Late in the evening of November 19, 2009, in the Moscow Church of the Apostle Thomas on Kantemirovskaya: an unknown person in a mask entered the temple and shot him at point-blank range. On this day we publish a conversation about. Daniel, dedicated to the manifestation of God’s will in our lives...

“Is there God’s will for some event in my life and for some of my actions?” We ask ourselves questions like these all the time. How can we understand whether we act in life according to the will of God or on our own? And in general, do we understand the will of God correctly? After all, in fact, God’s will is freedom, because the word “will” is a synonym for the word “freedom”. And when a person truly understands this, he will not be afraid of anything.

“Do not be foolish, but know what the will of God is.”(Eph.5:17). The question is perhaps one of the most important in our lives. Agree that the will of God is the most accurate and true measure of how we should act. If we act according to our own will, we will certainly make a mistake, because, not knowing the will of the Highest God, the Revelation of the Creator, we are doomed to wander in the darkness of this world.

Many believe that the will of God is known and can only be learned by special ascetics of piety, elders, and that it is supposedly inaccessible to an ordinary Christian. If we turn to God's sacred Word, we will see that this is not so. All Christians without exception are told: “I beseech you, brethren, by the mercies of God... do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, acceptable and perfect will of God” (Rom. 12:1-2), “Do not be foolish, but know what the will of God is”(Eph.5:17). There are also many other places in Scripture that require Christians to know the will of God. Thus, Holy Scripture affirms that a Christian can and should know the will of the Lord.

How can we know the will of God? To begin with, we must understand what the will of God is, what it is, what it is by nature.

We, unlike sectarians and Buddhists, affirm that God is a Personality, He has self-awareness, He can say I, He has sovereign power over all beings in the Universe by right of the Creator and, by virtue of this, has absolute will.

The will of God has main properties. The first of these properties is righteousness: the will of God is the source of righteousness, the source of good.“No one is good except God alone”(Matthew 19:17)- said our Lord, that is, in a strict sense, goodness is inherent only in God, and for us - by participation in this good. We can draw from this ocean of goodness, goodness, but in ourselves we are not goodness, we are goodness, but not goodness. God is good, He is an ocean of good, therefore it cannot be said that the will of God is evil, that is, all evil is obviously not from God.

The second property of God’s will is perfection, that is, everything that is not perfect serves to imperfection and does not correspond to the will of God. We must understand the basic axioms, because with the help of such a definition a lot is cut off.

Further, we must understand that the will of God is omnipotent, that is, God can do whatever he wants, therefore it will be wrong to say that God can do one thing or another, but cannot do another, unless this other thing is something unrighteous. These are very important principles that we must keep in our minds in order to know what the will of the Lord is.

We must also understand that the will of God serves to fulfill His global plan. When we talk about the will of God regarding us, it concerns us personally, but it is connected with the general plan of the entire universe, because each of us was conceived by God the Father even before the creation of the Universe. There was a plan for us before the beginning of time, and our task is to reveal precisely this plan. The global implementation of this plan is for all beings on earth and heaven to unite under one Head - the Lord Jesus Christ. The whole world was created for Christ, therefore our global goal is to meet in Christ, unite with Christ and have Christ as our Head, so that everything is headed by Christ, so that Christ always acts in all of us. This is the global goal of the will of God, in which all particular manifestations are reduced as private manifestations of this single global plan.

Very often, people who seek the will of God, who want to know something about it, perceive it discretely, that is, they try to divide it into pieces. For example, is it God's will to buy a car or not? But if we pose the question this way, then very often the question simply will not make any sense due to the questioner’s lack of understanding of his place in the general structure of the universe.

There are a number of things common to all creatures in the Universe, in which the will of God is manifested. When the Jews asked Christ what is the will of God and what works should we do to fulfill the will of God? “Jesus answered and said to them, This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.”(John 6:29)- this is the first command of the will of God. Anything that interferes with faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is a violation of the will of God. For example, a person who does not believe in Jesus Christ violates the will of the Lord. It is also said that God’s will is for us to abstain from fornication and not be angry, therefore no malice or hatred can be justified by the will of God. We can say that the main core of determining the will of God is the Commandments of the Lord, the first of which is the Orthodox faith.

The question arises: does this or that action correspond to the will of God? First, we check whether it contradicts or does not contradict faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. The second is whether it contradicts the Commandments. If it contradicts the Commandments or faith in Christ the Savior, then this is obviously against the will of God and is obviously not discussed.

Where do we get the concept of the will of God? Saint Anthony the Great said: in order not to make mistakes, you must never condemn anyone and have the testimony of Holy Scripture for everything you do.

