“Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. 15 And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.” I John 5:14-15
As Christians, we have a responsibility to seek, find and know God’s will, whether it concerns God’s big plan for our life, or in the details of our daily prayers and decisions. Our prayers, words and decisions should reflect our knowledge of God’s will. I realize that there are many people who don’t believe we can really know God’s will about anything. However, that’s not what Jesus taught or preached, and it’s contrary to the way He lived. The truth is, we can definitely know God’s will! If we could not know His will concerning our requests, we would not be able to approach God confidently and in faith! Faith begins where the will of God is known!
How then can we be sure of God’s will concerning anything? There are two parts to that answer. The first part of the answer is knowing what the Bible says. The Bible is the Word of God. God cannot say, promise, or set a precedent for us to follow that is contrary to His will. His Word is His will. The other part of the answer is found in the verse above, and that is the confidence we have in God. Without knowing God’s will, we cannot be confident that our prayer will be heard, let alone answered. When we know God’s will we can approach God with confidence!
And if we’re not sure about God’s will we need to go to the Bible and find scriptures that support our request and meditate on those scriptures until confidence comes. Confidence in God is confidence in His Word. It is impossible for God to lie, that is, to say one thing and mean another. He is a direct Communicator. His Word gives us a confident expectation, and we can approach Him confidently with our requests! Proverbs 28:1 says that, “The wicked flee when no one pursues, But the righteous are bold as a lion!” That’s confidence! We can “…come boldly to the Throne of Grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need!” Hebrews 4:16
This is how the kingdom works. It all works according to His Will…!
You’ve got His Word on it!
With Love,
Pastor Tom