If you have become a Christian (a follower of Christ) in the last half century, there is a little phrase that we are taught when being told to pray that can be a little confusing: “Make sure you are praying for things that are in God’s will!”
The reason this might be confusing? Well, what if you don’t know God’s will? There is an easy religious answer presented for that, too. Simply include in your prayer “If it is in your will, Lord”. So, if your request isn’t granted, then it must not have been in God’s will. Simple, right?
Except, wouldn’t it be a blessing as a Christian to know what God’s will is in the first place? That way, when we pray something, we can already know that the requests will be granted?
If you have been studying the Bible for a while, you likely already know that God doesn’t make anything difficult to understand. His will is no different.
Here is what the Bible says:
The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance. – 2 Peter 3:9
God’s will, first and foremost is that no one perishes, but all come to repentance (salvation). God wants every one of us to be saved and spend eternity with Him!
“Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in Him; 32 if God is glorified in Him, God will also glorify Him in Himself, and will glorify Him immediately. John 13:31b-32
13 Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. John 14:13
I glorified You on the earth, having accomplished the work which You have given Me to do. John 17:4
The other part of God’s will, is that He wants to have his name glorified in all the earth. Webster’s has a few definitions for “glory” that should help us understand what this means:
- something that brings praise or fame to someone or something : something that is a source of great pride
- high renown or honor won by notable achievements.
God wants to be acknowledged. Why? Because he created you and everything else! He wants recognition from us that what he created is beautiful and wonderful, and he doesn’t like anyone or anything else being given credit for his work (do you like it when your work is credited to someone else?) Giving glory to God is simply acknowledging the fact that God deserves credit and worship for the things he has done (creating everything, providing a way to restore our relationship with him).
To make this simple, here are the two things that make up God’s will:
- God wants everyone to come to repentance (salvation)
- God wants his name to be glorified in all the earth
If your request doesn’t provide for both of these to take place, then your request is not within the will of God. Here’s what the Bible has to say:
You do not have because you do not ask. 3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures – James 4:2b-3
You ask and do not receive because you ask with wrong motives – this is key! Analyze your own request before lifting it to God. Will your request glorify God and bring people to salvation? Or will it glorify you and bring you pleasure?
So, instead of lifting requests to God and wondering if they will be answered because you don’t know if they are within his will or not, simply test them against these two criteria:
- Will this request lead to someone’s salvation?
- Will this request give glory to God if it is granted?
If you conform your prayer life around these two principles, then you will find that you will grow closer to God and that his passion for saving people from hell will become your passion, and you will become a believer that always has their prayers answered because you know what God’s will is.
Spread the Gospel, lives depend on it!!!
Your brother in Christ,
Duane
