Tuesday, October 10, 2017

We Must Pray God's Will

And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us (1 John 5:14).

John addressed prayer in 1 John 3:22. There he informed us that God answers our prayers when we are (1) keeping His commands and (2) doing those things that please Him. John now adds a third requirement: (3) we must ask "according to his will" (v. 14). With these three keys in place, John says we can be confident toward God as we pray. Indeed we can know He hears us as we ask, and we can "know that we have what we have asked Him for" (vv. 14-15).

George Mueller (1805-1898) was a great man of prayer who refused a regular salary and financial support for himself or the ministries he led. A leader of the Christian Brethren movement, Mueller said, "Prayer is not overcoming God's reluctance. It is laying hold of His willingness" (quoted in Be Real, 179). Therefore nothing we ask for lies beyond the power of God except that which lies beyond His will, His purpose, His plan.

We might ask why anyone would want something contrary to God's will. It is right to pray according to God's will, and it is wise to pray according to God's will. He knows what is best, and He wants what is best: His glory and our good. God wants to give you what you would want God to give you if you were wise enough to want it.

Now, God's will may be different from what you want, but I believe this: it will always be better than what you want. Romans 12:2 tells us God's will is "good, pleasing, and perfect." I want what God wants for me. I want God's will.

Adapted from Exalting Jesus in 1,2,3 John by Daniel Akin

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