Question: In the first edition of Decision Making, you did not discuss Acts 22:14-15 in which Ananias told Paul that he would know God's will for him. Doesn't that indicate that God had an individual will for Paul? And if God intended for Paul to know His will, shouldn't we expect the same for all believers?

Answer: OK, this was an infrequently asked question. But this passage has been brought up by enough readers to warrant a reply, and it does refer directly to "knowing God's will."

Here is what the passage says:
And he [Ananias] said [to me, Paul], 'The God of our fathers has appointed you to know His will and to see the Righteous One and to hear an utterance from His mouth. For you will be a witness for Him to all men of what you have seen and heard.' This passage is one of three that describes Paul's conversion (Acts 9:1-19; 22:1-21; 26:9-23). What is the content of "His will" in these verses? A believing response to the gospel is the first step of obedience to the moral will of God for unbelievers like Paul. The immediate result of this Damascus road revelation was Paul's salvation and baptism (Acts 22:16).

It is probable that "His will" also encompasses God's revelation of Paul's apostleship and ministry to the Gentiles declared at the same time. In later writings, Paul refers back to his apostolic appointment as being "according to the commandment of God" (1 Timothy 1:1) and "by the will of God" (2 Timothy 1:1). The statements in Acts 9:15 and 22:15 that Paul is "a chosen instrument of Mine [Christ's]" and "a witness for Him" likely refers to Paul's apostolic commissioning, since the apostles were the chosen and inspired eye-witnesses of the resurrection (Acts 1:22).

"God's will" for Paul, then, consisted of faith in the gospel followed by direct revelation of his appointment as an apostle to the Gentiles. While the former is part of God's moral will for all men (1 Timothy 2:3-4; 2 Peter 3:9), the latter is unique to Paul. These two facets are sufficient to explain "His will" in this text without reading the theology of an individual will into the passage.

So my answer to the question is no. The fact that God's moral will for Paul included details that were revealed to the apostle by divine revelation does not imply that God has an individual will for all believers revealed to their hearts by impressions of the Holy Spirit.