Firstly, to give you a perspective of where I'm coming from, I have never known what God's will is for me, and I suspect that I will never know. Not for sure anyway.

I guess it depends on your definition of the word "knowledge". For me there are a few different forms of knowledge.

As a child and as a young adult, I was taught to believe that knowledge was something I had in my head, in my brain. Today (as a 40-something year old) I still see and hear that basic assumption - that knowledge is "mental".

As someone who has been exposed to different schools of thought including, but not limited to: different 12 step programs; the people in them (who may or may not practice the principals of those programs); the "scientific method"; other spiritual practices, such as Satyananda style yoga and meditation (which I have lately let lapse through laziness), and walking around the block; I now believe in other forms of knowledge.

In fact, these days I regard anything that comes out of my brain as being highly suspicious and worth scrutinising.

Step 11 states "praying only for knowledge of God’s will for us and the power to carry that out". That statement implies that I can gain knowledge of God's will. If that's true, and if I'm suspicious of what comes out of my brain, what indicators do I have that have indeed gained "knowledge of God's will"?

Certainly there are times when I feel very strongly that something I am doing is the right thing to be doing. But my experience tells me that's no guarantee.

There are also times when some opportunity appears out of nowhere, and I follow that path and I realise a number of things. Firstly, that I would never have chosen this path knowingly. Secondly that it is such a fantastic path to be on there's a high likelihood that I have somehow magically been graced with an inner "knowledge of God's will for me and the power to carry that out" without actually knowing anything in my head.

Again, that's no guarantee but I suspect that's as good as I'm going to get (one day at a time so far anyway), and I might add, I'm pretty happy with it!