28 Days To Trust And Obey - Day 26

And this is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him.
I John 5:14-15


For several days I have been referring to the importance of knowing the mind and heart of God on a matter when you pray, or to say it another way, knowing the will of God when you pray. This is of critical importance when we pray. If we miss this we are missing out on one of the most precious promises concerning prayer in all the scriptures.

As we continue in this faith challenge of focused and intense prayer, I want to know that we are praying in the will of God. In fact, I want to be so assured that I am personally praying in the will of God, that our church is praying in the will of God, that you are praying in the will of God, that I am willing to be blunt and outspoken about the very things we are praying for. Can you do that with your prayer requests? I am not referring to the fact that you can tell others what you are praying for. Can you tell people in faith and with confidence that God is going to do what you're asking Him to do because you are praying in accordance with God’s desires? This means stepping out on a limb and if you get it wrong the limb could break, you could fall, and appear as a fool to those who were listening.

This is a hard call. What if you are not sure that you are praying according to God’s will and are therefore hesitant to be outspoken? My counsel would be to remain silent until you hear clearly what the will of God is in your situation. On the other hand, to clearly know the will of God on a matter but to remain silent about its outcome because of fear or unbelief is a sin. So why do we need to be outspoken if we have been assured we have prayed in the will of God on a matter?

Remember one of the points we looked at over the past couple of days - the main purpose of praying is that God will get the glory. God gets great glory when someone publicly states in faith what they are trusting God for before it ever comes to pass. That is faith according to [Heb 11:1] But before going public you had best make sure you have really heard the Lord speak.

Do you remember the story of Elijah, who faced down the false prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel? Elijah took a very public stand and challenged the false prophets to a showdown which would reveal the real God. What if Elijah had conjured up the whole idea in his head and was motivated by selfish ambition rather than the glorification of God? Can you imagine the shame and embarrassment he would have felt if God had not come through for Him? But God did come through and God did back up His servant with a demonstration of His power.

I would draw your attention to one small part of Elijah’s prayer found in [I Kings 18:36], “Oh Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, today let it be known that You are God in Israel, and that I am Your servant and that I have done these things at Your word.” Elijah had heard God call Him to take such a public stand because God was about to bring abundant glory to Himself and call a whole nation to realign their hearts and loyalties. Elijah asked the Lord to show the whole nation who the one true God was. That took some boldness, especially as the water was poured on the sacrifice and spilled over into the ditches. Elijah knew he was praying and acting according to God’s will and therefore he had the confidence to be outspoken. He also had the assurance that God would come through.

Oh, that God would inspire that kind of confidence in us, not only as we pray, but as we take public stands as well. I don’t know what God has asked you to believe Him for and to publicly declare. For me is that our church would pay off $101,000 of debt. For me personally that God would provide my wife with a miracle vehicle and my son Tucker with a car that is the desire of his heart.  This is one of the primary things I am asking the Lord to do over this challenge. I have confidence that I am praying and taking a stand according to the will of God. There is a scripture that I have prayed and drawn comfort from over the past several weeks, and I hope you will take that same scripture and apply it to your situation. “Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart. [Ps 37:4]

When we have prayed in the will of God there are two assurances that will follow. First, we will know that God has heard our petitions, and secondly, we will know that we can have the requests that we have asked Him for. This is great news! We need God not only to hear our prayers but we need Him to answer our prayers which He has assured us He will do if we are praying according to His will.


Steps to Trust and Obey:

1. Are your prayers aligned with God’s will? If not, what do you need to readjust so you can pray with the confidence that what you are praying for is what God desires to be done?
2. Is God calling you to take some public stand to demonstrate your faith like Elijah was called to do? If so, what is it?
3. Pray through I John 5:14-15 today, trusting God to honor this promise.