How can I know God's Will?

The question of how to know God's will is one of the major concerns of a Christian.  Particularly for 20 somethings who want to know what to study in college and whom to marry!! All of us wrestle with wondering if this or that is what God wills for us.  How can we know? Do we just tack "if it's your will" at the end of our prayers to be "safe"?  If He is sovereign and accomplishing His purpose for the world, why even pray? If I just believe hard enough, can I have whatever I want? Is that what the passage in Matthew 21:2 means?

  And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith


A misunderstanding or misapplication of this verse has led to much heartbreak, much self-condemnation, even some abandonment of the faith.  Surely we have all prayed for some particular something and then it didn't happen as we asked.  If we don't know what this Truth is, we are left with anger at God or at ourselves.  Either He lied to us or our faith was inadequate. 

Neither of these is correct.

When studying Scripture, know that the best commentary on Scripture is Scripture itself.  In other words, look at other passages on the topic to get the explanation.  Consider the whole counsel of God, not an isolated verse. 

So to gain understanding of this passage, we look at
   Hebrews 6:18  so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us.

and Numbers 23:19 God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?      
 

God does not lie.  Period.  Then, is my faith inadequate?  If I had believed "better", would my request have been granted?

No, that's not what it means.  And we can know this because of Matthew 17:20 which says
For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you

Ok, then, how do we get our prayers answered? First, look at what the Bible says here:
And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. ¹⁵ And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him  I John 14:14,15

His Will.  There it is again. His Will.  When we pray in accordance to His Will, He grants what we ask.  A couple of questions come to mind - 1)What's His will?  The answer is in John 15:7 If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.

God's Will is His Word.  When we pray His Word, we are asking according to His will.  For example - when I pray for my husband, I ask God to cause him to "walk in a manner worthy of His calling" (Ephesians 4:1) or for my children to "love God with their whole heart" (Mark 12:30).  In fact, I have a whole set of verses that I pray regularly for myself and my family.  Even for specific things like breaking down strongholds of pride or despair or anger (2 Corinthians 10:3-5).  Praying God's Word is praying His Will.  We are assured that His Word is His Will for us so we can pray with confidence that He will grant what we ask.

2)What about things that are not precisely addressed in Scripture, such as whom to marry, what to major in, where to live, etc?  Well, many of these concerns are addressed in principle and God calls us to search His Word, seeking His direction.  But sometimes, not.  In those instances, I pour out my heart and tell God my desires.  I ask for His guidance about what to ask, how to pray.  And, then I submit to His Will.  I like how Henry Blackaby puts it "And, Lord, if you have something better in mind than what I'm asking, then cancel my request!"
As I have practiced prayer longer, I have learned to "listen" with my heart and often the Holy Spirit directs me how to pray.  Sometimes I don't hear correctly, to be sure, but what a delight when I do.  It is so exciting to be led in prayer to ask God for something and then see Him give me what I asked for.  Remember the story of Chip and the Indian sheets? God Himself puts His desires in our hearts, so that He alone can fulfill them.  What a faith-strengthener!!!

And, remember, prayer is God's means for getting His Will done on earth...for changing us, conforming us to His image.  Learning to listen to Him and learning to want what He wants.

Sometimes we think God hasn't answered.  But He does.  He often says "yes" and we see the answer and we rejoice.  Other times, He says "no".  And it's perfectly OK to be disappointed or sad for a time.  Tell Him!!!  Pour your heart out to The One who can do something about it.  The One who can bind up your broken heart.  But sometimes, He just says "wait".  Those can be very difficult times.  We can wait on Him a long long time and we can be tempted to think He has said no.  Or nothing.  But don't give up.  Please don't give up.  He is good.  He gives good gifts.  And His plans (His Will) for you are good. 

Thy Will be Done

Thy Will be done  sounds an awful lot like Thy Kingdom Come.  Is there a difference?

