Alvin Vandergriend- Imagine what it would be like to approach God in prayer and to receive from Him anything and everything we asked for. I'm sure we would do a lot of asking if that were the case. Once the pattern of asking and receiving was establish, we'd be hold and go back and ask for more.
Well, God doesn't promise to give us anything and everything we ask for. But He does make an astonishing promise to prayer-ers that is even better. He promises to give us whatever we ask that is "according to His will." (Google image, Praying hands and red sweater)
To ask for what is according to God's will is to ask for the very things God wants for us. These are the things He knows we need, the things that are truly good for us, the riches of His grace that He wants us to have.
How do we know what is according to God's will? We look in the Bible. There God tells us what He most wants for us.
When I first understood this principle and wanted to pray in accord with God's will, the Holy Spirit took me to Romans 8:29 and reminded me that God wanted me "to be conformed to the likeness of His Son. "Then I did a very simple thing. I said, "God, please conform me to the image of Your Son."
That was the first prayer I consciously prayed in accord with God's will. God heard me and began in me the process that answered that prayer. He's still working at it today.
After that, I found many things to ask for that were in line with God's will for me. I asked for wisdom, faith, virtue, love, joy, godliness, prayerfulness, Spirit-filledness, and much more. I know God heard those prayers. I began to see the difference it made in me. What I usually observed was a definite but gradual change in the right direction.
If you want to grow spiritually and to claim the riches God has for you, simply ask for those things in accord with God's will. He will hear, and you will receive what you ask of Him. God has promised to give what you ask for in accord with His will.
And if what you ask for happens to be outside of God's will and you don't receive it, thank God! What's outside of His will isn't good for you anyway.
(pp. 38, 39 in Love to Pray- 40 Day Devotional for Deepening Your Prayer Life by Alvin Vandergriend)
Let's pray-
Father, help us pray with confidence that You will not only hear, but respond to what Your will is for us in our praying. May we know that what we've asked You for is what You want us to pray for. May we then expect answers that prove that You do hear and are working on answering each of these prayers, which are for Christ's sake and our good.
We appreciate Your giving us Your wisdom in the Bible for the guidance we sorely need. We can see there how to pray for the power to do what You promise. In our weakness in our praying thus far, we admit that we've failed to claim the riches You have promised us.
We humbly ask You for the spiritual riches that we know are according to Your will for us, and we thank You now before we actually receive them. This is a sure sign that we really trust You to deliver on Your promise. Help us be ready to pray for what we will receive through a long-term commitment.
In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen
Today's question-
Upcoming posts:
 |
| Rose in October |
The North Country Christian Fellowship Center Churches,
located in the St. Lawrence county of NY,
broadcast their Sunday services at 10 or 10:15
You can view past services too.
Sermon listing:https://www.
No comments:
Post a Comment