Week 1: Introduction — Knowing and Doing the Will of God

1.Blackaby opens by distinguishing between knowing *about* God and actually *knowing* God. In your own words, what is that difference — and which would you say describes your life right now?

2.The book was born partly out of Blackaby's experience pastoring a small, struggling church in Saskatoon, Canada, where God did extraordinary things through an apparently ordinary congregation. What does that backstory suggest to you about the relationship between our circumstances and God's ability to work?

3.Blackaby introduces Jesus' statement in John 5:19 — "The Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing" — as the model for all Christian living. Why is it significant that Jesus Himself operated this way? What does it imply about how *we* are supposed to function?

4.The introduction presents the idea that God is always at work around us and that our task is to look for where He is working and join Him there. How does this reframe the way you typically think about your own plans, goals, and ministry?

5.Blackaby warns against the tendency to develop our own plans and then ask God to bless them. Have you ever caught yourself doing this — in your personal life, your career, your family, or your church? What happened?

6.The seven realities are previewed here as a framework for the whole book. Which one catches your attention most at first glance, and why?

7.Blackaby argues that a genuine encounter with God will always produce a crisis of belief — a moment where we must decide to trust and obey, or turn back. Has there been such a moment in your own story? How did you respond?

8.How does the introduction connect knowing God's will to *doing* God's will? Why does Blackaby refuse to separate the two?