Verse for Today: Thursday, February 16, 2012
1 John 5:14 – This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask any thing according to His will, He hears us. Prayer is based on knowledge about God to whom we address our needs. His character as the prayer hearing and prayer answering God gives us confidence to approach Him. Understanding the depth and height of His riches in glory makes us bold in asking Him to meet all our needs. He is pleased to give all that we need to live a godly life here on earth and prepare ourselves for our life hereafter. It is His will that all our needs are met according to His riches in glory. He expects us to live here as the children of the Heavenly King and He has guaranteed that He will give us all good things to enjoy. Our God is the greatest giver. No one else can give more than He gives. The things that He wants to give us are unique and unparalleled to any thing that is offered by this world. Whereas what God gives satisfies us abundantly, what the world gives us leaves us empty and wanting more and more. This knowledge about our God gives us proper insight about what to ask Him. He will only give us what is good for us and will never give us any thing that is detrimental to our spiritual life. Knowing His mind about what is good for us will help us to ask Him to give us what is best for us. Such prayers are according to His perfect will. We will thus be able to pray for all that He wants to give us according to His will and He will surely give it to us as well. As we pray, we will thus be able to develop great confidence about what we should ask Him. We need the renewing of our minds to know His will which emerges out of our brokenness before Him. Then He makes us alive in Him with His thoughts, desires, likes, dislikes, priorities and time lines.
Dear friend, do you go to the Lord with the confidence that what you ask Him will be given to you when you pray? Do you know what the will of the Father for you is with regard to all the big and small things in your life? Are you able to pray that none of your desires may be accomplished, but only what the Lord wants should be done in your life? In order to know His will, you need to meet with your Lord for serious interactions. Through these interactions of meditation, prayer and reading of His Word, you will be able to sense what He wants in your life. Thus you can prepare your prayer list and go to Him to present it with full confidence that the Lord will grant it. If you are sincere in your heart towards Him, He will reveal His perfect will for you in all areas of your life. You will then be able to pray for those things and receive what you ask for. It is unlikely that any one of us will want to have any thing that the Lord would not permit in our lives. But the secret of not getting what He doesn’t want to give us is to get to know Him and His desires for us. This will help us to develop holy boldness and confidence to ask Him to meet our particular needs according to His riches in glory. Your prayer ought to be for His will to be accomplished in your life and not for Him to give us what you think is best for you. If you pray sincerely, He will tone your heart and sensitize your will to find this out. Any thing other than what He permits in your life is not ordained of the Lord. The secret of a committed life is to know the Lord you follow intimately to find out what He wants you to have and then ask that it be given according to His will and pleasure. Then you are under obligation use it for His glory and for the praise of His name.
Romans 12:2 – Do not confirm any longer to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – His good, pleasing and perfect will. Thought for Today The more we know Him, the better we will understand His perfect will for us.
