Praying in accordance with 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. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.
1 John 5:14-15 (ESV).
The Bible has many scriptures like the header scripture above that encourage us to pray.
Another very encouraging scripture is Philippians 4:6, which instructs us to ‘…not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.’ Many people may ask though, how can we know what God’s will is – we cannot read his mind! But in reality we can know what is in God’s mind, as it is revealed in the pages of the Bible.
The gift of faith and to have the mind of Jesus Christ are two wonderful gifts. Is it God’s will for us to be recipients of these amazing gifts? The answer is a resounding ‘Yes!’. Hebrews 11:6 tells us that ‘…without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.’ So in order to please God we need faith which is something we cannot work up ourselves: ‘For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.’ (Ephesians 2:8). So we can go to God in confidence and request the gift of faith and it will be granted.
Now, how about the mind of Christ? We read in Philippians, ‘Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus…’ (Philippians 2:5 NKJV). So clearly it is also God’s will for us to have the mind of Jesus Christ. And again, we need to request this with confidence and it will be granted. As we study God’s word we will discover more and more what God’s will is for our lives and in turn we can pray more confidently for those things that are ‘according to his will’, then rejoice as we see our prayers answered.
Prayer
Father in heaven, thank you for revealing to us in your written word what is your will, and the many gifts that you have made available to us just for the asking. In Jesus’s name we pray, Amen.
Study by Sherwin Scott
About the writer:
Sherwin Scott is a deacon in the Lewes congregation of Grace Communion International.
Local congregation:
Grace Communion in Lewes
The House of Friendship
208 High Street
Lewes
BN7 2NS
Meeting time:
Sunday 11:00 am
Local congregational contact:
Hilary Buck
Email: lewes@gracecom.church
Like us on www.facebook.com/Grace Communion Lewes
Word of Life contact:
wordoflife@gracecom.church