Today we continue our series entitled, “The Benefits of Prayer and Fasting,” with an emphasis on “The Power of Prayer.” I trust that by now you are convinced that prayer does work. However, for prayer to work in your life you must pray in accordance with God’s will. Jesus always prayed with confidence, because He never sought His own will. Jesus only sought the will of the Father. He knew He could do nothing on His own. He knew He was not in the earth to do His own thing. He was singularly focused on the Father, on doing whatever the Father told Him to do and saying whatever the Father told Him to say. When we live and pray this way — with complete emphasis on God, His will, and His plans (not our own) — we can have fearless confidence when we pray. Because we will be praying God’s will and not our selfish desires. To make this clear in scripture we are going to read something the Apostle John said. We will read it from the Amplified Version and the Easy to Read Version. Here we go:
(1 Jn 5:13-15 AMPC)
I write this to you who believe in (adhere to, trust in, and rely on) the name of the Son of God [in the peculiar services and blessings conferred by Him on men], so that you may know [with settled and absolute knowledge] that you [already] have life, yes, eternal life. And this is the confidence (the assurance, the privilege of boldness) which we have in Him: [we are sure] that if we ask anything (make any request) according to His will (in agreement with His own plan), He listens to and hears us. And if (since) we [positively] know that He listens to us in whatever we ask, we also know [with settled and absolute knowledge] that we have [granted us as our present possessions] the requests made of Him.
(1 Jn 5:13-15 ERV)
I write this letter to you who believe in the Son of God. I write so that you will know that you have eternal life now. We can come to God with no doubts. This means that when we ask God for things (and those things agree with what God wants for us), God cares about what we say. He listens to us every time we ask him. So we know that he gives us whatever we ask from him.
So what does this mean to you today? I won’t be able to cover this all in one day. I will highlight a few things for today. Here we go:
1. God wants you to know that you possess (right now) eternal life.
a) John said, “I write this letter to you who believe in the Son of God. I write so that you will know that you have eternal life now.” The Amplified version reads, “I write this to you who believe in (adhere to, trust in, and rely on) the name of the Son of God [in the peculiar services and blessings conferred by Him on men], so that you may know [with settled and absolute knowledge] that you [already] have life, yes, eternal life.” If you are not sure whether or not you have eternal life, it is because you are either putting too much emphasis on you and your flaws, or you are failing to truly believe God’s Word, or both. God’s Word is clear that once you are in Christ and Christ is in you, you have eternal life. Stop struggling with this. Enter into God’s rest concerning it. Once you know you are going to heaven you get to serve God because you love Him, not because you are afraid of hell.
b) If the issue of your salvation is not settled in your heart, then you will never have confidence when you pray, because you are not confident that you are going to heaven. If you doubt your eternal future, then you will surely doubt your prayers.
2. God wants you to perform “due diligence” in discovering His will before you pray.
a) If praying in accordance with God’s will is a requirement (and it is), then we must do our part to discover God’s will and then pray in accordance with it. People ask me all the time: “Rick, how do I know what God’s will is?” I respond: “Read God’s Word. The Word of God is the will of God documented.”
b) When we know God’s will and we pray in accordance with it, we can have confidence that we will receive what we are praying for. Why? Because we are not praying our own will. We are not praying for a selfish desire. We are praying desires that were birthed in the heart of God.
c) To ensure that your prayers are effective, you may need to spend time in God’s Word investigating what His Word says about what you asking for. Said another way, you must PREPARE to pray. Kenneth Copeland said, “I am not prepared to pray about something until I know what God’s Word says about it.” But once you are sure you know God’s will concerning it, you can pray with complete confidence. At that point your confidence will be in God and His plans, not in you or your performance.
I have more to say, but I will continue from here tomorrow.
Closing Confession:
Father, this is a season of expectation for me. I am excited because You are teaching me to pray in accordance with Your will. I am learning to pray with complete confidence, without wavering, without a doubt, without the burden of Blessing Blockers, with a pure heart, with clean hands and with a true expectation that You will hear me and respond to my prayers. To ensure I am praying in accordance with Your will for my life, I make a concerted effort to align my prayers with Your Word. Your Word is Your will on paper. I pray in accordance with Your Word. This helps me know that I am praying in accordance with Your will. Your Word then promises me that You hear me, and that I already have what I prayed for. It’s just a matter of time before I see, in my hands, what I have received, in my heart! I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name, Amen!
This is Today’s Word. Apply it and prosper!