There must be or Jesus wouldn't have included them both in His example for us to follow in prayer.  Here's how it looks to me -- as we bow before the Throne of our Heavenly Father, we  respond with worship.  His character is revealed in part through His names and we praise Him.  That flows into aligning ourselves with His Kingdom purposes.  Then, agreement with Him emanates into submission to His will...whatever it means for our lives.

Couple of thoughts to explore here -- first, although Jesus gave us this as a pattern for prayer, it's not a magic formula.  Breaking down this model into its ingredients like this might make us think that prayer is rote or scripted and that every time we pray, we need to proceed in order through each step.  (That's pretty much what happens when we just recite this prayer...)  But that's not why Jesus gave it to us. Instead, this passage of Scripture is an explanation of what prayer is.  It helps us understand what the posture of our hearts is  to be when we approach Him.  My wise husband explains it this way -- prayer is not about getting our will done in Heaven but rather about getting God's will done on Earth. 

Prayer is not about begging God to do something for us -- He is the giver of every good and perfect gift and He loves to bless us with those gifts.  He encourages us (pretty much commands, actually) to come to Him and ask.  He wants us to be in an intimate relationship with Him and to delight in what He gives us.  He wants us to be cognizant of our need for complete dependence on Him.  So, do we regard prayer as a list of steps to check off...and when completed, we can expect our wishes to be granted?  No, of course not.  Prayer is communing with the Father, getting close enough to discern His heart...and His Will.  Which leads us to the next point -

 I John 5:14,15 tells us "  And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. ¹⁵ And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him."

When we say "Thy will be done", we are submitting our desires to the perfect plan of our Father because we trust Him.  We are confident that Psalm 84:11 is true -- For the Lord God is a sun and shield;
    the Lord bestows favor and honor.
No good thing does he withhold
    from those who walk uprightly.
¹² O Lord of hosts,
    blessed is the one who trusts in you!

We can submit to Him because He is committed to our highest good.  If we ask for something that isn't His will, we can rest in the assurance that His ways are higher, His plans are better and He will accomplish them. Prayer is not simply believing I can have what I want and expecting Him to give it to me.  No, effective prayer is being in communion with the Father and discerning what His will is.  Desiring to see His will accomplished.  And asking Him to do so.
 That's what "Thy Will be done" means.

Let me close with a personal story.  When my Chip was a little boy, it came time for him to move out of his crib and into a "big boy" bed.  This was, of course, very exciting and we made a big deal out of it.  Including new sheets and blankets and the whole deal.  I found some nice flannel sheets that were an Indian pattern and thought those would be perfect.  (OK - full disclosure -- they were on sale and were the only full size ones in the store.  But they really were cool.  Promise.)  Being the amateur psychologist that I am, I knew not to just present the sheets to Chip but rather to make sure that he saw them as a fulfillment of a wish.  So I planted the idea of Indian sheets in his head.  For days, I talked about how cool Indians were.  We played cowboys and Indians and had a great time.  Even went so far as to imply that only boys got to play cowboys and Indians so that he was set apart from his sisters.  Then we began to daydream about Indian sheets.  If only we could find some, that would make his big boy bed perfect.  Yes, I am completely aware that this is unabashed manipulation, but work with me here.  The sheets were cool.  He needed some and I'd just as soon he be happy with them!!!  Fast forward to Christmas morning. (Yeeeessssss, I did.....but it wasn't his main gift, OK???)

Let me assure you.  He loved them.  And although he's long since outgrown Indian flannel sheets, the story still has an illustration.  Now, know that God is not manipulative, but He does place desires in our hearts for the very answer He wants to give us.  And, His choice of gifts isn't limited to sale items!

Next post - we're gonna stay on the subject of praying His will.  Let me know if you have any thoughts or questions.  See ya next time!