Further, we draw the will of God from the Holy Scriptures, but how, what is the condition for reading the Holy Scriptures? To properly understand Holy Scripture, first, it must be read prayerfully, that is, read not as a text for discussion, but as a text that is understood prayerfully. Secondly, in order to understand the Holy Scripture, as the Apostle says, one must not conform to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind(Rom.12:1). In Greek, “not to be conformed” means not to have a common scheme with this age, that is, when they say: “in our time everyone thinks like this” - this is a kind of scheme, we should not conform to it. If we want to know the will of God, we must deliberately discard and ignore what one of the 17th century sages, Francis Bacon, called “the idols of the crowd,” that is, the opinions of others. Before starting to read the Word of God, it is necessary to cleanse our minds of these prejudices - this is a necessary condition, otherwise we will read what we want. There is always such a temptation to look for what we want, and not what God commands. Further the Apostle says that we must be transformed by the renewing of your mind(Rom.12:2), that is, we must renew the intellect, the mind. How? “Transforming” (in Greek “metamorphosis”), that is, changing the way of thinking. This is a conscious work that every Christian is obliged to carry out from the moment of his Baptism. That is, everything we do, all thoughts must be tested by God and must be purified by His Word. Our task is to begin to think biblically, in a patristic way. It is necessary to improve your thinking process and this must be done continuously. Actually, for this there is a rule of daily reading of the Holy Scriptures; it exists as a tuning fork for tuning the mind, which should gradually begin to function differently. It is necessary to change the way of thinking: I think this way, but the Bible thinks differently, so much the worse for my point of view - the general setting should be exactly like this. This process of tuning the mind takes a lot of intellectual power. Where to get strength from? It is necessary to remember that all these powers are given to us, they are invested in us at the moment of anointing. As the Apostle John the Theologian said: “The anointing that you received from Him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you; But just as this very anointing teaches you all things, and is true and without falsehood, whatever it has taught you, continue in it” (1 John 2:27), that is, it is necessary to use the gift of anointing, which was invested in you immediately after the Sacrament of Holy Baptism. Inside you, in the depths of your heart, lie the spiritual powers of the Holy Spirit, therefore it is necessary to ask the Holy Spirit to give you strength, since He comes to you from the moment of Baptism, you need to turn to Him for help. Do not try to renew your mind on your own, but continuously, every time you want to do this, turn to the Lord God the Holy Spirit for help.

What to do next? Now we have a difficult situation, we immediately check: we take the Word of God, pray, and begin to read. How should we understand it? We must understand the Word of God as the Holy Fathers understood it. Not as we want to understand it, but as the Orthodox Church understands it. To do this, it is necessary to engage in work that we have now somehow forgotten: it is necessary to study the Holy Scriptures. The first Psalm says: “But his will is in the law of the Lord, and on His law he meditates day and night! And he will be like a tree planted by streams of water, which brings forth its fruit in its season, and whose leaf does not wither” (Ps. 1:2-3), that is, it is necessary to delve into the Law of God, reflect on it, read into it, always relying on the Holy Fathers. We now live in a unique time when many works of the Holy Fathers are available in libraries and stores. We need to study the Holy Scripture so that in a difficult moment we have a practice, a habit, a habitual thought that should immediately enter us and test our mind.

Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin

Then we find out God’s will, a difficult moment arises and there is no answer yet obvious to us in the Holy Scriptures. How to find out the will of God in such a situation? This is why the Holy Church exists. It is necessary to go to the Church of God and ask the priest for advice, so that the advice is given based on the Holy Scriptures and the Holy Fathers. Justification is necessary for us to learn. After all, every episode of our life is a new stage of learning, therefore, if we take the Holy Fathers, they always referred to the Holy Scriptures and other Holy Fathers. Thus, the process of teaching a person took place, so that next time it would be easier for a person to make a choice so that he learns, and not just: I need specific advice for a specific moment, period. An ordained priest has the power to teach the “verbal sheep” the Word of God, not his own word, but precisely the Word of God. There is a situation when a priest may be incompetent in some matter. Priests are different, have different spiritual levels, but there are questions that are more complex and he can advise you to venerate one of the saints or send him to some experienced priest, elder or bishop who stands above him. People go to the elder for specific important questions of spiritual life, for example, how to deal with this or that sin, or learn this or that virtue, or to do or not do some very important thing.

Now about the situation when it is not possible to go to the priest, to the elder, that is, there is some important issue that requires an urgent solution. There are several ways to find out God's will in such a situation.

The first method, based on the Holy Scriptures, is by lot. As you remember, the Holy Apostles chose the new Apostle Matthew by lot in place of Judas. They did this in strict accordance with the Book of Proverbs, which says: “The lot is cast on the floor, but its entire decision is from the Lord.”(Proverbs 16:33). How to cast lots correctly? In order to cast lots, you must, naturally, know what to choose from. If you cast lots: to have an abortion or not to have an abortion, then God, obviously, will not bless such a lot, because it is obviously not necessary to have an abortion. The lot is cast when there are several options, all of which do not contradict the will of God expressed in the Holy Scriptures, do not contradict the direct Commandments of the Lord, but which we cannot decide. First they pray to the Lord, usually they read the Lord’s Prayer to the Heavenly King, describe some three options, cast lots or throw away pebbles, without looking at random. There is also a rule: if the matter is important, we doubt it, then it is good to draw lots three times. This is a directly biblical way of determining the will of God, which is based directly on the teachings of the saints and in no way is fortune telling or anything else.

