PRAYING ACCORDING TO THE WILL OF GOD

Prayer is an important part of the Christian life. Jesus said, “…men ought always to pray.” But prayer, to be effectual, must be of a certain kind; it must possess certain characteristics in order to render it acceptable to God. Without these characteristics it may as well have no existence. We read from scripture of some whose prayers were an abomination to God and that was because their prayers were not of the right sort. In their prayers were some elements that were displeasing to God, so that he could not accept their prayers nor answer them. There is a kind of prayer, however, which God delights to hear. It comes up as sweet incense to him. The incense that was offered on the golden altar in the holy place of the temple was a type of the prayers of God’s people. And so, prayer of the right sort is a sweet fragrance to God.

                                                                                                                                                                             

Praying According to God’s Will

Man's highest aim should be to bring glory to God (1 Corinthians 10:31), and this includes praying according to His will. The God who invites us to pray, and who takes pleasure in our prayer, is the God who delights to answer prayer. It is He who, by his Spirit, inspires within our hearts the character to pray. Prayer in God’s will means prayer in the manner and with the attitude of heart that is according to God’s will, and also prayer for the things that are according to his will. There are certain kinds of prayer that are not in God’s will. There are certain things called prayer which rather merit another name and which rise to God, not as sweet-scented incense but as something, which is displeasing. A few biblical guide to praying according to God’s will:

1) Pray for the things which the Bible commands prayer. We are told to pray for our enemies (Matthew 5:44); for God to send missionaries (Luke 10:2); that we do not enter temptation (Matthew 26:41); for ministers of the Word (Colossians 4:3; 2 Thessalonians 3:1); for government authorities (1 Timothy 2:1-3); for relief from affliction (James 5:13); and for the healing of fellow believers (James 5:16). Where God commands prayer, we can pray with confidence that we are praying according to His will.

2) Follow the example of godly characters in Scripture. Paul prayed for the salvation of Israel (Romans 10:1). David prayed for mercy and forgiveness when he sinned (Psalm 51:1-2). The early church prayed for boldness to witness (Acts 4:29). These prayers were according to the will of God, and similar prayers today can be as well. As with Paul and the early church, we should always be praying for the salvation of others. For ourselves, we should pray as David prayed, always aware of our sin and bringing it before God so it will not hinder our relationship with Him and impede our prayers.

3) Pray with the right motive. Selfish motives will not be blessed by God. “When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures” (James 4:3). We should also pray, not so our lofty words can be heard and be seen by others as “spiritual,” but mostly in private and in secret, so that our heavenly Father will hear in private and reward us openly (Matthew 6:5-6).                                                                   

4) Pray with a spirit of forgiveness toward others (Mark 11:25). A spirit of bitterness, anger, revenge or hatred toward others will prevent our hearts from praying in total submission to God. Just as we are told not to give offerings to God while there is conflict between ourselves and another Christian (Matthew 5:23-24), in the same way God does not want the offering of our prayers until we have reconciled with our brothers and sisters in Christ.

5) Pray with thanksgiving (Colossians 4:2; Philippians 4:6-7). We can always find something to be thankful for, no matter how burdened we are by our wants or needs. The greatest sufferer that lives in this world of redeeming love, and who has the offer of heaven before him, has reason to be grateful to God.                              

                                                                                                                                                       
6) Pray with persistence (Luke 18:1; 1 Thessalonians 5:17). We should persevere in prayer and not quit or be dejected because we have not received an immediate answer. Part of praying in God’s will is believing that, whether His answer is “yes,” “no,” or “wait,” we accept His judgment, submit to His will, and continue to pray.                          

                           
7) Rely on the Spirit of God in prayer. This is a wonderful truth: “We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will” (Romans 8:26-27). We have the Spirit’s help in praying. In times of our deepest depression or sorrow, those times when we feel that we “just cannot pray,” we have the comfort of knowing that the Holy Spirit is actually praying for us! What an amazing God we have!                                                                     

8) We must pray without doubting. James 1:6-8 tells us that when we pray, we must not doubt. God is true and faithful to his promises. We must come to God in faith. In Matthew 21:22 Jesus said, "If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer." We must believe and not doubt that, he will listen to our prayers as we pray in accordance with his will.

9) We must pray in Jesus’ name. In John 14:13, Jesus said, "And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father." In John 15:16 we read, "You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name." In John 16:26 we read, "In that day you will ask in my name."

10) We must pray with expectation. If we don’t expect God to do anything after we have prayed to him, we haven’t exercised faith in him. We need to get away from ritualistic prayers that don’t expect results. When we pray by faith according to God’s will, we must expect God to give us what we ask for and, the truth is, he will. In fact, John makes this the profound statement in 1 John 5:15, "And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him."

I hope that we will learn to pray in accordance with the will of God and prove our God to be a prayer-answering God. This is the blessing of praying according to God’s will. I hope we will learn to seek first the kingdom of God and pray for the concerns of the kingdom rather than our own concerns. As we do so, I guarantee that God will give us food and everything else, even without our asking. As we immerse ourselves in God’s purposes and interests, He will take care of everything we need.

Finally

The prayer that is prayed according to God’s will is always a submissive prayer. It does not press its own desires. The language of the heart is, “Thy will be done.” It does not argue with God. It does not choose the way He shall answer; in fact, it has no requirements for Him. It trusts in divine wisdom, counts God faithful, hopes all things and believes all things. It is the prayer of confidence, not the prayer of doubt. It believes God, and is ready to write, “This is true,” and set its seal to all of God’s promises.

Prayer that is prayed according to God’s will always put God and his desires and purposes first.  Amen!