As sisters in the Lord, there is something that most of us have in common. We desire a blessing from the Lord that doesn’t seem to manifest as easily as some of the other blessings we’ve enjoyed. This petition continues to be in our prayers, and if we’re honest, it causes us to be frustrated and bewildered at times. We can’t understand why it continues to be delayed. We know we’re not perfect, but we’ve been trying to be faithful to the spiritual disciplines that we’ve been instructed to practice. It doesn’t feel like we’re getting any closer to the blessing, and many of us want to know how much is enough. What more is required for this blessing to be transferred from the supernatural realm to the natural realm? Why does it have to be so challenging for this one thing that we greatly desire to materialize?
1John 5:14(ESV) says, “And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us.” Verse 14 not only increases our understanding about God’s generosity, but it also does something wonderful for our prayer lives. This verse should give us confidence in our prayers to God in the name of Jesus Christ, and this is something we need tremendously. There are millions upon millions who pray, and some have not taken the time to get to know who they are praying to. Others don’t understand that praying effectively requires humility and truthfulness. They don’t understand that God is looking at our hearts when we pray, because the condition of our hearts is very important to Him.
How can we develop confidence towards God when we don’t understand who He is and don’t know the very basic knowledge about His nature? In an everyday situation, in order to rely on a person, we have to be sure of their abilities. When we are sure of a person’s abilities, we also have the capacity to show appreciation for the abilities this person possesses. For instance, we know that doctors and dentists are supposed to help us, and we know exactly how they are supposed to help us. We go to those that are certified to practice medicine. They have other patients and have a track record of giving appropriate treatment. We trust all of this without hesitation. So, we are reasonably sure of the doctors’ and dentists’ abilities, and because we are sure, we pay them for their services. We pay as a form of our appreciation for who they are and what they do.
From the doctor and dentist analogy, we can also see that having confidence in someone will require us to believe that this person will use their abilities to help us when we ask them. So, our appreciation of what the person can do, and our appreciation for their willingness to help us if we ask goes a long way toward helping us build confidence in them. Sometimes we do not see the results we expect in prayer because we are not doing the things in our spiritual life to build greater confidence in God. We must remember that Hebrews 11:6 tells us that He rewards those who diligently seek Him. We must be diligent about understanding and appreciating who God is, and we must also show Him more gratitude than we show any other person.
1John 5:14 says “if we ask anything according to his will he hears us.” It doesn’t take rocket science to understand that the petitions in our prayers must be according to God’s Will. This part of the verse is extremely important for us to understand, because there are people that have been Christians for many years, but when it comes to God’s Will, they are very unclear, and many of us have not been taught the truth. Not understanding God’s Will is perhaps the main reason why so many people become disillusioned and discouraged regarding their prayer request.
I grew up around many loving and kind Christian people. One of them was a woman that was very dear to me, and I can’t remember a time during my childhood when she was not sick. I would hear her, and others that were ill, say frequently, “If it be God’s Will, He will heal me.” This sounds like a very humble and pious statement, and for many years I believed it was. The more I understood what God accomplished for us through Jesus Christ, the more I saw how harmful the wrong way of believing is to our prayer lives.
1Peter 2:24 tells us that Jesus Christ bore our sins in his body on the cross, so that we could be dead to sin, and alive to God. This verse also says that we are healed by his wounds. As he was being brutally and repeatedly whipped, with his flesh torn and broken beyond recognition, he was paying the total price for our healing. Christ took our place on the cross. Because of the torture and suffering he endured, our sins were forgiven, and our healing was purchased for all eternity. To suggest that it could be God’s Will for a person not to be healed through the blood and body of Christ means that we are not understanding the total and complete price that Christ paid.
God paid the ultimate price by giving His Son, Jesus Christ, for our redemption. It was not a partial redemption, but a total and complete one. So, it is most definitely God’s Will that a person be healed. Believing anything different from this means that our faith is not backed by right believing. How can a person have confidence in God without understanding how full and totally complete His love for us truly is? He loves us! Even when we are at our worst, He wants the best for us.
Sometimes, we are believing the wrong things about God’s Will because we are believing the wrong things about Him. We are not seeing Him the way He really is. It is impossible to build confidence with information that isn’t true, and faith will not be increased without the truth of God’s Word. Many of us have believed that we have not been blessed because God has not seen fit to bless us. This line of thinking isn’t the truth. Whenever we believe that God has withheld a blessing from us, that He has mistreated us or has not given us what we deserve, we are out of alignment with His Will and Word, and He cannot reward this. In our hearts, there must be a full persuasion of His goodness, and we must humble ourselves in total gratitude for all He has done. This is the strong heart He is looking for.
God told His prophet, Samuel, in 1Samuel 16:7(NLT), “Don’t judge by his appearance or height, for I have rejected him. The LORD doesn’t see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” God sees our heart, and 2Chronicles 16:9 tells us that His eyes search throughout the entire earth looking to show Himself strong on behalf of those who have a heart that is loyal to Him. Having a heart that is loyal to God means examining ourselves to see if our faith is strong in Him. If it isn’t, and we are not as hopeful and excited in the faith as we should be, we need to address this through God’s Word. We must be flexible in our willingness to learn more truth about God so we can be confident He hears us and will bless us according to His Will. ■
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
“Understanding the Will of God for Your Life” written by Reverend Fran Mack, edited by Kim Times, for Sundie Morning Sistas ©2021. All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord!