When it comes to discerning God’s calling in your life, most people do not receive a lightning bolt of clarity. They receive a quiet nudge. A thought that will not leave. A conversation that keeps echoing. A sense that God is inviting a change, even when the path looks uncertain.
History gives us a helpful picture of how ordinary discernment works. In the 1950s, Martin Luther King Jr. was faced with overwhelming pressure as a young pastor and leader of the Montgomery Bus Boycott. In a moment of fear and uncertainty, he prayed for guidance at his kitchen table and sensed God’s presence reassuring him that he was not alone. That simple but profound experience became a foundation for the courage and clarity he carried into the civil rights movement, and it still reminds us today of how God meets us in moments of decision.
You do not need a monastery to practice this kind of attention. You need a few sturdy habits, the right questions to test what you are sensing, and a way to act without a five-year plan handed to you. Here are three integrated tools that can help as you discern your calling. Think of them as one path with three movements: listen, discern, and walk.
1) Listen using a simple daily rhythm
God’s voice rarely shouts over constant noise. That’s why it’s crucial to create quiet moments that create clarity. Keep these small enough to live inside a busy day, but help attune your awareness to what might show up.
Begin with stillness. Sit for five minutes. Breathe slowly. Pray, “Speak, Lord, I am listening.” The point of this practice is not to produce a feeling. The point is to become available.
Read Scripture slowly. Choose a brief passage and ask two questions: What stands out, and why might this matter today? Write two lines in a notebook. One of gratitude and one a request for guidance. Treat this as a conversation, not a performance.
Close with a ten-minute Examen. In the evening, review the day with God. Notice moments of consolation, where life, courage, and peace increased. Notice moments of desolation, where you felt small, anxious, or closed off. Ask God, “What are you drawing me toward and what are you inviting me to release?” Choose one concrete response for tomorrow, such as a call you will make, a boundary you will set, or a task you will lay down.
If you miss a day, start again the next morning. Slow progress, not perfect streaks, builds sensitivity for how to hear God's calling for your life. Over a week or two, you will start to notice patterns surface. Those patterns often carry the guidance you are seeking.
2) Discern with a threefold filter and seek wise counsel
Impressions are common. Wise decisions arrive when impressions are tested. Use a short, repeatable filter, and invite a small trusted circle to help you interpret as you begin to discern your calling.
Alignment. Test what you are sensing against Scripture, your holy desires, and design. Desire asks whether you genuinely want this and why now. Design asks whether the next step fits how God has shaped you, including your gifts, temperament, and story. If an invitation conflicts with what God has made clear in Scripture, set it aside. If it aligns, keep moving forward with peace.
Fruit. Take small steps in the direction you sense and watch the signs that matter. Here are four signals that are especially helpful when asking yourself, How do I know God is calling me?
● Peace that lingers, even when you feel stretched.
● Provision such as an open door, a needed resource, or a mentor who shows up.
● Perseverance that continues after hard days.
● People helped in visible, specific ways.
You do not need all four at full strength to receive a sense of certainty, but a meaningful lean towards these suggests you are on a faithful path.
Seek wise counsel. Share what you are sensing with three trusted voices who know God and know you. Ask a pastor or spiritual mentor, a peer who tells the truth, or a practitioner whose work resonates with you.
Offer a brief one-page summary of what you sense, what you know for sure, and what you do not know yet. Ask them three questions:
What do you see God already doing through me?
Where do you see fruit when I serve or lead?
If you were in my place, what experiment would you try in the next 30 days?
Capture their insights in writing and note the themes or patterns showing up. When alignment, fruit, and counsel point in the same direction, you have enough light to take the next faithful step.
3) Take action with a 30-day experiment
Most clarity arrives while walking, not while sitting idle, waiting for a perfect plan to fall in your lap. Design one small experiment that serves real people and teaches you quickly. Keep it simple and specific.
Name one practical action step. For example, teach a four-week small group and evaluate engagement. Volunteer weekly with a local partner and debrief on what gave you life and what drained it. Shadow a chaplain for two mornings and record what felt natural and what felt forced. Pilot a small community project and gather five honest reviews.
Choose two repeatable actions each week. The actions should be obvious on your calendar, such as one session to prepare, one session to serve or shadow, and one debrief. Protect these appointments as you would any other meeting.
Use a simple scorecard. At the end of each week, answer four questions on a single page: Did I experience peace? Did provision appear? Did perseverance grow? Were people helped in specific ways? Add one brief note on what you learned about your design.
Set a day-30 decision date. Invite your three counselors to a short meeting. Share what you saw in Scripture and prayer, your scorecard notes, and any visible fruit you experienced. Decide to deepen the commitment, pivot to an adjacent path, or pause with gratitude. Keep in mind that if hesitation or a no from God shows up in this practice, that is still clarity.
This approach does not force certainty. However, it builds confidence through evidence, humility, and a sense of community. Over time, a series of small experiments becomes a clear path forward for what to do when you feel called by God.
Common questions you’ll wrestle with while discerning God’s voice
What if I feel pressure or urgency? God’s invitations carry weight, but they do not bully. If an impression shouts, pause, return to stillness, and seek wise counsel.
What if I keep comparing my path to others? Someone else’s chapter ten is not your chapter one. Bless their story. Walk your own.
What if nothing seems to happen? Keep the rhythm small and steady. Review your scorecard with a mentor after 30 days. Sometimes clarity takes time, and the first experiment reveals what to release, which is just as valuable as receiving perfect clarity.
A simple prayer to repeat
“God, I want to hear you in the middle of my ordinary day. Quiet the noise that does not belong. Give me wisdom to see, courage to act, and peace to wait. Lead me to the next faithful step, and keep my heart soft to your voice. Amen.”
You do not need the whole map
You need a daily rhythm that opens your ears, trusted mentors who help you test what you hear, and a small experiment that lets you learn while serving.
If you are a young adult exploring a call to ministry and seeking a community to help guide your discernment, we invite you to connect with us, the Forum for Theological Exploration (FTE). We offer financial assistance to help you explore ministry and connect you with mentors and local pastors to deepen your vocational discernment through programs like the FTE Ministry Fellowship and DISCERN.
FTE exists to Inspire Leaders to Shape the Future, and we would be honored to walk with you as you listen, discern, and take the next faithful step.
FTE also offers financial support to under-resourced and underrepresented Ph.D. and Th.D. students who have completed their coursework in religion, theological studies, or biblical studies. This Doctoral Fellowship is designed to equip and encourage young adults discerning their vocation in theological education.
Visit fteleaders.org for more resources and tools.