One of the most decisive questions any person can ask is “What does God want me to do?” But not necessarily for the reason you might think.
When we ask this, we almost immediately (and naturally) put the emphasis on “do.” This frames the question and its expected answer in terms of action, direction, motion — something concrete and visible. This isn’t wrong or bad; in fact, it’s quite valuable. We are embodied creatures, stewards of God’s creation and his redemptive work in the physical world. To fully be Jesus’ disciples, we must “do” God’s will in actual, real-life steps of obedience (Jas 2:17). Moreover, questions of doing are almost always the most vexing ones for us, the ones that snare us in the deepest tangles and knots of our lives.
At the same time, this subtle emphasis in the question obscures another key word, one that’s just as crucial for the shape of our lives as disciples: “want.”