______________________Praying God’s Will
“And this is the confidence that we have in Him, if we ask any thing according to His will, He heareth us" ___________________ 1 John 5:14
Prayer is one of the most powerful tools that are available to the believer. It is our open communication with God. Prayer is our way of receiving instruction for direction and guidance from God and the way that we commune with Him to share our heart. Prayer is intended to be a dialogue and not a monologue where you do all the talking, but God desires to speak to you as well. And the language of prayer is the Word of God.
I grew up in old southern Baptist religion where I experienced hearing these prayers that were merely cries to God that were not necessarily filled with His Word. These prayers were always seemingly mini versions of a song. They contained a lot of words that were prayed in a hymn and were void of God’s Word and seemed to just stir emotions. What God has revealed to His saints today is that our prayers are to be filled with His Word. We are to come to Him with our supplications and petitions which are in line with His will, which is His Word. The will of God is what his Words says about who we are and what we are to do for the sake of the kingdom of God. The plan that He has for our life is contained in His Word. It is through prayer that we understand what our purpose is; to carry on His purpose here on earth. Prayer implies that you can’t do it yourself and so you are asking God to do it for you. Prayer is you showing God that you are available. God does nothing but in answer to prayer, and all requests must be in line with His will for our life. The matter of our prayer must be agreeable to the will of God.
Paul prayed for God to remove his thorn, but God did not remove it (2 Corinthians 12:8, 9) because it served the purpose of keeping him humble and dependent on God’s grace to strengthen him. Jesus prayed that this cup be removed (Matthew 26:39), nevertheless accepted that God will must be done. Our prayer must be in line with God’s will to be effective, and we learn and understand His will first by spending time in His Word, and secondly with the Word in our heart, as we spend time in communion and communication with Him He gives direction and guidance so that we fulfill the purpose for which we were called. Jeremiah was called to be a prophet to the nations (Jeremiah 1:5), and any prayer for something other than this would have been out of God’s will for his life. As we then ask in prayer for things that are in line with His will we can be confident that He hears us and will grant us these petitions.
Father today I ask You to reveal Your will for my life to me as I spend time in Your Word and prayer. Give me the understanding of what You have called me to do so that my prayers will line up with Your will and I can then be confident that You hear and will grant what I ask. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