Further, there is a second way of recognizing the will of God, which is also associated with the Holy Scriptures. It looks like one sin and I ask you to clearly distinguish one simple thing. The method is that you open the text of the Holy Scripture and begin to read it in a row, praying, asking God to reveal His will. Please note that you begin to read in a row, and do not try to do it as during fortune telling: randomly open and close, open and close. One must understand the related text, the related thought of God. When you read the word of God with prayer, very often one or another sacred text catches your eye. This method is perhaps one of the most reliable for determining the will of God, because God Himself continues to speak through His Living Word.
Also, the will of God can be determined even when the Word of God is not at hand. Father Seraphim Sakharov, a well-known confessor, speaks, relying on the authority of St. Silouan of Athos, the following words: in such cases, you need to clear your mind of all pros and cons, all decisions, stop the thought process, stop considering possible solutions. Stop the process of digging inside yourself, there are certain ways to do this: close your eyes well, take a deep breath, breathe out and after that, directly turning to the Lord God, ask Him to reveal His will and after that, consider the first thought that comes to be the will of God . This method cannot be abused, it should be used only when there is no direct evidence in the Holy Scriptures, there is no way to find out by lot, or ask a priest. People often abuse this method, thinking that any thought that comes to mind is the will of God and then go to extremes.

Now, as for things directly related to knowing the will of God, but at the same time very dangerous. We know from the Word of God that the Bible describes a number of cases where the will of God was revealed through dreams or visions. You need to be extremely careful here. As Jesus son of Sirach says: “Dreams have led many astray, and those who trusted in them have fallen.”(Sir.35:7). Remember that only that dream can be recognized as from God if, firstly, it is not caused by my previous activities: if I do something before going to bed, and then I dreamed about it, this does not mean that the will of God has been revealed, my thinking process continues in my sleep. You can be deceived here, but this is the most harmless of deceptions. We also need to distinguish between dreams that come from the devil. Remember that dreams from the devil lead a person either to a state of pride or to a state of despair, therefore, as John Climacus said: believe only those dreams that call you to repentance, but if they plunge you into despondency, then do not believe them either. God does not like despondency, God does not like despair. We must remember that the Spirit of God is the Spirit of peace and every time God speaks, He speaks in such a way that a person is at peace at the same time. When God speaks, a person becomes quiet, his mind calms down. When the words of God sound in a human head, they are always accompanied by a feeling of reverence for God, fear of the Lord, because “The beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord”(Prov.9:10). When God personally addresses a person, it is no longer possible to confuse this, but we must remember that we can and cannot count on this at the same time. Why? On the one hand, we can, because we are children of God, God, of course, can turn to us, but we cannot demand that God forcibly tell us something. God doesn't owe anyone anything.

When God speaks, it can no longer be confused. The external signs are the very signs that the Apostle Paul lists: “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faith, meekness, self-control. Against such there is no law” (Gal.5:22-23). When God acts in a person, precisely these qualities that the Apostle speaks about arise in him. This is a clear diagnosis. If a person talks to God and is hysterical after that, it is obvious that he did not talk to God.

Throughout our lives, we more than once find ourselves faced with a choice of what to do, which path to take, and not just to follow, but to ensure that this path corresponds to God’s will for us. How can we find out the will of God? How do we know that the choice we make is the right one? The pastors of the Russian Church give their advice.

The question of how to find out the will of God is perhaps one of the most important in our lives. Agree that the will of God is the most accurate and true measure of how we should act.

To know or feel the will of God in a particular case, many conditions are needed. This is a good knowledge of the Holy Scriptures, this is leisurely decision-making, this is the advice of a confessor.

To properly understand Holy Scripture, first, it must be read prayerfully, that is, read not as a text for discussion, but as a text that is understood prayerfully. Secondly, in order to understand the Holy Scriptures, it is necessary, as the apostle says, not to be conformed to this age, but to be transformed by the renewing of your mind (see: Rom. 12:2). In Greek, the verb “not to be conformed” means: not to have a common pattern with this age: that is, when they say: “Everyone thinks like this in our time,” this is a certain pattern, and we should not conform to it. If we want to know the will of God, it is necessary to deliberately discard and ignore what one of the sages of the 17th century, Francis Bacon, called “the idols of the crowd,” that is, the opinions of others.

All Christians without exception are told: “I appeal to you, brethren, by the mercies of God... do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, acceptable and perfect will of God” (Rom. 12:1-2 ); “Do not be foolish, but understand what is the will of God” (Eph. 5:17). And in general, the will of God can only be known through personal communication with Him. Therefore, a close relationship with Him and serving Him will be a necessary condition for finding an answer to our question.

