Guidance requires three things, time, relationships and humility in relationship to the following content. We are not on our own, even if we wanted to be. No one is autonomous, standing all by themselves, and no one is cast-off, expected to find their own path by themselves - in fact that is a recipe for disaster. Here are twelve points by which God makes his will known to each and everyone of us - the universal means by which he guides us.(There is more to it than what I have listed here, but this is a good start.)
1. God guides us first by that which has been written in the Bible - God will never ever contradict his Word, just make sure you are listening and interpreting his Word with faithfulness and objectivity, not relying on what you THINK it means, or on what you WANT it to mean, but on what he actually is teaching you throughout the entire counsel of God.
2. Through Jesus in the context of his ever present life in his Body. If Jesus is present in his Body, then we can find him there, and it is foolish (and disobedient) to look for him without being in close and continual relationship with the Body of Christ. We cannot go it alone. Autonomy is not an option for us. I will be as bold as to say that a person without an intimate and on-going relationship with the Body of Christ, will rarely, if ever, be as fulfilled in the area of knowing God's will for their lives as those who are in on-going, intimate relationship with other Christians.
3. From the Spirit, and the inner witness we receive during our prayer times. Those who pray regularly know what this kind of spiritual intuition is about. The Spirit will give you an inner sense - a "feeling" if you will - or an "idea" that sticks in your inner being - something that he desires for you to do or know. It will often bypass your normal thought processes, and it can even be different than your desires and expectations. This experience is often inexplicable and unexplainable, but it will not frequently contradict the other components I am mentioning here, but will most often harmonize with these other influences. Remember, no matter what others council you to do, the Spirit of God will never ever contradict, under any circumstances, God's revealed Word in the Bible. For instance, the Spirit will never tell you it is okay to have sex outside of proper marriage, or to murder someone, or to steal something, or to tell a lie, and so forth; never; period. So, develop a prayer life and let God commune with you in that deeper place in your soul. This is a way of life, not something one does from time to time. Begin building your prayer life today.
4. By communion with the mystery of Christ in the experience of the Eucharist. This, again, is experiential. Jesus works in our lives as we are faithful to partake of him in this mystery. As your faith is, so be it unto you. The communion is more than a simple remembrance of him through the practice of some detached symbolic ritual. This is truly partaking of the living Jesus, though it be impossible to explain.
5. Through the lessons nature teaches. God created all of the natural world, and the book of Romans teaches us that he did this so we can know him, his eternal power, and his divinity - Rom. 1:18-20. If you want to know more about God, study nature intently. The scripture is full of examples and includes commands to do this.
6. By means of the wise council of friends. Seek the council of others who care for you. God will often use them to speak something of substance into your life. Listen.
7. By the requirements placed on us by leaders and those in authority. Authority is the invention of God (Rom 13), and it was designed to represent him. God uses those in authority to reveal and reward righteousness as well as to punish and resist those who practice unrighteousness.
8. Through preaching. There is a mystery in the preaching of God's Word. This is a necessary activity through which the Spirit convicts us of sin, calls us to repentance and instructs us in our spiritual lives. Preaching is for building us up, teaching us the will of God, and for comforting us in our spiritual walk.
9. Through the wisdom shared with us by our parents and elders. It is impossible for one to say they are in submission to God when they are unsubmitted to parents and elders. The first commandment with a promise called us to honor and obey our parents. Even Jesus was subject to his parents until it was time for his ministry to begin. Obedience to our parents' righteous demands is one of the ways God leads us. So, revere the elders in your life and see if you can get close to some of the wisdom they have learned through living their lives in God's presence.
10. By means of inescapable circumstances. Sometimes we cannot escape or change the circumstances in which we find ourselves. Even the Apostle Paul prayed three times that God would remove his thorn in the flesh, but God said to him, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." To which the apostle replied, "Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong." 2 Corinthians 12:8-10 NIV - Grace is the issue here. How does one cope with the disappointments and devastations of life, by the grace which God bestows. Turning to God in earnest prayer will put you in the right place and you will find his grace very real. (ponder Hebrews 4:15-16)
It is natural for us to desire to be strong, but oddly it is not our own personal strength which draws us near to God, it is the painful awareness of our persistent weaknesses. So, if one's weaknesses move them toward God, why would we not embrace them? This does not mean that we should give up our noble fight against those things which diminish us, we should not give up, merely run the race as he prescribes. As we learn from him we find the strength of his grace growing in us, and we become strong in all the best ways. Both our strengths and weaknesses are converted into virtue and we find ourselves transformed - the greatest miracle in the world.
11. By use of the best practices of reason and logic. God wants us to make decisions, not on our own, but decisions that are carefully weighed and reasonable. Use your head. God gave you a brain for a reason. Not all council is wise. Don't just take things at face value as being true. The Bible tells us to PROVE ALL THINGS, and to HOLD FAST TO THAT WHICH IS GOOD. So it is clear, not all things are equally good or equally beneficial. Use your best judgment to determine what is best, and do that with vigor.
12. Through the processes of time and accumulated experiences. Sometimes God teaches us, and guides us invisibly, over time and through experiences, until we come to understand that which could never have been adequately explained in words. Some things are too deep for words and too nuanced to teach in any other form than through the stuff of everyday life over a longer period of time. Age produces wisdom, IF the person is paying attention. My mother wrote something in the back of her Bible, it reads, "The University of Experience has its own school colors, black and blue." Life will teach us, but it will make no sense to us until we compare it with what God has written in the Bible. Then it gets personal, penetrating and redemptive. None of us should put down the Bible before we have picked it up. God's Word can be trusted. Reading the Psalms, for instance, shows the wonderful connection between the experiences of life and the Word of God. It is a good place to begin. You will see yourself in the Psalms, but better than that, you will see a very good and gracious God.
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