Knowing God's Will For You
How would you like for all of your prayers and petitions to God be answered all of the time? Let me share with you a simple principle which is easily overlooked in our Christian walk, devotional, and prayer time. Let's look at I John 5:14,15. "This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us - whatever we ask - we know that we have what we asked of Him." Your prayer time will be more effective and your relationship with the Lord strengthened when you learn to ask according to His will. And also notice that you should know that you have received from Him, that which you asked for. We still have to deal with God's timing vs. our timing when we ask. The issue is not if we will receive, but when we will receive. The key is asking according to His will.
This may come as new revelation to some, but we realize that God's will is never in the past. It is never in the past tense. It is always in the present tense. In Exodus 3:13, Moses was speaking to God to ask Him, "If they ask who sent me, what should I tell them?" And God replied, "I am that I am." He is not "I was" or "I will be", but the God who says, "I am". God does not dwell in the past; therefore His will can never be past tense. I have seen it in marriage counseling many times. "Maybe it wasn't God's will for me to marry so and so." In financial counseling I have seen it. "Maybe it wasn't God's will that I purchased this thing or that I invested in that thing." Listen, you are traveling on dangerous ground when you think that way because you are letting emotions or worldly circumstances dictate your next direction. You get so convinced that since this thing turned out so bad, that it couldn't have been God's will, that you attempt to make a reversal of whatever you have done. God doesn't want you to be directed that way; He wants you to know His will by knowing His Word! You can't afford not to be in the Word of God and embracing those things which God reveals to you. If you say to yourself, "It must not have been God's will for me to marry her, therefore I will divorce her and find out who God really wants me to marry." You have just made a drastic mistake and are headed for destruction. I can tell you today who God wants you to be married to, and it is the wife that you have. You have to see His divine will for you as a Godly man and as a Godly husband, and believe me the Bible is full of instruction for you. It will not get better by changing partners. Financial problems do not disappear because you try to reverse them. You must know God's financial principles and apply them to your finances right where you are. Tithing and sowing and reaping are principles designed by God to set you free from financial burdens. You can't wait to tithe until you have your finances in the shape you think they need to be in before you can tithe. That is like the man who says one day I will have my life in order, and then I can really serve God, instead of beginning to serve God and let Him begin to put your life in order. Romans chapter 12, verse 2 says that you will be able to test and approve what God's will is, not what His will was, or what His will will be.
Let's purpose in our hearts to know what God's will is, by knowing what His Word says. I am headed for ruin when I try to make judgments on what I think God was trying to do. The enemy will take hold of a situation like that and keep you in confusion and strife for the rest of your life. You become more and more frustrated because you can never seem to get a handle on what God wants you to do. You think that God keeps changing when in reality it is you who keeps on changing. If the devil has you in a situation like that, you will never be able to serve God. Renew your mind according to Romans chapter 12 and know what God's will is, and then petition Him for the completion of it, and take rest in knowing that you indeed do have from God that which you asked Him for.
Michael R. Smith