RESOURCES — SHORT ARTICLES

 

SHORT ARTICLES BY TOM ELSEROAD
	2020-09-23	Must We Say 'According to His Will' in Prayer? (1Jn.5:14)
		1Jn 5:14  Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. This sounds like it is saying we must say the words, “according to His will” in order for God to hear our prayer. At the sermon on the mount Jesus gave us the “Disciples Prayer” which included, “Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven” (Mt.6:10) Later Jesus on the Mount of Olives twice in one verse referred to God's will (Lk.22:42). Luk 22:42  saying, "Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done." Merely saying these words “according to His will” does not make your prayer magical. God is so much greater than being limited to our praying using exact words for Him to hear. The same thing can be said about the phrase, “In Jesus' name”.  Must we add these exact words to every prayer for God to hear us? The phrase “in Jesus' name” is an acknowledgement that without Jesus we have no access to the Father in prayer. Father has a Fatherly heart toward us. God is not into formulas. He is not going to shut His ears if you do not have the right knowledge to make sure to add certain words to every prayer. The Bible speaks of the Holy Spirit as groanings which cannot be uttered (Ro.8:26) Rom 8:26  Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. The idea is that all we need to do is groan in God's direction with a heart that is needy, not even knowing what your need is, and God answers that prayer. The Holy Spirit does that for us. When we pray He takes what we say from our hearts and makes it proper and delivers it to the Father. This whole discussion is about attitude. We should not think of prayer as some unlimited resource, where anything we ask God for He gives to us. That is a wrong attitude or approach. Remember on Paul's missionary journey, and prayed to go somewhere else, but God said to go to Macedonia. Paul was not wrong in asking, but he was submissive to do God's will. Paul also prayed three times to have the physical infirmity or “thorn” removed (2Co.12). The response was, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness” (2Co.12:9). Jesus' response was concerning Paul's attitude. We are to pray “according to His will” which is our hearts attitude when we come to Him. Coming to God in prayer must recognize everything begins with God's will. God then works on our hearts and stirs us. When we pray according to His will, then He hears us. If we do not pray according to His will, He will not hear us. Or if we fail to pray when God stirs us to pray, then we lose an opportunity to see God work. Jas 4:2  You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask. So we need to pray according to God's heart as we learn from His Word what His heart or will is. Our aim is to determine what is God doing and focus our prayers toward that end. God has a plan. Pray to God according to His will and He will answer those prayers. Pastor Tom Elseroad

 

An Evangelical Free Church of America

23304 E Wellesley Ave. Otis Orchards, WA 99027 Church Office: 509.926.9552 Church Cell: 509.342.9145 Pastor Cell: 509.828.8843 tomelseroad@gmail.com