How To Pray In The Will Of God – Radio Classic – Dr. Charles Stanley – How To Talk To God Vol 2 Pt 2

[Music] with a message from God's word here's Charles Stanley 1 John 5: 14 and 15 and John has just talked about our Assurance in the Lord and he says and this is the confidence that we have in him that if we ask anything according to his will he heareth us and if we know that he hears us whatsoever we ask we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him so that his indication all through the scripture is that he desires to meet our need he desires to meet the desires of our heart it is his will to do so and there are stipulations in answer to those prayers now at first it may seem to be very simple the Bible says if you shall ask anything in my name I'll do it so we say well I'm just going to say Lord here's what I want in Jesus name amen I expect to get it but that's not true because when he puts a condition on a promise that means there's something you and I must match up to and in this particular case he says this is the confidence that we have in him that if we ask anything according to his will and that is the stipulation if we ask anything according to his will he hears us and if we know that he hears us we know that we have the petition that we desired of him so often times we come to prayer and we say well one of the problems I have is I don't know that if what I'm asking is right or wrong is it of myself is it of God is it something selfish that I want is this the will of God how do I know that I have the right to ask this of God and how do I know that God's going to answer my prayer well I'm not even sure that what I'm asking for is legitimate as far as he's concerned so I think all of us have come to times in our life and recognized when we knelt to pray we were sort of shooting in the dark the that our first request to God about a given situation was something that we had no earthly idea at the moment whether it's God's will or not so we just ought had to shoot out in the dark and listen to hope that God heard us and made some kind of response I don't believe that's the way God wants his people praying now when you think about it here is an omnipotent that is an unlimited powerful God who is loving in his Spirit who is forgiving toward his children who desires to meet our need who loves to fill our life with the good things of life here he is Desiring to meet our needs and we have the privilege of talking to him personally and expecting him to be personally involved in our life he's made a promise and I want us to see three things in this message and first of all is the promise he makes here the problem you and I have to deal with and thirdly the proper approach to praying in the will of God so I want you to look at these two verses and follow along with me if you will first of all here's the promise he makes makes and the promise is threefold watch it in this verse this is the confidence that we have in him that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us so the first promise he gives us is he's going to listen to us if we pray according to his will second promise and if we know that he hears us whatsoever we ask we know that we have the petition so first of all he says he's hearing us secondly we are having or possessing what we've asked for and the third thing he says here is this we know that we have the that we desired of him so when we come to him asking according to his will he says there's a three-fold promise first of all he hears us secondly we have what we ask for and thirdly we know that we have it and it is present tense not we shall know not we're going to know not we hope we know he says but what we pray and what we know that he hears us secondly we have what we ask for and thirdly we know that we have it so here is a promise a three-fold promise in these two verses now there's something I want you to notice here look if you will in verse 14 this is the confidence because his promise affects our praying this is the confidence the word confidence is boldness or assurance and here's what the word means you trace it all the way back and it was used among the Greeks for a as a political term and what it means why is this the freedom to speak publicly and what he's saying is this is the this is the confidence that we have in him that is and the word in him means toward him it means as a child of God this is the open confident bold Freedom that you and I have that we can come into the presence of God and make a personal request listen when he says uses the term if we ask the mood of that term of that uh verb there means I am asking something for myself now you and I must get off the idea that we cannot ask anything for ourselves it must always be for someone else that is not what the Bible teaches these two verses are dealing with your capacity in mind to approach God openly and freely and confidently and boldly with Assurance what that he's going to hear we he's going to hear we're going to have what we ask for and we going to know that what we asked for we have so he's building up our confidence most motivating us to pray Desiring that you and I would come to him there's one stipulation and he makes that when he says that our asking must be according to the will of God we say oh but that's the catch that's the whole thing that bothers me that many other things don't bother me it's just simply knowing whether a thing is the will of God or not so let's deal with a problem here in the second point the problem of knowing about God's will now somebody asked the question can you always know the will of God in prayer and the answer is no and yes and I think it has to be in that order but many times when you and I come to ask him we're in the we're in the dark we don't know what to ask for so sometimes we come to him the answer is no but I believe that ultimately if you listen carefully to what I'm going to say ultimately the answer is yes every time we can know ultimately what the will of the Lord is as to how we ought to pray about given situation now let's analyze the problem for just a moment here you are coming to the Lord and they may meet one of many things that you're asking for you may be asking about your vocation for example you may be asking about finances or your schooling or what your mjor is going to be or if you ought to marry this girl or this fell not or whether you going to take this trip or buy this house or buy this car or do this or that or whatever it might be or or build some relationship with a particular person whatever it is there are problems that you and I have to deal with and one of the first ones is this we ask as the question how can I come to the Lord in faith making a request when I don't even know if what I'm asking is God's will or not so that sort of uh weakens my faith if I don't know that what I'm asking for is pleasing to him a second thing we ask is this we say well you know if you don't know the Lord's will and um you're not sure that what you're asking of is of him it's sort of discouraging because you think well you know why should I pray when I don't even know that what I'm praying for is right or wrong a third thing that gets baled up and wound up and all of that is this we come to him we say Lord here's my request and here's what I'd like you to do but I'm not even sure that I'm worthy of that I'm not even sure that I deserve this so we get our self-esteem all mixed up and whether it's God's will or whether I deserve it or not and so all this just like spaghetti so we say well forget the whole idea what