Story Published:
Nov 5, 2009 at 8:48 PM CST
Story Updated:
Nov 5, 2009 at 8:48 PM CST
Keys to Answered Prayer – Part 2
First John 5:14-15 states “And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth 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 verse is similar to the one found in John 15:7 in that a promise is made between the Lord and us.
As with most things in dealing with the Lord, there is a God-side and a man-side. I like to say that the Lord always takes the hard part and gives us the easy part. If the Lord was doing the asking, and we had to come up with answers to His requests, we’d be in a world of hurt. Where would we get the goods He needs? No, He tells us to do the asking, and He will do the answering.
In these verses, our responsibility is to “…ask anything according to his will…” It does not state we can ask anything, but only those things according to His will. So we couldn’t ask for pink elephants, our neighbor’s stuff, or many other things we might want. This requirement leads to another question, “Can we know the will of God in our lives?” Many times I hear people talk about praying, “Lord, if it be thy will”. That prayer states that the will of God is unknown at the time of prayer.
However, in answering any question, we should see what the Word states. In Eph 5:17, it states “Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.” Also in Col 1:9 it says, “For this cause we also, since the day we heard [it], do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;” In both of these verses, it is clear we can know the will of God.
If we can know the will of God, we can pray according to that will. If we pray according to His will, the Bible says, “we have the petitions that we desired of him.” As with John 15:7, it is clear that if we do our part, then 100% of the time we can have exactly everything we pray for and nothing less.
