Lesson 24: The Will of God in Prayer (Part 1)

Lesson 24: The Will of God in Prayer (Part 1) Bible Texts: John 3:16; 2 Peter 3:9; Acts 16:31; Central Truth: If our prayer requests is according to God's Word, it is according to His will. In the next three lessons we will focus our attention on the will of God in prayer. As we look at our memory text, (1 John 5:14), notice the words "confidence" and "heareth": "And this is the CONFIDENCE that we have in him, that, if we ask anything according to his will, he HEARETH us." Another translation of this verse says, "and this is the boldness we have toward him. . ." Under what conditions can we have confidence that God hears us when we pray ? He hears us if we ask anything according to his will ! And what is the rule for asking ? James gives us the rule or principle for asking ! (James 1:5 through 8 "If any of you is deficient in wisdom, let him ask of the giving God [who gives] to everyone liberately and ungrudgingly, without reproaching our faultfinding, and it will be given him. Only it must be in faith that he asked with no wavering [no hesitating, no doubting]. For the one who wavers [hesitates, doubts] is like the bellowing surge out at sea that is blown hither and thither and tossed by the wind. For truly, let not such a person imagine that he will receive anything [he asked for] from the Lord, [For being as he is] a man of two minds [hesitating, dubious, irresolute], [he is] unstable and unreliable and uncertain about everything [he thinks, feels, decides]." The amplified Bible. In the next verse we read, "and if we know that he hears us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him." Notice that this Scripture says, "And if. . . He hears us. . . We have the petitions that we desired. . ." It would seem from reading this that there must be something He doesn't hear. If we don't have this confidence or boldness when we pray, it must mean that the Lord doesn't hear us. If we don't fulfill our part, it won't work. How can we get confidence, boldness, and faith ? The Word of God gives faith: "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God" (Romans 10:17). "The ENTRANCE of thy words giveth light. . ." (Psalms 119:130). "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path" (Psalms 119:105). When we walk in the light of the word, we are not walking in darkness. When you are not practicing the word, you are walking in darkness. Many times we pray in darkness because we don't know what God's will is. We don't come with confidence or boldness. Become trembling and fearful, hoping He will hear us, but that won't work. We first need to go to God's Word and find out what it says about our particular problem. Then we can pray in faith, knowing His will in the matter. Everything we need to pray about it is conveyed in His Word.