A study on praying God's will

“A study on praying God’s will”

I want to start from where I started this study and that was in Daniel 4:34-35. “34.And at the end of the days I Nebuchadnezzar lifted up mine eyes unto heaven, and mine understanding returned unto me, and I blessed the most High, and I praised and honored him that liveth for ever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation: 35.And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?”
There are a few things that I get from these verses,
1) God is in control
2) There is no dualism
3) God is not in one corner and the devil in the other
4) There is no war between the devil and God
Let’s use job as an example (Job 1:6-12)
God is sovereign, He rules over all!!


The Psalmist said in Psalms 23:4, “Though I walk through the valley,” we are going through. But, one thing to remember is that we still got in a valley. That even though God is with us and we are going through the valley, it does not stop us from getting put in the valley in the first place. In 1 Corinthians 10:13, God said, “that He would never put more on us than we could bear and when we do go though stuff He would provide a way to escape.” The main thing to remember in this is that God wants to take care of us and supply our needs but, He is going to do what will bring Him glory and show His power. This is where the study really starts. I was asked, “How do we pray God’s will when we pray?”

So I started with God’s sovereign and revealed will. Understanding of His sovereign will does not imply that God causes everything to happen. Rather, it acknowledges that because He is sovereign, He must at least permit or allow whatever happens to happen. Now, God’s revealed will comes to us from the Bible. The revealed will is that which God has chosen to reveal some of the things that we should or should not do.
Matthew 6:9-13, “9.After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. 10. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. 11. Give us this day our daily bread. 12.And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. 13.And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.” The Lord shows us how to pray His will in the Lord’s Prayer and again in the Garden of Gethsemane when He prays there. Matthew 26:39-46, “39.And he went a little further , and fell on his face, and prayed , saying , O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will , but as thou wilt.40.And he cometh unto the disciples, and findeth them asleep , and saith unto Peter, What, could ye not watch with me one hour? 41.Watch and pray , that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. 42.He went away again the second time, and prayed , saying , O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done .43.And he came and found them asleep again: for their eyes were heavy .44.And he left them, and went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words. 45.Then cometh he to his disciples, and saith unto them, Sleep on now, and take your rest : behold , the hour is at hand , and the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. 46. Rise, let us be going: behold, he is at hand that doth betray me.”


1 John 1:3-2:11
1) 1:3-4 fellowship with the Father & Son
2) 1:5-7 conditions of the fellowship
3) 1:8 recognition of indwelling sin
4) 1:9-10 confess sins (psalms 139:23-24 search me, O God)
5) 2:1-2 fellowship maintained by Christ’s advocacy (Phil. 2:9-11 name above every name)
6) 2:3-11 recognition of God’s holiness (sovereign)
Philippians 2:13, “For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure.”

The Lord’s Prayer starts with honor to God and then goes to seeking perfect will service. The prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane comes off with these words, “not my will but Your will be done!!!” These are words of total submission.

P.R.A.Y.
Praise
Rejoice
Ask
Yield

Romans 9:14-24 shows God’s sovereign will, He tells us that, “He will have mercy on whoever He want too.” In 1Kings 18:36-38, Elijah shows us one of the keys and that is, “that I have done all these things at Your word.” Matthew 6:33 puts it the best, “seek first the kingdom of God and all His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.” When we seek God we will find out what His will is.


Now one thing that God showed me while I was studying this and that was, Psalms 100 “Shout with joy to the Lord, all the earth! Worship the Lord with gladness. Come before Him singing with joy. Acknowledge that the Lord is God! He made us, and we are His. We are His people, the sheep of His pasture. Enter into His gates with thanksgiving; go into His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him and praise His name. For the Lord is good His unfailing love continues forever, and His faithfulness continues to each generation.” The things that jumped out at me is that He said He made us and we are His. That brought to my mind Jeremiah 29:11 and He tells us there that He has a plan for us and that He has a future and a hope. There was something that jumped out to and that it talked about joy and not happiness and that brought me back to the one question and that was, “why where we asking what we were asking?” and it made me ask another question “does God want us to be happy?” Why would I ask that? Eleanor Roosevelt said something that made me ask that, “Happiness is not a goal; it is a by-product.” So when I seen joy and not happiness I asked myself, “does God want us to be happy or not?”

People might say, “If I could only have a problem-free life, then I would experience happiness. If I could eliminate all of my problems, then I would have true satisfaction.” There is only one problem with that, we all have problems and we always will. Job 14:1, “Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble.” I hear all the time, “That God just wants me to be happy.” But, is that statement really true or not? What does it exactly mean to be happy and who gets to decides what happiness is? Happiness comes from the Latin word “hap”, which means chance. So happiness is based on happenings or circumstances. Man must have hope to have happiness.

Regardless what may happen in our day to day life, God’s priority is to produce joy in our lives. John 15:11, “Jesus came into the world to bring us joy: “So that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.”
In Galatians 5:22-23 joy is the second fruit of the Spirit listed in the Bible, right after love.
Nehemiah 8:10, “the joy of the Lord is our strength”

So what is joy?
Joy can be defined as the positive confidence I possess by knowing and trusting God regardless of the circumstances. Joy is inner delight derived from an intimate relationship with Christ. Happiness is circumstantial, but joy is relational. No matter what life my bring my way, no matter what the circumstances, if I have this inner delight derived from an intimate relationship with Christ, joy will flood my soul. It’s the peace that surpasses all understanding. So does God want us to be happy? NO! He wants use to be full of joy.


Some notes: Joy Jammers
1) Selfishness (James 3:16 NLT) “I have got the right to be happy.”
2) Bitterness (Hebrews 12:15 NLT) “I don’t love him anymore. I don’t know who this person is. We’ve grown apart, and I’m going to bail on this relationship.”
3) Fear (Jeremiah 29:11-13) & (1 John 4:18)
There are ways of clearing the way for joy. 1) Giving, not Getting, 2) Healing, not hurting (Colossians 3:13), 3) God’s power, not your problems (psalm 62:8).