A Study on Prayer - #4

Praying in the Will of God

(Raleigh Ave. B.C. July 9, 2025)

Our prayers must always be in accordance with the will of God. God will not act against His own will.

Remember: God does not change His mind. The purpose of prayer is NOT to change God’s mind about a matter. God wants us to walk so close to Him that we will understand His mind and His will about the matters we are praying about.

Jeremiah 29:11-13 –

“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare (shalom) and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.”

God always acts in ways that are in our best interests. He has His plans for each of our lives. We do not always know what is best for ourselves. If our prayers are not in line with God’s plans for us, He will likely say “no”.

Proverbs 3:4-7 -  

“Trust in the LORD with all of your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways know him, and he will make your paths straight. Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and turn away from evil.”

Praying according to God’s will requires that we accept God as our Master and submit our wills to Him. We must accept the fact that God has total understanding of our lives and He wants us to yield to His leading.

Matthew 8:1-3 –

“When he came down from the mountain, great crowds followed him. And behold, a leper came to him and knelt before him, saying, ‘Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.’ And Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, ‘I will. Be clean.’ And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.”

This leper submitted his will to the will of Jesus. “IF YOU WILL, you can heal me.” He had faith. He knew that Jesus had the power to heal him. But the leper did not know whether or not it was Jesus’ will to heal him. It was, so Jesus touched and healed the man.

2 Corinthians 12:8-10 –

"Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong." 

Paul had a “thorn in the flesh”. We are not positive about what this “thorn” was. Most evidence indicates that it was probably a disease of his eyes. Paul prayed 3 times that God would heal him – remove the thorn. God’s answer was “No”, and God’s reason for not healing Paul was that God could achieve more and get more glory through a sick Paul than through a healthy Paul. Paul gladly submitted to God’s will in this. As a matter of fact, Paul rejoiced in God’s decision – did not complain. Paul submitted his will to God’s.

Matthew 6:9-10 – In “the Lord’s Prayer” Jesus taught us to always pray “thy will be done”. Constantly submit our will to God’s.

Matt. 26:39 - In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus prayed, “If it be possible, let this cup pass from me. But not as I will; as you will.” 

“This cup” = the terrible suffering Jesus was about to go through.

Jesus prayed this same prayer THREE TIMES. But the Father did not remove the suffering. The Father had to say “No” to His only Son, because there was no other way for God to save us from our sins and give us eternal life. The perfect, sinless Lamb of God HAD to shed His own blood to pay for our sins. Otherwise, there would be no salvation for anyone. The devil would have won! So Jesus submitted to the Father’s will, and as a result the most wonderful thing of all time happened: our sins were paid for, and we received eternal life.

Hebrews 5:7-9 –

“During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up loud prayers and petitions to the One who could save him from death. And HE WAS HEARD because of his reverent submission. And though he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered, and once made perfect, he became the source of eternal life for all who obey him.”

1 John 5:13-15 –

“I write these things who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. This is the confidence we have in Him – that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have what we asked of him.”

This is a promise that God will answer all prayers that are said according to His will.

ASK: For what reason would God NOT hear our prayers – even if our prayers were in line with His will?  Sin in the life of the one praying.

How Can We Discern God’s Will?

Romans 12:1-2 –  

“Therefore, I urge you brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God – this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform to the pattern 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.”

Only as we walk close to God, living holy and righteous lives – not conformed to the sinful living style of most men – but transformed to be like Jesus. THEN we are more able to discern God’s will in our prayers.

YET there are still times when we will not know God’s will – especially as we pray for sick people. As is evidenced by all of the graves in the cemeteries, it is obvious that it is not always God’s will to heal the sick!

This is the key text which assures us that all of our prayers can be in accordance to the Will of God. I suggest you memorize it.

Romans 8:26-27 –

“Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the Saints according to the will of God.”

We are “weak” in that we don’t know what God’s will is in many cases. But God has provided for a way for our prayers to be in line with His will even in these situations. The Holy Spirit knows what God’s will is. He knows the mind of the Father. “Father, I do not know what your will is for (such and such). I know that you do know, and I thank you that your Holy Spirit is interceding for us – He is praying to you for this matter according to your will. And we submit our will to yours in this matter in the Name of Jesus.”

Again, praying according to God’s will is submitting to God’s plans and knowing that His plans and His will – are perfect.