Lesson 20
Praying God's Will
This lesson is about praying God's Will. When we pray God's Will, there will be no doubt that what we prayed and petitioned, we will receive. But how do we know God's Will so we can pray it. We look at what He has promised to us in His Word (Bible) and we personalize and pray His Word for our specific need.
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"But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. A double minded man is unstable in all his ways." (James 1:6-8)
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When we pray and we're not sure it's God's Will for us, we will doubt. If we doubt, we will receive nothing! So let's pray things we know is God's Will.
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" the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him: The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of His calling, and what the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints," (Ephesians 1:17-18)
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Paul prayed this prayer for the Ephesians. Let's look at an important point. He prayed to the Father. Remember in a previous lesson we learned that Jesus told His disciples that they would not be asking Him for anything but should ask the Father in His Name. (John 16:23-26) We will not receive anything if we don't pray according to the Father's establish way of doing things.
We can take this Scripture that Paul prayed and pray this as a personal prayer. We can pray this prayer for ourselves or for another person, be it family or acquaintance. When we pray Scripture, we are praying according to the Word of God, His Will and His Purposes. It would be an effective and powerful prayer. And it would be one with power because God's Word is alive and has power. (Hebrews 4:12)
An important point is that Paul did not pray that they get wisdom, but he prayed that they would have a spirit of wisdom. that's a spirit which comes from God the Father, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. He asked for their understanding eyes to light up. Those eyes are spiritual eyes that see and understand the spiritual.
He also spoke of the heritage that we have as saints. That inheritance is the inheritance of Jesus. We are in Him and He in us. We get to partake of the inheritance of Jesus. We are part of Him, we are also children of God.
What would a prayer look like using this example? During our prayer time, at the appropriate time (after worshipping and praising Him), at the time for asking for ourselves or others, we say the following:
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"Father God (address the Father), I ask You for the Spirit of Wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of You. I ask that You enlighten the eyes of my understanding so that I may know the the hope of Your calling and what are the riches of the glory of Your inheritance in the saints. I ask this in the Name of Jesus."
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"That He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man; That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. Now unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, Unto Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen." (Ephesians 3:16-21)
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Here is another one of Paul's prayers. Let's see how we would personalize it and pray it for another person.
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"Holy Father (addressing God), grant to (name) I pray according to the riches of Your glory that (name) would be strengthened with might by Your Spirit in the inner man. I ask that Christ may dwell in (name)'s heart by faith and that (name) would be rooted and grounded in love. I ask that (name) would be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breath, length, depth and height of Your Love and know the Love of Christ which is beyond understanding so that (name) would be filled with all the fulness of God. Now Father God Who is able to do more abundantly and above all that I'm asking or thinking, and according to Your power that works in us, to You be glory in the church by Jesus Christ throughout all the ages, world without end. In Jesus' Name. Amen."
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You can also insert yourself by praying "I" in the place of someone else's name. The following is another prayer that Paul prayed. This time he prayed for the Philippians. This is one of my personal prayers.
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"And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment; That ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ; Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God." (Philippians 1:9-11)
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This is how you could personalize it:
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"Holy Father God, I ask that my love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment; that I may approve the things that are excellent and would be sincere and without offence until the day of Christ. I ask that I may be filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, for Your glory and praise. In the Name of Jesus. Amen."
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It is important to know that we can do many things that are good, but there is one thing that is the best. In Luke 10: 38-42 we see that Jesus visits Lazarus and his sisters, Mary and Martha. Marta worried and was in a hurry making arrangements for the visitors. But Mary chose to sit at the feet of Jesus to listen to what He said. Martha goes to Jesus complaining about Mary not helping her and Jesus tells her that Mary has chosen the best. Now what Marta was doing was not a bad thing. She was acting as the woman of the house, cleaning and cooking for the guests. But there was something better, and that was what Mary chose. In life there are many good things we can do. But when we choose to do something that brings us closer to the Lord, that is the best. On that note, remember that prayer is not only about asking. It is about spending time with the Lord; speaking and listening to Him. At the beginning of our time with Him, we worship Him. We praise Him for how He has revealed Himself to us that day or week. Has He healed you? He is your Healer. Has He provided for your needs? He is your Provider. Has He gotten you out of trouble? He is your Refuge. Has He protected you? He is your Protector, your Strong Tower. Has He come through with His Promise? He is Faithful. So make it personal, between you and Him. And if you pause, breathe in His Presence, you will hear (not naturally, but spiritually) the voice of the Holy Spirit speaking to you. Do not rush through this time to the time you can ask Him for your petition. This is the most important part of prayer.
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The following are good prayers that we can pray for ourselves or others. But we are not limited to these prayers that are in the Bible. There are so many promises in the Word of God that we can personalize and speak over ourselves, for instance 1 Peter 2:24. This is a good Scripture to pray when you feel your body is being attacked. Yes, attacked because sickness is not from God. And if it's not from God, it's from the enemy or our carelessness or neglect of our bodies. If we are the cause of our illness, we need to repent and ask God forgiveness for abusing the body He gave us.
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"Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed." (1Peter 2:24)
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Pray something like this: "Father God, I thank You and praise You for Jesus, Who took all my sins on His body on the Cross so that I would be dead to sin and should live for righteousness. I thank You that by Jesus' stripes I WAS healed. I ask You to forgive me for (over eating, eating the wrong things, etc...) and I ask You to help me eat correctly and to take care of my body so that I can be healthy and strong to serve You. In Jesus' Name. Amen"
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Here are other Scriptures. You get the picture of how you can personalize the Scriptures by now, I'm sure.
(This one is good to pray for pastors, preachers and missionaries) "Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving; Withal praying also for us, that God would open unto us a door of utterance, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in bonds: That I may make it manifest, as I ought to speak." (Colossians 4:2-4)
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"Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ, saluteth you, always labouring fervently for you in prayers, that ye may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God." (Colossians 4:12)
(This is a good Scripture to pray for those who are intentionally going out to tell about the kingdom of God)
"Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may have free course, and be glorified, even as it is with you: And that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men: for all men have not faith." (2Thessalonians 3:1-2)
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(Good Scripture to pray for other believers) "I thank my God, making mention of thee always in my prayers, Hearing of thy love and faith, which thou hast toward the Lord Jesus, and toward all saints; That the communication of thy faith may become effectual by the acknowledging of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus." (Philemon 1:4-6)
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One last point that has to be made. If you are unfamiliar with the Bible and have just started to read it, "google" God's promises and make a copy of those Scriptures so that when you have a need, you will have God's promise concerning it. Here are some links where you may find God's promises:
5 Major Promises Of God In The Bible (Complete list) (meredithgould.com)