Praying “According to His Will”

Praying “According to His Will”

I Peter 3:12 teaches us that “the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears are open to their prayers.”  This reminds us of James 5:16, which says that the fervent prayers of the righteous accomplish much.  So, what about all those people who pray for a new car and never get one?  What about all those people who pray for a dream job and never seem to land it?  What about all those who pray for the healing of a loved one who still passes away?

We often feel like there is a certain mystery about prayer and how/if God answers those prayers.  Sometimes we wonder if an event or circumstances was indeed an answered prayer (or was it the Devil making us think our prayer was answered?).  Sometimes we begin to question what God is doing when He doesn’t seem to answer our prayers how we think they ought to be answered, we wonder if He is even listening or, worse, we may begin to question if He even exists to answer prayer.

I John 5:14,15 is an excellent commentary on the two verses above.  It says, “Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.  And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.” (I John 5:14,15).  According to His will.  There is the key to understanding how to pray to God, the kind of heart we ought to have, and whether or not prayers are answered.  We must learn to pray according to His will.So, in order to understand how to pray according to His will, and therefore know that He will grant us whatever we ask, we need to learn exactly what His will is.  The challenge we have in this regard is understanding that the expressed will of God does not involve worldly, material matters.  When we ask, “is it God’s will for me to live in this town” or, “is it God’s will that I start this job,” we are asking about things that pertain to this earthly realm.  The fact is that God has not revealed anything in His word regarding His will in these kinds of matters; there is no clear revelation about whether one should live in Los Angeles or Dallas, or work as a salesman or teacher.  God specifically told Abraham to leave his home in Ur, and go to a specific place.  Paul was forbidden by the Holy Spirit to go into Asia.  But we don’t get such specific orders today regarding the will of God in earthly matters.

But what has God specifically revealed about His will?  We have verses where God says He wants us to love Him and love our neighbor, verses that teach us to live humbly before men, to offer ourselves as living sacrifices to Him, to spread the Gospel and bring others to the knowledge of His Son, to be obedient to specified commandments.  The New Testament is full of the expressed will of God, summed up in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.

So, when we pray, we must pray according to the expressed will of God.  There is nothing wrong about praying for material things, or praying for certain situations to work out, praying for physical health and healing (James 5:16), but do we remain mindful of the expressed will of God in our petitions?  Is our heart in the right place, focused on the will of God, when we pray about these things? 

When we pray for the healing of a loved one, it would be hard (if not impossible) to determine if God truly desires for that person to remain on this earth.  However, we know for certain that God desires the salvation of that one’s soul, as well as for that one to remain faithful to Him and serve Him as best they can while they are here; we can pray for their healing, but we should really be focused on praying for them in spiritual matters.  Likewise, when we pray for healing and wholeness in our own bodies; pray for the help physically, but do not neglect the more important matters, petitions for our souls, calling on the love, mercy, and forgiveness of God.  In these matters of praying for health, we can know, according to I John 5:14,15, that we do have the petitions of our hearts, even if the prayer for physical health seems to go unanswered.

When it comes to praying for financial matters, there is nothing wrong with praying for a raise or material assistance.  Sometimes it is not within our power, ability, or opportunity to work and earn for ourselves according to II Thessalonians 3:10.  However, when we do pray about money matters, are we praying with an understanding of the will of God in our hearts?  Are we praying about financial matters so that the will of God might be accomplished through those answered prayers?  Somewhere in our heart, we should sincerely desire that any increase in material gain might lead to our increased ability to do benevolent works in the world, our increased ability to support the work of the church, our increased ability to aid needy saints, our increased ability to support gospel preachers, all of which we know is the will of God.  God wants us to enjoy life and have pleasure in this world, but that is not the primary objective of our being here.  The will of God for our material gain is, according to Ephesians 4:28, “that we he might have to give.”

Let us be mindful of the will of God and His eternal purpose when we pray.  Let us be careful about praying for worldly gain, self-promotion, or physical health and pleasure in and of themselves, giving no thought to if the will of God is being carried out.  Let us pray for comfort and security, for wisdom and health, for opportunities and prosperity, understanding what Jesus said about our Father in heaven, “Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”  When we have this great teaching firmly implanted in our hearts, we will not be frustrated or perplexed by unpredictable earthly matters which are subject to “time and chance”, and be fully confident that God hears and answers our prayers.

Jeremy Koontz