Live in accordance with God's commandments

How to find out the will of God? Yes, it’s very simple: you need to open the New Testament, the First Epistle of the Apostle Paul to the Thessalonians, and read: “This is the will of God, your sanctification” (1 Thess. 4:3). And we are sanctified by obedience to God.

So there is only one sure way to know the will of God - this is to live in harmony with the Lord. And the more we establish ourselves in such a life, the more we seem to take root, establish ourselves in God’s likeness, and acquire real skill in understanding and fulfilling the will of God, that is, in the conscious and consistent fulfillment of His commandments. This is general, and the particular follows from this general. Because if a person in some specific life situation wants to know God’s will about himself and, let’s say, learns it from some spirit-bearing elder, but the disposition of the person himself is not spiritual, then he will not be able to understand, accept, or fulfill this will... So the main thing is, without a doubt, a sober, spiritual life and attentive fulfillment of God’s commandments.

And if a person is going through some important period in his life and he really wants to make the right choice, to act Godly in this or that difficult situation, then based on all that has been said, the first way to find out the will of God is to strengthen his church life, then there is to bear special spiritual labor: to speak, to confess, to receive communion, to show greater than usual zeal in prayer and reading the word of God - this is the main work for someone who really wants to know the will of God in this or that matter. And the Lord, seeing such a sober and serious disposition of the heart, will certainly make His holy will clear and give strength to fulfill it. This is a fact that has been verified many times and by a variety of people. You just need to show constancy, patience and determination in seeking the truth of God, and not in pleasing your dreams, desires and plans... Because everything mentioned is already self-will, that is, not the plans, dreams and hopes themselves, but the desire for everything to be exactly the way we want. Here is a question of real faith and self-denial, if you like, readiness to follow Christ, and not your ideas about what is right and useful. It is impossible without this.

Prayer of Abba Isaiah: “God, show mercy to me and, whatever pleases You about me, inspire my father (name) to say it about me.”

In Rus', it is customary to ask for advice at especially important moments in life from the elders, that is, from experienced confessors endowed with special grace. This desire is deeply rooted in the tradition of Russian church life. Only, when going for advice, we need to remember, again, that spiritual work is required of us: strong prayer, abstinence and repentance with humility, readiness and determination to do the will of God - that is, everything that we talked about above. But in addition, it is also imperative and earnest to pray for the enlightenment of the confessor with the grace of the Holy Spirit, so that the Lord, by His mercy, through the spiritual father, will reveal to us His holy will. There are such prayers, the holy fathers write about them. Here is one of them, proposed by the Venerable Abba Isaiah:

“God, do mercy on me and, whatever pleases You about me, inspire my father (name) to say it about me.”.

Desire God's will, not your own

The will of God can be found out in different ways - through the advice of a confessor or, through reading the word of God or with the help of lots, etc. But the main thing that anyone who wants to know the will of God must have is the willingness to unquestioningly follow it in his life. If there is such a readiness, the Lord will definitely reveal His will to a person, perhaps in an unexpected way.

You need to internally prepare for any outcome, not get attached to any of the options for the development of events.

I like the patristic advice. As a rule, we long to know the will of God at the moment when we stand at a crossroads - before a choice. Or when we prefer one option for the development of events over another, less attractive to us. Firstly, you need to try to set yourself up equally in relation to any path or development of events, that is, internally prepare for any outcome, and not become attached to any of the options. Secondly, sincerely and fervently pray that the Lord will arrange everything according to His good will and do everything in a way that will be useful for us in terms of our salvation in eternity. And then, as the holy fathers claim, His Providence for us will be revealed.

Be attentive to yourself and your conscience

Be careful! To yourself, to the world around you and your neighbors. The will of God is open to a Christian in the Holy Scriptures: a person can receive answers to his questions in it. According to St. Augustine, when we pray, we turn to God, and when we read the Holy Scriptures, the Lord answers us. The will of God is for everyone to come to salvation. Knowing this, strive to direct your will in all events of life towards God who saves.

And “in everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thess. 5:18).

It is quite simple to find out the will of God: if the conscience, when tested by prayer and time, does not “revolt,” if the solution to this or that issue does not contradict the Gospel, and if the confessor is not against your decision, then God’s will is for that decision. Each of your actions must be viewed through the prism of the Gospel and accompanied by a prayer, even the shortest one: “Lord, bless.”

Saint Ignatius (Brianchaninov)

Everything flowing from the Divine will is accompanied by the holy world, according to the experimental teaching of the Holy Fathers; on the contrary, everything accompanied by confusion has its beginning in sin, even if outwardly it seems to be the highest good.

For a Christian, even an opposing wind can be favorable: submission to the will of God reconciles him with the most painful, the most bitter situations... Let us not be afraid of the storms of the sea of ​​life.

The Venerable Pimen the Great used to say: “The human will is a copper wall between God and man...”

