A little boy asked his mother if he could have the whole bag of cookies to which she replied, “No honey, they will make you sick.” He asked again, “Mom, can I have ten cookies?” The caring mother answered, “No honey, they will make you sick.” Finally in desperation the little tot asked, “Mom, can I have two cookies?” The mother said, “Yes, honey, you may have two cookies but only after you eat your dinner.” The boy responded, “Now I am sick. I'm sick of all this cookie bribe just so I'll eat my dinner.” The mother simply smiled.
Sometimes this is the way it is when we pray. We ask God for things, and we don't get them. We ask again, and we don't get them. We ask in a different way, and we don't get them. Is there something wrong with our prayer? Is there some position or place we should be when we pray? Is there any information anywhere where we can find the answer to these questions? Is there a way to get what we want when we pray? The answer is “yes” and it is well documented by our teacher John the apostle in today's verse which is found in the book of First John in chapter five and verse fifteen. He wrote:
And if we know that he hears us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.
Notice with me the first condition that John includes, “if we know that he hears us.” We learned yesterday how to insure that God hears us. Remember this verse:
And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he hears us: (1 John 5:14)
We are promised that we when we ask anything “according to his will” He hears us. It is not “according to our will” but “His”. Our prayers are not to get our will done, but to get His will done. So how do we get what we want when we pray? Simply want what God wants. When we pray according to the will of God, we will get whatever we ask for. We will not ask for our own will, but “thy will be done” as Jesus reminded us in what is known as “The Lord's prayer”. Look how Jesus' disciple Matthew recorded it in the book of Matthew in chapter six and verse ten:
Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as [it is] in heaven
The word “Thy” simply means “Your”, so it could read, “Your kingdom come. Your will be done...” This is how our prayers may be answered every time. In other words, when we pray, we should always submit our requests with a condition that includes our resignation to the fact that God knows what is best in our lives. Although we may believe we need something, God knows whether we do or not. We have incomplete knowledge, and God knows everything. We fall far short of having the best plan for our lives, but our loving Heavenly Father has an incredible plan mapped out for us. When we ask for things that are not the best for us, our compassionate God may give us an answer we do not like - “No”, but when He does, He is waiting for us to align with His will and He stands ready to satisfy our every need.
Next time we shall discuss this topic of prayer with a little deeper look into the example of Jesus' prayers, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until tomorrow...there is more...
Look for the new devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation” in all major bookstore sites, www.amazon.com ; www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore
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