https://odb.org/2024/12/05/a-prayer-for-gods-will
Luke 22 NIV – 41 He withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed, 42 “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.”
Luke 11 NIV – 9 “So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
Fundamental to our faith is the ability to connect with God through prayer as we have been reconciled to God through the blood of Christ and the grace of God. Thus, Luke 11:9-10 encapsulates the spiritual principle that if we pray for something, God will answer. If not immediately, eventually, in His time. However, girding this principle is a more rudimentary principle, and that is God’s will. God will surely answer our prayer if it is in His will. In fact, even things we didn’t pray for He will provide as part of His will. Thus, for example, if we pray to serve Him as a missionary and that is His will for our lives, He will not only answer but will provide all the means for our prayer to be fulfilled.
When it comes to God’s will, there are a few as I was taught over the years. The first is the sovereign will of God. Like Jesus being from the lineage of the House of David. No matter what man does, that lineage will materialise. Or the birth of Christ in Bethlehem, a city that is 10km south from Jerusalem. Coincidently, in my trip to the Holy Land in 2013, we stayed in Bethlehem, which in today’s political delineation is actually in the Palestinian territory of the West Bank.
The second is the general will of God in the sense that these are things all believers conform to as part of our faith. For example, we go to church on Sundays to attend worship services. There is no need to ask if it is God’s will that we attend church on Sunday! It’s a given as part of the tenets of who we are as believers. Should we be kind, forgiving, compassionate, selfless, loving, joyful people? Of course!
Then there’s the specific will of God for us. His plans and purposes for our lives. The unique talents and giftings for us to serve Him in His Kingdom. That is the talent Jesus was talking about in the parable of the talents. We are stewards of God’s blessings for us. Do we hide them all, or do we use and multiple them for the Kingdom of God?
As we go deeper into the will of God and pray, we will see and realise that prayer is less about us than others. If we pray for the sake of the Kingdom or for the Kingdom, it is more likely to be in God’s will. Yet, God is personal and loves us as His children. There are things He will give us because we asked. Sometimes, it is to find that elusive parking lot in One Utama. At times, it is to heal us of our infirmities. At other times, it is the strength to keep walking the narrow path. I think the best way to pray is to know God. If we know His heartbeat, we can surely pray in His will!
Ronnie's Thoughts 