him intimately, personally. How? By spending time reading the book that reveals who He is, the Bible, and by worshipping and spending time in His presence.

Read the Word – Take time every day to read the Bible, write down your favorite verses and ones that you feel God has highlighted by the prompting of the Holy Spirit. If you are not motivated to read the Bible there may be a reason you’re not hungry for His Word or a more intimate relationship with the Father. It’s usually because we’re filling our lives with things of the world. But as you begin to pray and seek God you’ll find your appetite changes for more of Him and less of the world.

Pray – Pray and ask God to show you His will for your life and then take time to sit and be still and listen!

Keep a Journal – Write down what you hear and your prayers so you can see how God answers your prayers over time or how He speaks to your through His Word.

Foster Your Dreams – I believe one of the most important things we can do is to take time to think about our dreams and write them down. Take time to ponder the things that you love doing, and think about how they might be developed into life-work, a ministry or business. Find ways to begin to live your dreams on a daily basis. Start with small steps each day towards your dreams. Break it down and commit to actions and goals that can help you to achieve your dreams.

Create a Dream Board – One of the things you can do to express your dreams or desires is to create a “Dream Board”.  All you need is magazines to cut out images that represent things you love doing, poster board and a glue stick to build your collage. Dream big, and when you’re done hang it up where you’ll see it daily. I used to have one over my treadmill so as I worked out I could look at the images and think about the meaning attached to each one of them. Visualization is a powerful tool.

If you find yourself distracted by the worries of the world you may need to pray for more trust and God’s peace. If you’re having a hard time hearing God and find yourself frustrated or indifferent I encourage you to ask God to search your heart to show you anything that may be keeping you from hearing His voice. If you’ve been offended or hurt by someone, or have any unforgiveness, it’s important to ask God to help you forgive those who have hurt you.

Sin will also block you from hearing the Lord and cutoff intimacy with Him. It’s important to ask God to reveal any sin in your life and to deal with it quickly. King David is a good example of someone that did not live a perfect, sinless life, but he learned to go to God and confess his sins – An important step to hearing God is to:

Repent of any Sin –God draws us to repentance by His lovingkindness. If our heart is set on the Lord and we’re filled with the Holy Spirit God will do all that He can to lead us to repentance, but we He’s also given us a free will. We must be willing to recognize our sin and be willing to turn from it, which means not repeating it again and again. We must choose life not death, blessings not curses. If we do not turn from our sin eventually it leads to consequences that God warns us about – the wages of sin is ultimately death.

If you’re willing to dedicate a little time each day doing the things recommended above, I believe you will uncover the greatness within you and God’s divine plans and purposes for your life.

Carol Doyel is Editor-in-Chief and Founder of LivingBetter50.com. She is a graduate of The Full Gospel Bible Institute and has a passion for women’s ministries, issues and lives. She and her husband of 25+ years have three grown kids and three grandchildren.  They currently reside in southern CA. Her desire is to inspire women to live better physically, emotionally, financially, and spiritually.