SundayJune 18, 2017 Phone: 570.829.5216
Pastor David Miklas e-mail:
Message: Prayer Text: I John 5:14-15
Prayer and the Will of God
INTRODUCTION: In Philippians 4:6 we read, "Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer... let your requests be known unto God."
Someone said, "The church must recapture her distinction. She is not built upon manipulation and money. She is built upon the might of God. If the church is to be light in this perverse generation, she must humble herself and pray. She must understand that victory comes from her knees."
Another said, "True prayer is the method by which the Christian comes before the presence of God. Consequently, a praying Christian will be a revived Christian, and a church that seeks the face of God will be one that knows the glory of God." Remember it is prayer that initiates revival, and revival initiates prayer."
In I John 5:14-15 we read,
“And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: (15) And if we know that he hears us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.”
Please notice in verse 14, "If we ask anything." I really wonder how many of us really believe that word "ANYTHING" includes "EVERYTHING."
John is telling us that we have the right, those of us who are believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, to come before God - at any time - in any place - with any need.
Paul tells us in Hebrews 4:16 we have the right to come boldly and with great confidence before God, as we read, "Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need."
In Jeremiah 33:3 God says, "Call upon Me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee GREAT and MIGHTY things, which thou knowest not."
Again in John 4:14 please notice "if we ask anything according to HIS WILL, He heareth us." It did not say He answers us. Rather it says "HE HEARETH US." God definitely gives us a hearing.
Now again in verse 15, please notice the phase "If we ask anything according to His will." What does it mean to pray and ask according to His will? Does it mean we are to add a phrase at the end of our prayer? Saying, "Lord may thy will be done in this matter." Perhaps so.
Now I need your undivided attention as we look at "PRAYER AND THE WILL OF GOD." Holding your place here, go with me to Romans 12:1-2 where we read,
“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. (2) And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” Please notice again the last part of verse 2, “…that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God.”
Here I believe we have three adjectives that describe the will of God.
FIRST: There is that PERFECT WILL OF GOD. Now the perfect will of God means.
You are WHERE GOD wants you to be.
You are doing WHAT GOD wants you to do.
You are doing it HOW GOD wants you to do it.
You are doing it WITH WHOM GOD wants you to do it.
It is the perfect will of God for your life. Let me illustrate.
In football, the coach will draw for his players a play on a chalkboard. Now every player knows exactly what he is supposed to do. If the play works, there will be a touchdown. That was the perfect plan for that play.
However, many times something may cause the play to go wrong. The quarterback finds the play "busted." He then begins to improvise. They call this scrambling.
It may be that the end who was supposed to receive the pass from the quarterback at a certain place at a certain time will find the ball not there when he arrives, so he begins to run an alternate pattern trying to get open. The entire play has fallen apart, but many games have been won and many touchdowns have been scored through improvised plays.
If you remember, both Fran Tarkington, called the scrambler, and Roger Stauback, called Roger the dodger, became famous for improvised plays.
God has a perfect plan for each of our lives. That perfect plan is designed to show us
WHERE we ought to be,
WITH WHOM we ought to be, and
WHAT we ought to be doing.
But let's face the fact, for many of us the plays of life have not run according to the chalkboard drawing. And for some of us we have had to forfeit at least a part of the perfect will of God for our lives.
Sometimes sin causes the Christian to forfeit the right to do the perfect will of God. Then God says to us, "Don't go away, I have another will for you."
Sometimes disobedience to what we know as the very will of God causes us to forfeit the right to the perfect will of God. When we have forfeited our right to do His perfect will, praise His name, He does not discard us from usefulness.
We have in the first place the "Perfect Will of God."
SECOND: There is that ACCEPTABLE WILL OF GOD. Now the acceptable will of God could be called the improvised will of God.
Look, maybe the perfect play for your life has been “busted.” But praise God, there is still a God in Heaven who wants to use you and He will use you if you will diligently seek His permission or improvised will.
DO NOT PANIC OR FRET because you have forfeited the perfect will of God for your life. God can still use you in some capacity.
Maybe you have failed at MARRIAGE; God can still use you.
Maybe you failed at a JOB; God can still use you.
Maybe you failed at RAISING Godly Children; God can still use you.
