The author, who is a Seventh-day Adventist pastor and popular campus speaker, prescribes eight positive steps to ascertain God's will. Seven of the steps originated with George Mueller in the nineteenth century, and there is one well-placed addition by Venden. The material is biblical and gives breezy descriptions of each step.
This is essentially an evangelistic tract, and Venden states in every chapter that for the steps to be effective, the reader must know God personally.
Venden is appropriately cautious, but thoughtful readers (teens appear to be the primary target) may feel he missteps himself when he tells how he feels the Lord led his family to move to southern California despite initial reluctance. Their resistance was overcome by a chance reading of Acts 8:26: "Go toward the south, to the place which is called desert" (paraphrase). He uses the illustration more than once and defends it by saying "Some people may be uneasy with such a subjective method of communication with God."
The key is to use all eight steps in concert.
