Lord, Teach Us To Pray! Part 87

Answered Prayers continued...

If I read the word of God and meditate on it, if I receive the entirety of the word as a lamp unto my feet and not a handful of verses that suit my presuppositions, if my singular desire is to know the will of God and to better understand it, then when I pray His will be done in my life, I am praying with the full awareness of what it means to pray this prayer.

Ephesians 5:17, “Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is.”

Although understanding the will of God is paramount in our spiritual walk, being in harmony with His will is likewise of vital importance. Man can know the will of God, man can even understand the will of God, and still not be in harmony with it. Some even go so far as to be in direct opposition to God’s will due to their preconceived notions, or the evil intent of their hearts.

We are in harmony with God’s will when we love what He loves, and value what He values. We are in harmony with the will of God not when we follow after our own dreams or aspirations, not when we follow after the ideal of what we hoped to one day be, but when we lay all these things down at His feet, and follow humbly wherever He leads us.

I have known men, who having understood the will of God still petitioned God for allowances contrary to His word. It is pointless to pray to God and ask if it is His will for you to cheat on your taxes, because you already know the answer having discovered His will in His word, and how He reacts to those who deceive or attempt to cheat.

God will not give us a special dispensation, He will not give us permission to bypass or otherwise circumvent His word.

Understand what the will of the Lord is by studying His word, and once you understand what the will of the Lord is, do not ask for something you already know is against His will.

Even if you do get permission to do something contrary to what the word of God has established, the permission you got wasn’t from God, or at least it wasn’t from the one true God.

God will neither contradict His word, nor nullify His word in giving us permission, or answering a certain prayer.

In a culture that takes the things of God so lightly, in a culture wherein the notion of reverence is something foreign and alien, it is easy to get caught up in praying prayers against God’s will, hoping He’ll make a special exception for whatever it is we are asking Him to do on our behalf.

God does not play favorites! God is not a respecter of persons, that we might sway Him and His steadfastness through our lineage, our pedigree, our service, our upbringing, or our connections.

God is not impressed with any of the things men are so readily impressed with, and He is not moved from His steadfastness and the words which He has declared and established, no matter how special we might think ourselves to be.

In short, we must stop asking God for unbiblical things or things against His nature and will hoping that He will answer.

Understand the will of God and seek to do the will of God even at the expense of your pride, preconceived notions, or presuppositions concerning who God is and what He does.

‘But we’re Americans, God loves us best, we have a special place in His heart, and we get more leeway and allowances than anyone else.’

Says who? Does the word of God say that we’re special because we reside or were born in a certain geographical location? Does the word of God say that we’re special because we are citizens of a certain earthly nation? No, it does not, and if the word doesn’t say it, we ought not to believe it when men say it.

God will treat you no differently for being an American, than He will treat a Chinese person for being Chinese, a Nigerian person for being from Nigeria, or a Romanian person for being Romanian.

God does not see geography, nationality, ethnicity, gender, or skin color. The two criterion by which God sees and judges are saved, and unsaved. Either we are redeemed sanctified, set apart, belonging to Christ in our entirety, or we are still in the world, of the world, dying a slow death chocked off by the sin we hold so dear.

When we understand what the will of the Lord is, we will not pray foolish prayers or prayers contrary to the will of the Lord. Yes, it is we who must submit to the will of God, and not the other way around.

Sometimes I get the feeling that certain individuals really do believe that God is impressed with their temper tantrums or their opinion concerning some command or other that He established and foreordained in His word.

‘Well, you know, Lord, I think it would have been much better – and perhaps more people would have responded – if in your word you said ‘the path is wide, rather than narrow’ concluding with, ‘all will eventually find it’, because you are a merciful God.’

Each time I hear someone saying they don’t agree with certain passages of scripture, I wonder who it was that fueled their self-importance in this life to the point that they believe God will disregard His own established word just because they had a differing opinion on any given matter?

Our duty is not to disagree with the will of God, to interpret the will of God, to offer alternatives to the will of God, but to understand the will of God. Do not be unwise, understand what the will of the Lord is, for the hour is late and the darkness is upon us.

With love in Christ,
Michael Boldea Jr.