Our will, in a state of fall, is hostile to the will of God; out of her blindness and out of a state of enmity towards God, she constantly strengthens to oppose the will of God... In the renunciation of one’s will in order to inherit the will of God, there is renunciation of oneself, commanded by the Savior, which constitutes a necessary condition for salvation and Christian perfection, so necessary that without satisfying this condition, salvation is impossible... The will of God is revealed to humanity in the Law of God, but primarily, with special accuracy and detail, it is declared to us by the Word of God made man. As something beyond comprehension, it is accepted by faith.

One should not transgress the will of God with one’s own will, but, having done what is due on one’s part, leave the rest to God.

In due time God will arrange everything; The best thing is to surrender to His holy will and not think about tomorrow, when there is no special reason to think about it. Otherwise, many live in the future with their dreams and worries, and let the present slip away from their hands.

We must pray to God to do His holy will over us, and not persist in following our own, even though it is well-intentioned.

Everything passes by, both good and bad, but neither humans nor demons can do what God does not allow. Don’t worry, but in peace of mind surrender to the will of God. God knows what He does, and whatever He does, He does according to His great goodness.

With all my heart I wish that the Merciful Lord will arrange Your circumstances in the best way for both your temporary and eternal good. We must surrender to the will of God and subdue all thoughts of disobedience, no matter how many times these thoughts rebel.

Hegumen Nikon (Vorobiev):

Don't worry about anything or anyone too much. Let us surrender ourselves and each other, and our whole life to Christ our God. How often the Holy Church reminds us of this. Trust in God's mercy.

I myself am not trying to get anywhere, but I would like to completely surrender to the will of God in everything, both big and small. I also advise you to instill in your heart the determination to surrender to the will of God, not to desire the obligatory fulfillment of your will. Then you will be calm and firm. If you achieve your will, you will always be upset.

Don't chase good grades or a good opinion of yourself. Do everything according to your strength and conscience, and leave the rest to the will of God. This is the best way; he will give calm and peace to the soul, which is most precious.

We must surrender with all our soul to the good will of God, which saves us, loves us, and wants to lead us through the small sorrows of earthly life to eternal bliss, to the glory of the children of God.

Not everything happens the way we want, but still the Lord leads everyone who wants salvation to Himself, although perhaps not in the ways we would like. Let us submit to the will of God and, without grumbling, accept from the hand of God everything that He pleases to send.

Shiig. John (Alekseev):

It is better for us to rely on the will of God and avoid political chatter, for it clouds our heads and is cowardice.

There is no need to be afraid of old age and the infirmities of old people ahead of time. We must firmly rely on the will of God and believe in His holy Providence.

Abbess Arsenia (Sebryakova):

The will of God not only must be accepted, but it must also be done, and for this, first of all, it must be cognized. It is known by the soul when the Lord Himself reveals His will to the soul. He reveals the will of His soul when it walks before Him in righteousness. This rightness consists mainly in the unhypocritical intention to do the will of God, in the complete readiness to renounce one’s own, in the unwavering determination to accept everything that the Lord sends without any reasoning or self-justification.

Do not strive so intensely to find out the will of God in your business that you do not mistake the fervor of your own heart for the will of God. We must know and deeply understand that our heart is so corrupted, so darkened by sin, our life is so confused by our vices, spoiled by the willful intentions of our sin-loving heart, that not only we cannot do the will of God or know it, but we cannot even act in us and in In our lives we do not allow the all-holy will of God. ...He who lives in his passions constantly lives in opposition to the will of God. And it’s good if he accepts what the Lord allows him to endure, if he humbles himself under this permission of God. Such humble submission to God's permission is a sign of a repentant sinner.

Without God, without His help and grace, a person cannot even come close to the concept of spiritual good... What can a person do? One thing is to submit to the will of God and in humility of spirit cry out to Him: “Lead, Lord, where you know, and help me to fulfill Your will.” And how easy, how saving it is to follow the path where the Lord leads.

Is it pleasing to the Lord to fulfill our request and give peace and tranquility to life? We don’t even know what is good for us and what is harmful. But where we can see God’s help, His mercy towards ourselves, is that He allows us to endure the unbearable with patience, with humility, with submission to His holy will. This is the great mercy of God - and I see that it is being done over you. You endure what human strength cannot endure. You endure with humility and submission. Your heart is not hardened against the author of sorrows. Isn't it God's help that helps you and strengthens your spirit? Just believe in the Lord and surrender everything to Him. He, through his own paths, known to Him alone, will lead everyone to himself, to peace and salvation. Let us pray to Him, may His holy will be done over us!

Priest John Pavlov

1. About how to find out the will of God

What does it mean to be smart? Different people will answer this question differently. Some, for example, will call smart those who know how to make money and become rich, or those who managed to gain power, or who acquired fame and glory, or who know how to live beautifully and for their own pleasure. In a word, being smart for these people simply means achieving success in earthly life. “We live on earth only once,” they will say, “there will be no second time, therefore, we need to achieve success with all our might, acquire wealth, power and enjoy life while there is time.” The logic here is simple: we will eat, drink, have fun and take everything from life, because tomorrow we will die.

