How to Know If God Supports Your Decision: 5 Simple, Proven Ways to Tell

Inside: Get 5 biblical ways for how to know if God supports your decision. Don’t forget to download the free guide to help clear up your confusion when you’re stuck on a decision and need clarity.

I went through 4 rounds of intrauterine insemination and one round of IVF trying to have a baby.

I’d decided this was the next logical step for me. After all, I was in my mid-thirties, I’d established my career pretty well, and I was in a long-term relationship with a man I loved with every fiber of my being. Obviously, it was time for a baby.

This was why the whole time I put my body through these emotional, invasive treatments, I just assumed God supported my decision.

Before each new attempt, I’d beg God to please, please make it work this time. But each successive failure eroded my faith in His support of my decision and left me more and more confused.

Eventually, I started wondering why God wouldn’t give me the baby I’d decided I wanted, the baby I was so desperate for. And I wondered how to know if God supported my decision to have a baby.

Bonus: As a bonus for joining my weekly newsletter, get this free printable download—The Essential Guide to Finding Clarity. It gives you 7 revealing questions to help conquer your confusion and know what to do now.

When You Want to Know If God Supports Your Decision

Here’s the thing. Back when I was doing everything in my power to have a baby and begging God to make it so, I’d hitched my wagon to a man who didn’t believe in God.

On top of this, we were living together without being married, nothing I did was ever good enough for him, and he had a nasty habit of turning everything around on me.

Looking back now, it’s as clear as the nose on my face that God did not, in fact, support my decision to have a baby. Certainly not in those circumstances.

You see, God’s best for me would never have been to bring a baby into the middle of my toxic relationship. And I’m convinced He didn’t want me to forever tie myself to a man who showed every sign of not loving me deeply, the way I deserved to be loved.

Of course, I know all this now. But back when I was going through a battery of failed fertility treatments, I never thought my decision wasn’t God’s will for me. My sole focus was on getting Him to bless my efforts.

Until my end result refused to materialize, I didn’t think to ask how to know if God supported my decision.

You may be in a similar situation—hitting brick wall after brick wall on a path you’ve decided to take. In this case, you’re probably looking for God to clear the obstacles you’re encountering to show He supports your decision.

Or maybe you don’t want to start your journey until you’re 100% sure God supports your decision. In this case, you’re probably looking for a guarantee of success on the path you’ve chosen to take.

So let’s see what Scripture tells us about how to know if God supports your decision.

How to Know God’s Will in Decision-Making

This list for how to know if God supports your decision is by no means exhaustive. God can give you His stamp of approval in any way He wants. He’s God—He’s not limited in any way, shape, or form.

But these 5 ways for how to know God’s will in your decision-making process are pretty common. Plus, they’re backed up by His enduring Word.

Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.

Matthew 24:35 (ESV)

They’re simple to implement, but don’t be fooled. Simple doesn’t always mean easy.

As a Christian, making decisions often requires more than what you see on the surface. It usually requires faith, courage, and trusting God’s leading, which means simple goes out the door.

Still, in your current situation, you can use any or all of these methods for how to know if God supports your decision.

1. How to Know If God Supports Your Decision—the Godliness Test

One of the easiest methods for how to know God’s will in decision-making is to test your decision against His standards of godliness.

By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence.

2 Peter 2:3 (NLT)

To get a picture of what God considers a godly life, you don’t need to go further than the 10 Commandments. Or you can study the life of Jesus to see what godliness looks like in action.

The upshot here, as Peter says in the middle of the verse, is for you to come to know God. As you go deeper with Him, you’ll receive more and more of what you need to make godly decisions.

Now, maybe you need to know God’s opinion on your decision right away. Maybe you don’t have time for organic spiritual growth before you need to put this decision into action.