Thy Kingdom Come

The first index, or topic, we find in the Lord's prayer is that of worship.  We acknowledge the holiness of God, His Worthiness.  We come as His beloved children, but we come aware that, apart from the righteousness of Christ bestowed on us when we trust Him to save us, we could not enter into His presence.
That realization causes us to worship Him, in wonder and love and reverence. Knowing His name, we attest to the attributes that reveal His glory.  We praise Him for His majesty, His sovereignty, His power, His compassion, His provision, and on and on.   That's what it means to fear God.  We are so aware of our UNworthiness to be in His presence -- we realize that we deserve to be melted to nothingness in the fire of His Holiness.  And, yet, because of Jesus's righteousness and the mercy of God to accept His payment on our behalf, we can approach the Throne of God...confidently, even with boldness.  That's practically scandalous! 

Note:  this should evoke a question in your mind - "does God hear the prayers of those who don't have the righteousness of Christ?"  Let me hear what you think.

On to the next topic that Jesus instructed us to cover in prayer - "Thy Kingdom Come".  Our worship gives birth to allegiance.  We line up our desires to be in order with His.  We express that He is indeed the King of Kings and Lord of Lords and that we are citizens of His Kingdom.  As such, we focus our hearts on the furtherance of His Kingdom here on Earth.  Our priorities are consistent with His.  We seek His Kingdom and His righteousness first. 

This topic sentence includes our longing for Heaven, when we will be with Him forever, our commitment to pursue Him above all else, and our desire to see others come to Him.  As we respond to His Glory in worship, we then acknowledge His rightful claim on our lives.  Our hearts are ready to listen as He reveals any area where our allegiances are to this world rather than His Kingdom. Any place in our lives where something else is preeminent to His Glory. Anything less than denying self to daily take up our cross for His Kingdom.  Any love that matters more than His.

Wow.  No wonder He commanded that we pray without ceasing. 

Worship.  Allegiance.  The first steps of prayer.

"Howard be Thy Name"

Our Father, which art in Heaven, Hallowed be Thy Name"

This always makes me think of the story told of the little fella writing a letter to God - he addressed it "Dear Howard".  When asked how he knew God's name was "Howard", he replied - "The Bible says so.  'Our Father, which art in Heaven, Howard be thy name' ".  Don't you love that!!

Maybe the little guy had the semantics wrong but I think he also had something right.  God wants us to know Him by name.  "Howard" or whatever!


So we are going to unpack His Name today. But first, what does "hallowed" mean?  Webster defines "hallowed" as holy, respected, revered.  Vines expository dictionary explains another dimension to the Greek word - "the opposite of common".

Thus, our prayer begins with the assurance that we are approaching our loving, compassionate, omnipotent Father.  Lest we dare to adopt a cavalier attitude, though, we are reminded that He is HOLY.  Hallowed.  NOT COMMON.  We tend toward erroneous extremes, I think.  Either we wrongly perceive God as remote, detached, unapproachable, stern, austere....or we interpret Him as our genie in the lamp, ready to grant our wishes - if we can just figure out the right formula.

He is neither.  Our finite minds, flawed by sin and misinterpretations, have an impossible time understanding Him. So often, that leads us to avoid Him, to neglect prayer, to trudge along in our own feeble strength.  Which takes us straight to failure and disappointment and anguish.  Praise Him that "He knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust"(Psalm 103:14).  He knows our propensity to doubt and fear and misunderstand and forget and especially to go our own stubborn way.  So He goes to great lengths to help us believe and trust and understand and remember and follow Him...He explains Himself with His names.

Throughout Scripture, God refers to Himself with different titles so that we can get a glimpse of His character, His attributes, His nature.  So that we can get a better grasp of who He is.  So that we can respond to Him in worship - proclaiming His "worth-ship".  So that we will trust Him, come to Him, join Him in His plan, and make His name known to all the world. Learning who God is by name  equips us to view every situation through His eyes.