Of course, many people will not be satisfied with such a frankly low concept of the human mind, and when asked who can be called smart, they will say that smart is someone who has received a good education, acquired wide erudition, speaks several languages, has traveled a lot, knows a lot and the like. “It’s the kind of person who can be interesting and useful to communicate with,” they will say, “these are the kind of people who are really smart.” Some will also say that a smart person is an experienced, insightful person who knows life and people and knows how to apply this knowledge in his life. Such or similar answers are usually given by worldly people to the question of who can be considered smart.

Christianity, however, answers this question in a completely different way. This is what St. Anthony the Great says: “People are usually called smart because of the incorrect use of this word. Not those who are smart are those who have studied the sayings and writings of the ancient sages, but those whose souls are smart, who can judge what is good and what is evil; They run away from the evil and the harmful to the soul, but they rationally care about the good and the beneficial to the soul and do this with great thanksgiving to God. These alone should truly be called smart people. A truly intelligent person has one concern - to wholeheartedly obey and please the God of all.” From the above words of Saint Anthony, first of all, it is clear that it is impossible for a person to be smart without God. Only the one who pleases God, who fulfills His will, can be called smart.

The Monk John Climacus speaks in exactly the same way about this subject, for whom to be smart means to fulfill the will of God at all times, in every place and in every matter. That is, only the one who knows the will of God in any situation and tries to fulfill it is truly smart and wise. It is precisely this kind of wisdom that the Holy Scripture teaches us when it says through the mouth of the Apostle Paul: “Do not be foolish, but know what is the will of God.” The main Christian prayer teaches the same thing, the words of which “Thy will be done” we say every day.

Actually, whose will else, besides the will of God, can a person fulfill? According to the Monk Seraphim of Sarov, a person can fulfill three wills: the first is the will of God, completely perfect and saving; the second is the will of the person himself, which even when it is not disastrous, is still not saving, and, finally, the third will is demonic, completely and always disastrous. From this it is clear that there is only one saving will - this is the will of God, and the other two wills do not save us, but lead to destruction.

So, anyone who wants to be saved must certainly fulfill the will of God in his life. However, in order to fulfill it, you must first know it. Is it possible for a person to know the will of God, and if possible, then how to do it? The saints, for example, knew the will of God directly from God. The Monk Seraphim of Sarov could directly answer a person asking about monasticism: “There is no way for you to go to the monastery.” Or to a person asking about marriage: “God does not please this marriage,” or to someone else: “You will marry such and such a person, and this marriage will be happy.” And he never made mistakes, because he did not say anything on his own, but only what he learned from God. In the same way, His other great saints knew the will of God.

Well, the saints knew the will of God directly from God, this is understandable. Well, for us, who are still far from the perfection of saints, how can we recognize her? This is not a simple or easy matter, it is a science that you cannot overcome right away. It cannot be studied purely theoretically, as, for example, the laws of physics or traffic rules are studied. It is studied only through many works, many struggles and trials, many experiences of Christian life. As a person draws closer to God, he receives from Him the gift of spiritual reasoning and becomes able to accurately recognize His will.

What is the gift of spiritual reasoning? According to Elder Paisius the Holy Mountain, spiritual reasoning is purity, Divine enlightenment, spiritual clarity. Christians should strive in every possible way to acquire this gift. For those who have not yet reached this high level, there are some ways that can help on the path to studying this science. Let's list the main ones.

So, firstly, anyone who wants to fulfill the will of God in his life must certainly read and carefully study His Word - the Holy Scriptures, in which the Lord Himself reveals His will to man. And you don’t just need to read Scripture, but you need to fulfill in life what is written there. That is, we must try to apply the words of Scripture to every situation in life. With any of our choices, we need to remember that the Lord is now looking at us, and think about what He expects from us and how He would like us to act. We need to remember which words, which commandments of Scripture can be applied to a given situation and, based on this, try to make the right choice, that is, a choice pleasing to God. A person who conforms his actions to the Word of God will gradually grow in knowledge of the will of God.

Secondly, anyone who wants to do the will of God must read the lives and works of the holy fathers. Saints are people who laid down their lives to fulfill the will of God, and therefore they can teach us the same. Reading the lives of the saints, we should imitate them, try to live the way they lived. That is, when we don’t know what to do, we need to remember how the saints acted in the same or similar situation, and try, as far as possible for us, to act in a similar way. If we fulfill this to the best of our ability, then we will become imitators of the saints in fulfilling the will of God and little by little we will learn to recognize this will.