If so—and even when you do have time to go deeper with God—you can check if your decision is godly by asking yourself these questions:

• Will I be able to look my bathroom mirror reflection in the eyes without flinching in shame if I go through with this decision?
• Would Jesus be OK with this decision?
• When it’s my time to stand before God and give an account of my life, will I be able to explain this decision without stuttering through excuses and justifications?

When you answer these 3 questions and measure what you want to do against God’s standards of godliness, you’ll find it way easier to know if God supports your decision.

2. How to Know If God Supports Your Decision—the Spirit Test

Your decision may not be a moral one with a black-or-white, yes-or-no answer. It may not be a clear-cut matter of whether or not this is the right thing to do. So standards of godliness may not apply.

In this case, the first thing to do is check in with the Holy Spirit.

But 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 that I have said to you.

John 14:26 (ESV)

As a born-again Christian who has confessed Jesus as your resurrected Savior, the Bible says you have the Holy Spirit living in you. And part of what He does is guide you, but only if you let Him.

In my experience, the Holy Spirit’s guidance often comes in the form of an inexplicable, easy-to-ignore inner knowing in your gut. To get familiar with this inner knowing, you need to practice awareness and tuning into promptings from the Holy Spirit.

Then once you hear and acknowledge these promptings, you’ll probably need to practice courage so you’ll act on what the Holy Spirit is telling you to do.

A word of warning first, though: Before you run off with your inner prompting, do a gut check.

See if what you’re feeling goes against God’s word in any way. If it doesn’t line up or if it’s ungodly, this isn’t the Holy Spirit prompting you. And you can be assured of God’s lack of support for your decision.

3. How to Know If God Supports Your Decision—the Wisdom Request

If you’re like me, your default when you want to know if God supports your decision is to ask Him for some kind of burning bush. This is to say, you want a crystal clear sign that leaves no room for doubt.

However, as you may have noticed by now, God often doesn’t work like this. Your sore knees tell the story of the countless times you’ve begged Him to give you the exact answer you’re looking for.

Related: 6 Clear Signs God Is Speaking to You (And You’re Missing It)

This explains why so many of us often overlook one very simple way for how to know if God supports your decision: Ask Him for wisdom.

If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking.

James 1:5 (NLT)

You see, sometimes what you need isn’t for God to show His support—or lack thereof—for your decision through a miraculous bolt of lightning from the sky. Sometimes, what you need is to seek wisdom so you know how to apply it in other situations as well.

However, James goes on to give a warning.

But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind.

James 1:6 (NLT)

This means you need to trust God for the wisdom you’ve asked Him for. Don’t waste your time second-guessing the gift of wisdom He’s given you.

Instead, check if your wisdom is godly, then trust in God’s support for the wise decision you make.

4. How to Know If God Supports Your Decision—the Door and Window Request

Buckle up because this method of figuring out if God supports your decision takes courage.

In this way of how to know if God supports your decision, you pray for Him to close the doors He doesn’t want you to walk through, and open the windows He wants you to climb through.

Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

Matthew 6:10 (ESV)

Your prayer may go something like this:

Or maybe you pray like this:

This can be a difficult prayer to say.

Especially when you’re already attached to the decision you’ve made and its possible outcomes. This type of prayer requires you to be willing to let go of what you think is the right way to go and instead do what God wants, no matter what it turns out to be.

This way isn’t easy but God is faithful to honor your willingness to relinquish your desire and submit to Him.

Bonus: As a bonus for joining my weekly newsletter, get this free printable download—The Essential Guide to Finding Clarity. It gives you 7 revealing questions to help conquer your confusion and know what to do now.

5. How to Know If God Supports Your Decision—the Godly Counsel Option

I’m a firm believer in the old adage, “Too many cooks spoil the broth.” In my experience, when you go seeking the opinion of everybody and their mother, you usually end up more confused and stuck than when you started.

I also believe you have what you need to make your own decision and know if God supports it.