Proverbs 18:10 says "The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous runs into it and is safe." Here are some of the ways the Lord reveals Himself to us:
 
Elohim  - God as Creator - all things were made by Him...and for Him
El Elyon - Sovereign, the Most High - He is in complete control; His purposes will be accomplished
El Roi - the God who sees...and cares...and can do something about what He sees!
El Shaddai - the God who "pours forth", sheds blessings, all sufficient refuge
Adonai - Master, Owner
Jehovah - self existent one - that is too high for me to comprehend!!!
Jehovah - Tsidkenu - The Lord, our Righteousness - He is righteous in our place and He is sufficient
Jehovah-Jireh -The Lord will provide - no matter what we need, He will provide
Jehovah-Raah - The Lord, our Shepherd -- remember what all we learned studying Psalm 23????
Jehovah-Shalom - The Lord send peace - in the midst of confusion and chaos, He is our peace
Jehovah-Nissi-The Lord our banner -- in battle, our source of strength and confidence
Jehovah-Rapha - The Lord who heals -- healing of all kinds
Jehovah-Saboath - The Lord of hosts - over all principalities and powers, none are more powerful!
Jehovah-Shammah - The Lord is there - He exists in Eternity Past, Eternity Future, and Now - at once
Jesus-the one who saves His people
Christ - the anointed one, chosen
Emmanuel - God with us, not distant and far away
Mighty God - as in ALL POWER
Prince of Peace - peace, not as the world gives
Everlasting Father - Father forever
Wonderful Counselor - compassionate, wise, comforting

As you read over these names, what attribute of God resonates with you right now?  Go to Him in prayer in the confidence of that name.  Are you battle-scarred?  Jehovah-Nissi supplies strength.  Are you afraid?  Jehovah-Saboath is more powerful than anything that threatens you.  Have you failed...again? Jehovah-Tsidkenu is your righteousness.  Do you feel lonely?  El Roi sees and He cares.  Do you need direction?  He is your Wonderful Counselor.

He is worthy of our worship.  Truly, Holy - Hallowed - is His name.  Let that be our first order of business as we come into His presence.  Worship.  Acknowledgement of Who He Is.

 

 

 

 

Teach me to pray

Don't you read passages such as
 I John 5:14-15 (And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. 15and we know that if he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him) and
 James 5:16 (The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working) 
and wish you could pray with confidence that you would see results?  Me too! 


Well, we can.  I believe we can experience the joy of seeing extraordinary things accomplished through prayer.  I also believe that the longing for such is from the Lord.  Just as the disciples asked Jesus in Luke 11:1, "Lord, teach us to pray", we, too, can go to Him and be instructed.  The prayer in Matthew 6 is the set of instructions He gave us.  Elsewhere in Scripture we have other guidance for our prayers but here we have a collection of sentences that provide an outline of topics for us.  The rabbis of Jesus's day gave their followers a set of brief sentences or "index prayers" that suggested the subjects they should pray.  So we will use this guide to learn "an effective prayer that will avail much" (James 5:16 in King James English)

The very first phrase "Our Father who art in Heaven" is where we begin. Jesus wants us to be assured that we are coming to One who loves us, provides for us, knows us, delights in us...and beckons us to come.  We are not approaching a distant sovereign whom we have to beg from, or convince against his will.  No, we are invited to ask with the confidence of a child coming to his father, knowing that his father not only possesses the resources with which to grant his request but also deeply desires to share his abundance.

Maybe the word "father" doesn't hold good meaning for you.  Maybe you have painful memories or an empty place in your heart that should be filled by a loving Daddy.  That makes me so sad.  I am so sorry if that is your story.  Please hear me when I say that your Heavenly Father is not distant or negligent or abusive or cold.  Don't let an earthly failure eclipse your view of Him.  HE is the model all other fathers should follow.  Not a projection of someone who hurt you or failed you.  You can come to your HEAVENLY FATHER with utmost confidence that He is drawing you to Himself, that He delights in you and desires to have the most intimate relationship with you.  And your Heavenly Father is pleased to give good gifts to His children. 

First thing to know in our school of prayer -- God is our Heavenly Father.  And "he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who see Him." (Hebrews 11:6)

Our Father who art in Heaven.  Amen.