Maybe you failed in some area of the MINISTRY; God can still use you.
We explained the perfect will of God and the acceptable or improvised will of God, however there is still another found in Romans 12:2.
THIRD: There is that GOOD WILL OF GOD. Return with me to I John 5:14-15 where we read,
“And this is the confidence that we have in him, that if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: (15) And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.”
Here the good will of God can be called the revealed will of God.
Now the revealed will of God is found in the book you hold in your hand. The Word of God is the revealed will of God.
Please listen carefully, "the Bible is the GOOD WILL of God, it is not the PERFECT WILL of God." Let me repeat that statement lest you think you heard it wrong, "the Bible is the GOOD WILL of God, it is not the PERFECT WILL of God."
Hold it, before you have a spiritual heart attack or blow a spiritual gasket on that statement and come to me after the service with a hundred questions, please hear me out.
The Bible is a perfect book.
There are no errors, no contradictions in it.
It contains the very breath of God, the absolute and final authority of God, the will of God for all of life.
It is a perfect book, but it is not the perfect will of God."
Follow me, this is a perfect Book, but this Book didn't tell me to come to the Green Street Baptist Chapel in 2005. Now, the reveled will of God which is found in the Word of God told me to preach the Word of God. I know that because of what Paul said in II Timothy 4:2,
"Preach the Word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine."
The Bible told me WHAT to DO and the PERFECT
WILL of God told me WHERE to DO it.
For Example: This Book tells me to go soul winning; that is the reveled will of God. But the perfect will of God tells me WHERE to go soul wining. I don't have to pray about whether it is the will of God to go soul winning. I just do it and as I am doing it, I ask God to lead me to WHOM he wants led to Christ.
For Example: This Book tells me to preach the Word; that is the revealed will of God. But the perfect will of God tells me WHERE to preach it and on any given Sunday WHAT to preach. In other words, because I know the revealed will of God, I can pray for the perfect will of God for each and every message.
For Example: This Book gives us the guidelines for dating, courtship and marriage. That is the reveled will of God. But the perfect will of God tells me WHO he or she is to be. Since the revealed Word of God tells us it's not God's will to marry an unbeliever, would I be in the perfect will of God if I did? Absolutely not! Now,
I could be doing the reveled will of God and be in Baltimore.
I could be doing the reveled will of God and be married to someone else.
I could be doing the reveled will of God and be engaged in some another area of the ministry - like teaching instead of pastoring.
But I could not be doing the perfect will of God, because the perfect will of God tells me WHAT, WHERE, WHEN, and with WHOM!
Please again notice carefully verse 14-15. God is saying that if you would ask anything according to His revealed will, He would do it.
THEREFORE, knowing the REVEALED WILL of God becomes extremely important! How tragic for people not to know God’s will because they do not know God’s Word!
The child of God who would know and do the will of God must bathe himself in the Word of God and become obedient to the principles and commands of God.
For example: the Word of God tells me to tithe, that is the revealed will of God. I don't have to pray about tithing, I just have to do it. For:
It is the will of God in Malachi 3:10 that we, "Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse...and prove me..."
It is the will of God in I Corinthians 16:2, again speaking of giving the tithe that we, "Upon the first day of the week, let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him..."
For example: the Word of God tells me to go to church, that is the revealed will of God. I don't have to get up on Sunday morning and ask God in prayer if I should go to church today. For in:
Hebrews 10:25 we read, "Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is, but exhorting one another (that is encouraging one another) and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching (that is the day of Christ's return.)
For example: The Word of God tells me to go soul-winning. That is the revealed will of God. I don't have to pray and ask if I should do it. I need to pray and ask, “Lord, to WHOM should I present the gospel?” For in:
Mark 16:15 the revealed will of God tells us to, "...Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature."
Then in Acts 1:8 we read, "But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Spirit is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth."
For example: The Word of God tells me to live a clean, pure and righteous life; that is the revealed will of God. I need to pray that God will give me the strength to do what He says. That means I do not need to ask the Lord, “if,it is His will to go to a place of ill repute."
It is his will in Ephesians 4:24, "...that ye put on the new man, which is after God created in righteousness and true holiness."
It is his will in I Thessalonians 5:22 to, "Abstain from all appearances of evil."