Still, if all else fails and:

• Your decision isn’t a matter of godliness
• You’re not getting a clear prompting from the Holy Spirit
• Wisdom about what to do seems to be eluding you
• You’re not seeing closed doors or open windows

Then you may need to activate this phone-a-friend option and seek counsel about your decision from godly people.

Plans succeed through good counsel; don’t go to war without wise advice.

Proverbs 20:18 (NLT)

But with this way of how to know if God supports your decision, you need to beware of 3 things.

First, the quality of the counsel you seek matters.

Be sure your counselor is a godly person and not just someone with loads of opinions they’re always ready and willing to share.

You may choose someone from your church, like a trusted pastor, deacon, or appointed counselor. Or your choice may be a more mature Christian mentor who’s already part of your life.

Whoever you choose, let it be someone who’s familiar with God’s word and who demonstrates the fruit of the Spirit in their everyday life. This way, you can be reasonably sure they’re qualified to help you know if God supports your decision.

Second, your motivation behind seeking godly counsel matters.

If you’re looking for someone to make your decision for you, or if you’re looking for someone to blame if the outcome of your decision isn’t what you expect, stop right there.

The wise counselor you sit down with isn’t the one who’ll have to give an account of this decision. You are.

Yes, each of us will give a personal account to God.

Romans 14:12 (NLT)

So don’t think you’re giving yourself an out by getting godly counsel as you seek God’s guidance in your decision-making.

Instead, let your motivation for going after wise counsel be a desire to fill in your knowledge gaps and feel more confident in God’s support for your decision.

Third, you’re still responsible for checking godly counsel.

As godly as the counselor you find may be, you’d be unwise to simply swallow whatever they tell you whole. This is because, as good a person as they are, they’re still a fallible human who sometimes speaks out of turn and makes mistakes.

Or they may just be straight-up wrong.

Dear friends, do not believe everyone who claims to speak by the Spirit. You must test them to see if the spirit they have comes from God. For there are many false prophets in the world.

1 John 4:1 (NLT)

Much like checking your inner promptings, you need to know if the guidance you’re getting aligns with God’s word.

If it doesn’t—if it goes against what God says—run, don’t walk, away from this counsel.

Get Your Free Printable Guide for Finding Clarity about Your Decision

As I said, I believe you have what you need to make your own decision and know if God supports it. But often when you find yourself confused about which way to go or what step to take, it’s because you’re afraid of something.

Unless you identify the fear, probe into what’s at its root, and process its implications, you’ll stay stuck in confusion and afraid to decide.

Use this free guide to ask and answer 7 questions to help you figure out your next step.

1. Get the free guide. You’ll get the printable guide and join my weekly newsletter. Just click here to get it and subscribe.
2. Put the coaching-style questions to work. Use the 7 revealing questions to break through your fog of confusion and decide what to do now.
3. Act on your decision. Keep your eyes focused on what you’ve decided and go after it.

Here’s a sneak peek of your free printable guide:

A Final Word on Seeking God’s Guidance in Decision-Making

Over the course of 3 painful years, I went through treatment after treatment trying to have a baby. I told myself I wanted a baby because it was the obvious next step for me, and because I had a heart overflowing with love to give.

But the truth is, I wanted a baby because I was desperate to keep a floundering relationship alive. A relationship I deep down knew was no good for me.

Back then, each failed fertility treatment was like a stab to my heart. But now, I’m beyond grateful God didn’t support my decision.

You see, my motives were all wrong, the circumstances were unhealthy (to say the very least), and my decision wasn’t God’s best for me.

If I’d gotten what I wanted, I’d have ruined at least 2 lives—mine and my child’s.

As for you, you can use this quick checklist when you’re wondering how to know if God supports your decision:

In the end, you’ll need to surrender your decision to God. Then you’ll need to trust Him to shut you down or keep you going along your decision’s path, depending on His will for you.

Before you go, get your FREE printable download to help conquer your confusion—The Essential Guide to Finding Clarity.

Did you love it? Please share it!