Thirdly, there is another way to find out the will of God: ask your confessor or a spirit-bearing elder. However, you must definitely come to your confessor and elder with faith, and preface your question with a prayer to God, so that He will reveal His will through His servant. In the old days, people did this - they went to St. Seraphim or to Ambrose of Optina, and they revealed to them the will of God in one case or another. And this is the simplest and most reliable method, but it is almost inaccessible to us, for in our time the holy elders have become extremely impoverished, and today rarely does anyone have a confessor.

When it is not possible to ask confessors or saints, there is another way to find out the will of God: prayer to God for admonition. The Holy Fathers teach that it is good to pray three times before making any decision. The Venerable John the Prophet says that when you cannot ask your elder, then you must pray three times about every matter and after that look where your heart bows, even by a hair’s breadth, and do so; for the notification is noticeable and in every way understandable to the heart. In cases where the matter does not require a quick solution, St. John advises praying three times within three days. For our Savior also went away three times to pray and, praying three times, uttered the same words.

Elder Paisius the Svyatogorets argues similarly with Saint John. According to him, in order to fulfill the will of God in any matter, one must, firstly, pray, secondly, think (since it was not in vain that God gave us a head) and, thirdly, act. And this is a very wise rule, for prayer sanctifies a person’s mind, so that he becomes able to find the correct solution, that is, in accordance with the will of God.

All the above rules, in a sense, are summed up by the instruction of St. Philaret, Metropolitan of Moscow, who, when asked how to find out the will of God, says the following: “Call out in the word of Paul: Lord! What will you have me do? Is what I am doing acceptable to You, O Lord? If you wish, bless; if it is displeasing, do not allow me to do what is displeasing to You. And then listen to what the Lord tells you - in His word, in your mind, in your conscience, in the advice of wise and pious people and in external indications and signs.”

So, brothers and sisters, we must, using all the above means, learn the great science of knowing and doing the will of God at all times, in every place and in every matter. Because if we do not do the will of God, then we do either our own will or the will of demons - and both of them do not lead us to salvation, but, on the contrary, lead us to destruction. The only good, saving and perfect will is the will of the Lord God, our Creator. Only He alone knows how to save each of us. Only His will is our sanctification and salvation. It is His perfect will that we must seek, recognize and fulfill in every possible way all the days of our lives, according to the word of our main prayer: “Thy will be done as it is in heaven and on earth.” Amen.

We live in a world where everyone relies only on themselves, moreover, we live in a world where a cult of strong people exists and is imposed, who crush everything, conquer everyone, and are always successful. But if we look closely at this promoted image of a successful, strong person who meets all the standards of the time, we will see that behind all this there is emptiness, because no matter how strong, powerful and successful a person is, he can lose it all in one moment, everything will crumble if there is no God behind it. Jesus compared such people to a man who built his house on sand: “...everyone who hears... My words and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on sand; and the rain fell, and the rivers overflowed, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and he fell, and his fall was great.” And vice versa, the one who listens to His words and fulfills them will be like “a wise man who built his house on the rock” (Matthew 7:24-27).

God's will for man is that God wants no one to perish, but everyone to have eternal life; God's will for man is the salvation of man. And at the same time, it is love towards him, although often this love is not even clear to a person, because he has his own ideas about what this love should be. The will of God towards man is both God’s favor and gracious mercy towards him. Previously, in Rus' they used the following phrase: “God takes pity on him,” and this meant simultaneously both that God takes pity on a person, and that He pities a person by His participation in his fate, by His visit to him.

The will of God is always good, and this is what we often forget when we grumble about what is sent to us.

– It is difficult not to grumble when it is illness or sorrow. Although here you can remember the answer of the old woman crying at the temple. When the priest asked her: “What is she crying about?” - she said: “God probably completely forgot me: this year I was not sick, and no sorrows happened to me.”

– Grief and suffering cleanse a person. Through sorrow, a person becomes stronger, he begins to perceive the world around him and himself in it differently. This is also a manifestation of the will of God when the Lord grants something to a person. And even though at first this may not be understood by a person, but after going through such trials and being cleansed, a person can perceive others differently, become different.

We always have a problem - coordinating our will with the will of the Lord. God manifests His will independently of ours; no one can interfere with its fulfillment. I will say it more harshly: man, as a creation, cannot even enter this sphere, he cannot intrude there. On the other hand, man is the creation of God, and, naturally, he depends on his Creator, and in a certain way participates in His plan, carries it out. Moreover, as God’s beloved creation, he possesses such a gift from God as free will. And very often a clash arises in a person between the will of the Lord and his own will, while even the freedom of choice given to him by God is understood in his own way. Free will is, first of all, will free from the burden of sin. And a person perceives this gift most often in the sense: I do what I want.

– So it turns out that free will is a gift from God, and we are using it incorrectly?

– Of course, because it is given to man to know the truth. Our freedom, free will is always a choice. For holy people it is a choice between lesser and greater good; for an ordinary person it is a choice between sin and virtue. But even people who are in sin are also not deprived of this gift - free will, they also have a choice - this is a choice between a greater sin and a lesser one.

