God’s Will
A lot of people pray and then say “if it be Your will”, this is really adding doubt to
your prayer. The Bible tells us in I John 5:14-15 “and this is the confidence that
we have in Him, that, if we ask any thing according to His will, He hears us. And
if we know that He hear us whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the
petitions that we desired of Him”. This tells us we should know God’s will. The
Bible is full of detailed accounts of what His will for His people is. Let us look at a
few this week.
Jesus told us to pray what most people call the Lord’s prayer in Matthew 6:9-13
“Our Father which art in heaven. Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom
come. Your will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily
bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not
into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Yours is thy kingdom, and the
power and the glory forever. Amen”. Let’s examine this scripture carefully. As
we begin, we are acknowledging our heavenly Father, and acknowledging that
His name is to be kept holy. We are asking for God’s kingdom to come and be
done on earth as it is in heaven. So if you are looking to find out God’s will you
should see how it is in heaven. In the book of Revelations we see that there is
no sickness, no more death, or pain, or evil in heaven. This is the way it was in
the Garden of Eden. Then we are acknowledging that God is our provider. The
word father means the one who has responsibility of providing for the family and
giving religious instruction to the children. We ask Him to forgive us, as we
forgive others. That means if we don’t forgive others we stand against God. In
verse 14-15 “for if you forgive men, their trespasses, your heavenly Father will
also forgive you. But if you forgive not men their trespasses, neither you’re your
Father forgive your trespasses. We ask Him to keep us from temptation and
protect us from evil. We end this prayer by acknowledging that His kingdom and
power and glory is forever.
Jesus’ prayer to the Father in John 17:17-24, that all that would believe through
the words of the Bible, and that we would be one, as Jesus and the Father are
one. Verse 23 “I in them, and You in Me, that they may be made perfect in one,
and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them, as
You have loved Me”, shows us how much God loves us and wants to be made
perfect in one, so the world may know and be saved. Remember II Peter 3:9
“the Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness,
but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all
should come to repentance”. Verse 18 “as You have sent Me into the world,
even so have I also sent them into the world”. So just as “Jesus went about
seeking and saving them that were lost”, we see that it’s God will for us to do the
same. God wants people to stand in the gap for others (I Timothy 2:1-4) “I
exhort therefore, that first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions and giving
of thanks be made for all men. For kings, and for all that are in authority, that
we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. For this is
good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior. Who will have all men to be
saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth”.
God has a plan for us (Jeremiah 29:11-13) “for I know the thoughts that I think
toward you, says the Lord Yahweh, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give
you an expected end. Then shall you call upon Me and you shall go and pray to
Me, and I will hearken to you. And you shall seek Me and find Me when you
shall search for Me with all your heart”. We see that God’s plan for us is a good
plan, but the only way we will achieve it is to be led by the Holy Spirit. We have
to give up our lives and yield our self unto God. James 4:7-8a “submit
yourselves therefore to God, resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw
near to God and He will draw near to you”.
God wants us to walk by faith (Hebrews 11:6) “but without faith it is impossible to
please Him, for he that comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a
rewarder of them that diligently seek Him”. The Bible tells us many times to walk
by faith, live by faith. Faith is trusting that what God said, He will do, and
standing and proclaiming His word. Faith is what activates what God says, just
like fear activates what the devil says in our lives.
God’s will is for us to grow up (Romans 8:29) “for whom He did foreknow, He
also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son”; Galatians 4:1-2
“Now I say, that the heir, as long as he is a child, differs nothing from a servant,
though he be lord of all; but is under tutors, and governors until the time
appointed of the father”. God wants us “to prosper and be in health even as our
soul prospers” (III John 3), but we must grown up. The Bible shows how He set
up for to get the knowledge, in (Ephesians 4:11-15) “He gave some, apostles,
and some prophets, and some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers.
For the perfecting of the saints for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the
body of Christ. Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of
the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of
Christ. That we hereafter be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried
about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness,
whereby they lie in wait to deceive. But speaking the truth in love, may grow up
into Him in all things, which is the head, even Christ”. We do this by renewing
our minds (Romans 12:1-2), by casting down vain imaginations, and bringing
every thought to the obedience of Christ (II Corinthians 10:5). And by the word
of God ( I Peter 2:2) “as newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that
you may grow thereby.
Let us meditate on these this week, knowing that this is only the beginning, but
let’s decide to find and obey the will of God for our lives.
Study by: Harriet Bond
Date: February 13, 2007