THE PRAYER OF PETITION !

THE PRAYER OF PETITION Jesus, speaking to the Sadducees and Pharisees of his day that had the nature without God, said, "If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him ?" (Matthew 7:11). We must realize that it is God's will that our needs -- spiritual, physical, and material -- be met. Some people think they should conclude every prayer with the words "if it be thy will." They claim this is the way Jesus prayed. However, Jesus prayed this way on only one occasion, when he was praying in the garden of Gethsemane. By contrast, when he That stood at Lazarus tomb, He didn't say, "If it be thy will." Instead, He said, "I thank You because you hear me always" (John 11:41-43). Then He commanded Lazarus to come forth. The prayer to raise lazar was a prayer to change something. Anytime we pray to change something, we do not need to put an "if" in our prayer. If we do, we are using the wrong rule, and the prayer won't work. Instead, we need to claim God's promise for our petition and believe that we receive it. Jesus prayer in Gethsemane -- the prayer in which He put an "if" -- was a prayer of consecration. THE PRAYER OF CONSECRATION: (Luke 22:42). "Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine be done." In the garden of Gethsemane Christ prayed the prayer of submission, consecration, and dedication: ". . . If thou be willing. . . Nevertheless not my will. . ." He wanted to do what the Father wanted Him to do. It was not a prayer of petition. It was not a prayer to get something are to change something. It was a prayer of consecration. When we consecrate our lives for God's use, to go anywhere and do anything He wants us to do, our go, we pray this kind of prayer. In a prayer of consecration and dedication we pray, "if it be thy will." When it comes to changing things are getting something from God, however, we do not pray, "if it be thy will," because we already have God's word concerning it. We know it is His will that our needs be met, therefore we have his Word concerning His will for our lives. "And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask anything according to his will [word], he heareth us: and if we know that he hears us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him." (1 John 5:14-15). "Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints" (Ephesians 6:18).