– I would like you to stop at the fact that man cannot interfere with the fulfillment of the will of God. It seems to me that a lack of understanding of this often leads to the fact that we resist the inevitable just because it is inconvenient, unpleasant, etc.

– There is the Book of the Prophet Jonah in the Bible, it takes up a little more than a page – read it. It tells how to Jonah “the word of the Lord came” to rise and go to Nineveh, the great city, and preach in it, because his atrocities had reached God (Jon. 1:1). The Lord, by virtue of His mercy, desired the salvation of these people, “more than one hundred and twenty thousand people who do not know how to distinguish their right hand from their left” (Jon. 4:11). But Jonah is trying to avoid fulfilling the will of God, he does not want to go and preach, he is not ready to be a prophet. By the way, many people mistakenly believe that prophets are predictors of the future; in fact, prophets are those who proclaim the will of God. So, Jonah, despite the fact that he was called by God to fulfill His will, tries in every possible way to avoid this - he even boards a ship that was heading in the other direction, as it is said, to “flee ... from the presence of the Lord” (Jon. 1.3 ). When we read the book, we understand the character of Jonah, it’s all similar to us, to our actions, although it happened in the 700s BC. Jonah did not manage to evade fulfilling the will of the Lord; he finally came to Nineveh, preached there, and the Ninevites believed in God and repented. God's will for the salvation of Nineveh was fulfilled.

– That is, you cannot evade fulfilling God’s will, otherwise the Lord will punish you?

- Well, this is not a punishment. “You did not choose Me, but I chose you” (John 15:16), says Jesus. It’s just that a person who goes against the will of God, like King Saul, finds himself outside the grace of God, he begins to live outside of it. I would like to give an example from the life of St. Innocent, the first bishop of Kamchatka, Aleutian and Kuril. In 1823, Bishop Mikhail of Irkutsk received a decree from the Holy Synod, which ordered that a priest be sent to the colony of the Russian-American Company on the island of Unalaska, among the Aleuts. The lot fell on one priest, who, citing the illness of his wife, refused. But twenty-six-year-old Father John, the future saint (in the world he was Ivan Popov), suddenly, feeling a calling within himself, asked to go to this remote corner of the Russian Empire. And together with his wife and one-year-old child on the ship “Constantine”, having passed through a lot of hardships and dangers, he reached the Aleutian ridge. Subsequently, he will translate the Catechism, prayers, the Gospel, the Acts of the Holy Apostles for the Aleuts and write the famous book in the Aleut-Lisev language: “Indicating the way to the Kingdom of Heaven.” This book will go through dozens of editions and will be translated into many languages. The children of Saint Innocent will graduate from the St. Petersburg Academy, and during his lifetime he himself will be called the Apostle of America and Siberia. But the fate of the priest, who evaded the lot that fell to him, turned out differently: he divorced his mother, and there were canonical violations, and ended his life as a soldier.

– So, a person who fulfills the will of God also receives relief?

– I would not pose the question in this way, because in this case there is a moment: “You - to me, I - to you.” The point here is about calling: if a person feels a calling within himself, he will go to the end, he will begin to fulfill this calling, no matter what he is. Because it is an internal motivating relationship between the creation and Its Creator. How to explain this when a person feels called? God called, and man cannot help but go. Although it requires strength from him. After all, every time a person begins to do the will of God, he enters into an invisible battle.

– explain what this is – “invisible abuse”?

– In order for even unchurched people to understand what this is, let’s remember how difficult it is sometimes to get up in the morning and go to church for service if you have firmly decided to do this in the evening. A lot of obstacles of various kinds arise, which - and a believer will immediately understand this - are not just of an everyday nature. This is something that has to do with the spiritual world - after all, you are going to go to God, and not to the theater, for example. All these are obstacles, no matter in what form they appear, against our good desire to become closer to God. This example makes it clear what “spiritual warfare” is. And we must understand that everyone who does the will of God condemns himself to some kind of spiritual feat. But a person must perform it, look, the word “feat” has the same root as the word “movement,” and a person must move spiritually.

– But how to recognize the will of God? What are the signs that can be interpreted as a manifestation of the Lord's will for you?

– This happens in different ways: sometimes these are life circumstances, sometimes something comes to us during prayer, sometimes in a dream or even through friends. But it will always be through the word. Everything goes through the word: a person can hear one phrase, and it will change his whole life, as it happened with a not very church-going person, who is described in the book “Frank Stories of a Wanderer to His Spiritual Father.” Having entered the temple, he heard the words read from the apostolic epistle: “Pray without ceasing” (1 Thess. 5:17) - and suddenly this phrase became defining for him - it determined his entire future life. He wanted to know what it means to pray unceasingly. It happens that a person does not even understand what is happening to him, but he is simply ready to hear the will of God and fulfill it.

Bishop John of Belgorod

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