For example: The Word of God tells me to love my neighbor; that is the revealed will of God. That means I am to do good to my neighbor and even forgive them when wronged. For:
In Matthew 5:44 we read, "...Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you."
In I John 4:12, "...If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and His love is perfected in us."
In Ephesians 4:32 (remember this verse), "And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you."
Now our verse in I John 5 is telling us, if we are not doing the revealed will of God (that word which is already written down for us) "DON'T bother to ask God for anything else!"
Notice again that our verse says "He heareth us." Whether or not He hears our petition is based on whether or not we are asking according to His revealed will, the Word of God. If we are, He agrees to HEAR us. Here is an illustration:
You say, "Lord, I need a new job in order to make some additional money." The Lord says, "Are you doing what I have told you to do? Are you tithing? You say, “No Lord, I know that's in the Bible, but you know it's hard for me to tithe.” The Lord replies, "Sorry I didn't hear the ring, I can't help you."
You say, "Lord, I need to pay my bills, I need to meet my obligations." The Lord says, "Are you tithing?" You say, "Yes, Lord I am." The Lord replies, "Then I will give you a hearing, what is on your mind?"
Now if you don't believe what I just said, then check it out in Malachi 3:8-12. God is saying, "I am not going to tell you the perfect will of God, until you do the reveled will of God."
Turn with me to John 15:7, where we read, "If ye ABIDE in me, and my WORDS abide in you, ye shall ASK what ye WILL, and it shall be done unto you."
If God's revealed Word which is His revealed will is in you, He says "ASK AWAY, I'll give you a hearing."
Remember this,God will not reveal to you the WHAT that is UNWRITTEN until you are doing the WHAT that is WRITTEN.
Remember this, He who runs past the scripture will soon have to return to the starting block, if he wants answers to his prayers."
Remember this, "the WILL of GOD is never apart from the WORD of GOD."
Far too many people are concerned about finding God's revelation through prayer, instead of finding the revelation God has written to us in the Book which reveals what we are to do.
That's why it's important to have a personal Bible Study. That's why it's important to weekly hear the Word of God preached.
Many of God's people, who pride themselves on knowing the Word of God, are actually ignorant of the Word of God.
“And because of our ignorance we pray for the will of God and yet we do not find it. Or we just go out on our own and do what we think is best, and then end up in a tragic mess because of it.”
Listen, you need to get into this Book to hear from God. THIS IS HIS REVEALED WILL. If you do not get into this Book, you will not know the revealed will of God.
There are a lot of Christians running around trying to find the perfect will of God, and yet, they will not obey the revealed will of God. Allow me to prove that.
Now, for the average person in this room:
If your life depended upon it, could you quote 10 Bible verse from memory?
If you had to, could you stand and defend your Faith giving chapter and verse of WHY you BELIEVE what you believe?
If you had to, could you give testimony to a half-dozen definite answers to prayer in your life in the last two years?
If you were asked, could youquote the Books of the Bible in order, give the 10 basic doctrines of the Bible, and share the gospel with a lost person who is seeking Christ?
And then people get on their knees and ask God to revel His perfect will to them. Or people get on their knees and ask God to bless them or give them the things they ask for.
For until you know the revealed Word of God, which is the revealed Will of God, you will not begin to hear from heaven and cannot possibly know God's perfect will for your life.
For example: You pray "Lord where should I go to win souls?" The Lord asks, "Are you wimning any souls where you are?"“Are you seeking to reach your neighbors and family who are unsaved?” You say,"No Lord. The Lord answers, “Then I will not tell you where to go!"
For example: You pray, "Lord, I would like to have a bigger house, where I could bring folks in for Bible Study." The Lord asks, "Are you studying your Bible now?" "Are you reaching folks where you are now?" You answer, "No!" The Lord says, "I can't hear your case."
Remember James 4:3 which reads, "You ask and you receive not, because you ask amiss." Do you realize that to pray for something when we know it is not God's will is to waste our breath? God has revealed His will in the Bible, and so our prayers must be grounded in the truths of His Word.
Too often we come to God asking for things He has forbidden.
To ask God to bless us, when we intend to do things we know are wrong, or if we have plans to visit places a Christian should not go, is to ask amiss.