Praying for what you want

-
Image result for biblical prayer

There are three reasons why you should pray for things that you want, even though we know God’s sovereign will - may His will be done.

1. God commands us to pray for what we want.
He tells us to pray for what we want — provided our wants are shaped by his word. John 15:7: “If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish [literally whatever you want], and it will be done for you.”

We’re not supposed to try to divine the sovereign will of God, and then simply say, “Do that.” That’s not what prayer is. We do not know ahead of time the sovereign will of God that governs all things. We are supposed to let the word abide in us and shape our wants and our wishes by the revealed will of God, not by the sovereign, all-controlling will of God.

The revealed will of God, for example, is 1 Peter 3:11: “Seek peace and pursue it.” Now, I don’t know the way the sovereign will of God may work itself out in my life or your life in any certain situation. It may be crucifixion. That’s not peace. I’m not after that. And that’s what happened to Jesus. We pray toward what he tells us to pursue, not by trying to figure out what he sovereignly decrees.

So, that’s number one: ask for what you want because the Bible says to ask for what you want, not to pray for the things that you dream up God’s going to do tomorrow.

2. If we don’t pray, we may not receive.
We should ask for what we want to be informed by the word, because if we don’t, we may not get it. James 4:2: “You do not have, because you do not ask.”

Now, let that sink in. There is a real causal connection between our asking and God’s giving. The absence of asking is the cause of the absence of receiving. That’s what James says: “You do not have, because you do not ask.” So ask, lest in failing to ask, you fail to receive. There it is. Period. Believe that. Do that.

3. God sovereignly plans our prayers.
This is the reason that number two is valid — that we may fail to receive when we fail to ask. Here’s the reason: God plans our prayers just as surely as he plans the events that he performs in answer to our prayers.

Take Jesus’s prayer for Peter and for Peter’s repentance after his denial, for example, in Luke 22:32. He prays like this before Peter denied him, which he told him he would do: “I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when [not if] you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.”

So, God had planned for Peter to deny Jesus. That’s why Jesus knew he would. That’s why Jesus said he would. And God had planned for Jesus to pray for Peter’s repentance. And God had planned, in answer to that prayer, to cause Peter to repent, which he did.

It would make no sense to say God’s will for Peter is going to happen no matter what Jesus prays, when in fact Jesus’s prayer was part of what God willed. And that’s the way it is with all prayer. God doesn’t plan the world, and then wonder if anybody’s going to pray for part of his plan to be changed. He plans the world, and part of his planning for the world is the praying of his people for what he plans to do.

Author: J Piper

Popular posts from this blog

Speaking in tongues for today - Charles Stanley

-
Image
There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. … But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all. … And God has appointed these in the church: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healing, helps, administrations, varieties of tongues. … Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? But earnestly desire the best gifts. And yet I show you a more excellent way - 1 Corinthians 12:4, 7, 28, 30—31 The Lord Jesus Christ had come and gone. The church—newly birthed—was in a transition time. The new covenant was seen as a threat to the Jewish leaders; therefore, there was persecution for those who had chosen to follow Christ. The new religion, in its infant stages, had no Bible, few leaders, and absolutely no support from the government. Astounding that it survived, isn’t it?  How in the world did it survive with so little going for it? Power. Not just a force, but mighty, visible power. This new church
Read more

What is the glory (kabod) of God?

-
Image
2 CORINTHIANS 4:17 "This light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison." Scripture places a high value on God 's glory, and it is not hard to figure out why. Since the inherent glory of the Lord is something that He will not share with others (Isa. 42:8), we know that His glory is something that He prizes highly; indeed, He prizes it more highly than anything else. We should, therefore, set the glory of God as the goal and overarching emphasis of our lives. Whatever we lose for the sake of making the Lord's glory known will be worth it when we see the dazzling light and beauty of; the divine glory (28:5; Rev. 21:23). Glory has to do with light and beauty, but those aspects do not sum up what the Bible means when it speaks of the glory of God. Interestingly, the Hebrew word kabod , which is translated into English as "glory," has the root meaning of "weight" or "heaviness."
Read more

The Holy Spirit causes us to cry out: Abba, Father

-
Image
Pentecostés. Óleo sobre lienzo, 275 × 127 cm. Madrid, Museo del Prado. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) To bring out the same truth in another way, Paul says God sent Jesus (as a Man) to live under the Law in order “to redeem those under law, that we [Jews and Gentiles ] might receive the full rights [adoption] of sons” ( Galatians 4:5).  By “full rights” or “adoption” he means entering into the privileges and responsibilities of sonship. He uses it also of the sonship of Israel (Romans 9:4). Galatians 4:1, 2 indicate that the son and heir of a wealthy family in Paul’s day would be treated as a slave until he became of age.  Then he would receive the adoption, that is, all the rights, privileges, and responsibilities that belonged to an adult member of that family. Adoption was also used in the modern sense, so that Gentiles who were not sons of Abraham became true heirs, true sons of God , by faith.  Jesus died, not just to save us from the fires of hell, but to make it p
Read more