According to His Will
"And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us." — 1 John 5:14
The Key Verse
There is one passage on prayer that functions as a key for everything else:
"And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: and if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him." (1 John 5:14–15)
Read the qualifying phrase carefully. "According to his will."
Not according to ours.
What This Rules Out
Many believers are taught to make positive confessions of faith and to claim God's promises as a way of obtaining what they want.
There is no scriptural ground for that teaching.
Nowhere does God say He will give us whatever we claim. He says He will give us what He has promised, within His will.
The difference is not a technicality. One approach seeks to align a person with God. The other seeks to obligate God to a person.
Jesus Is the Example
If any human being ever had grounds to claim an outcome, it was the Son of God in Gethsemane, facing the cross.
Here is how He prayed:
"Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done." (Luke 22:42)
In His great agony, Jesus did not presume to know exactly what the Father's will was. He asked. He stated His desire honestly — remove this cup — and then submitted it.
If Jesus, in all His divinity and perfection, did not command His Father, who are we to do so?
Careful With Claimed Promises
All of God's promises are true. But we must be careful to apply them to the right situation.
The only way to be sure is to ask the Lord to quicken Scripture to your mind.
When the Lord brings a verse to your mind for a specific situation, that is one thing — and it is a wonderful thing to build on.
When you go rummaging through the Bible looking for promises to claim in order to satisfy your desires, that is something else entirely.
The same verse can be an anchor in one case and a self-serving misuse in the other. The difference is who selected it.
Point to Ponder
One approach seeks to align a person with God. The other seeks to obligate God to a person. They are not variations on a theme.
Verse to Remember
"Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done." — Luke 22:42
Question to Consider
Have I been praying to align myself with God, or to obligate Him?
Today's Practice
Examine your own praying honestly.
Take your most persistent prayer — the one you have prayed most often this year — and write it down as you actually pray it.
Then ask:
- Am I asking, or am I claiming?
- Have I ever genuinely asked God what His will is in this — or have I only told Him what I want?
- Would I still pray this way if I knew His answer was no?
Then rewrite the prayer in the pattern of Gethsemane. State your desire honestly — God is not offended by an honest desire, and Jesus stated His. Then submit it.
"Father, this is what I want. If You are willing, do it. Nevertheless, not my will, but Yours be done."
And then, going forward, change what you ask for first: ask Him to quicken Scripture to your mind about the situation, rather than searching for a verse that supports the outcome you already want.
Prayer
Father, I have been telling You what to do and calling it faith.
I have claimed promises I selected myself, for outcomes I chose myself, and I have been quietly angry when You did not comply.
Your Son, facing the cross, did not presume to know Your will. He asked. He said plainly what He wanted and then submitted it entirely. If He prayed that way, I have no standing to pray any other.
So here is what I want — and I am not going to pretend I do not want it. And nevertheless: not my will, but Yours be done.
Quicken Your word to me about this. Show me what You have actually promised rather than what I have gone looking for.
And give me the confidence that comes from asking according to Your will — which is the only confidence Your word ever offered.
In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Jesus, in agony, did not presume to know the Father's will. He asked.