I'm going to do is I'm just going to make my request and God if it's your will fine if it's not forget it and I'm just going to leave it to you the only problem with that is that's not scriptural now let me go to a passage here briefly and go back to Matthew chap 26 for a moment because here's where many people get the idea if you don't know the Lord's will what you do you make your request you end your prayer by saying if it be thy will and leave it at that and then it's just up to God now let me ask you a question if you go to the Lord and you ask him for something in your life a desire or whatever it might be and uh you end your prayer by saying if it be thy will and not knowing if it's God's will if you ask what do you have when you leave I'll tell you what you have you don't have anything you don't have your answer and you don't have any Assurance about it you just sort of leaving it in God's hands but I want to show you something because one of the passages that people use in order to end their prayer with if it be thy will is Matthew chapter 26 when Jesus was in The Garden of Gethsemane they say well Jesus was in The Garden of Gethsemane he didn't know whether the father wanted him to go to the Cross or not so he said you know if this cup may pass uh if it be thy will if it's not all right and so he just had left it to the father's will that is not what happened in Gethsemane so I want you to notice something beginning in verse 39 if you will here's the Lord Jesus in Gethsemane the scripture says that he left his disciples went a little further and fell on his face and prayed saying oh my father if it be possible let this cup pass from me nevertheless not is I will but it's thy will move on down to verse 42 he went away again the second time and prayed saying oh my father if this cup may not pass away from me except I drink it thy will be done he came and found them asleep and again for their eyes were heavy he left them went away again prayed the same thing then cometh he to his disciples and said to them sleep on now take your rest behold the hour is at hand the son of man is betrayed in the hands of sinners now here's the thing we must understand what did Jesus mean when he said praying the father that this Cup May pass from me the cup was not the cross there was no question in jesus' mind as to whether he was going to the Cross or not you remember when John the Baptist identified him with the Jordan what did he say behold the what the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world in cesaria Philippi the 16th chapter of Matthew he began to tell them that he must die and suffer death at the hands of those who were his persecutors rise again the third day Jesus knew about the cross and I believe that Jesus unquestionably knew that was the way he was going to die so you say Well when he said uh father if it be possible let this cup pass for me what was he speaking of he was not speaking of escaping the cross remember this that from eternity past which knew no beginning unto eternity future which knows no beginning go back in the life of Jesus Christ when was there a time in the Life of Christ when he was not there never has been God the Father God the son son God the Holy Spirit have always been our finite Minds cannot comprehend the fact that there was never a time that Jesus was not alive when he came to Earth he was God he was God before he came to Earth he was God the whole time he came to Earth he was God when he died he was God when he when he left this Earth he took upon himself human flesh and became a man when he was born in Bethlehem but he was always God so then when he comes to the Garden of Gethsemane he's praying and sweating as it were drops of blood here is the human part of Jesus very human just like man today wrestling in the Garden of Gethsemane he was not trying to escape the cross you know what Jesus was praying about he was praying about something that had never happened to him something that had never he had never experienced you say well he never experienced the cross but that's not what he was that was not what he was wrestling with what Jesus was wrestling with was this he knew that as the sin bearer of mankind the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world he was going to Bear the next day all the sin of all mankind what he was struggling with was he knew that for the first time in his eternal existence for a period of time which I believe at the moment he did not know how long he was going to be totally separated from God the father and that had never happened in all of the immeasurable existence distance of time and Beyond the comprehension of time and he was wrestling with that and if you'll notice it wasn't a question of whether he was going to obey God or not that wasn't even the issue the issue was he was asking is there any other way except through separation and you see it didn't take him long because it was a matter of his Humanity reaching out his his Divine Humanity reaching out looking at the cross thinking about separation from God the Father which he had never experienced and in those moments he was asking father is there any other way the humanity of Jesus Christ rising up in that God man saying is there any other way for me to accomplish this that I can do it in such a way that I will not have to be separated from you you and I can never conceive of the intimacy and the Oneness that Jesus Christ had with the father and so it's it's beyond our comprehension to be able to understand and feel what he felt in those moments when he knew that he was going to be for all practical purposes banished from the presence of God the father he must suffer separation and death For All Mankind so when he's praying here he's not praying over a little prayer well you know if it's your well okay if it's not all right that wasn't the issue in those struggling moments he was committed to obedience he knew he had to die it was a question of separation or not so you can't take that passage of scripture and say well I'm just going to ask the Lord's will and if it's his will okay a second problem we have here is this people say well if you don't know the Lord's will you just throw out a fleece and I wonder how many people would ever have thought about throwing out a fleece if it were not in the Book of Judges about Gideon if he'd not thrown out that fleece I wonder how many people would be doing that well let me say something to you about it throwing out a fleece is a sign of immaturity there may be very very rare occasions in your life when you say Lord I don't know what to do so here's what I'm going to do if this happens I'll do this if that happens I'll do the other but that should not be the normal natural run-of-the-mill way to find out the Lord's will in a given situation so with that in mind what is the proper approach to being able to come to God when you don't know his will and find out how to pray and believe God for a given situation so let's look at it for a moment two or three things I want you to notice first of all the areas in which you and I may pray about can be anything the second thing is the assurance that that he's given us and I want you to flip to these passages uh very quickly if you will in Colossians 1:9 Paul prayed a prayer for the Christian Believers there in colassi and he prayed his prayer and he said in verse 9 that you may be filled now watch this that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding so Paul prayed for those colossian Christians that they would know the mind of God listen to know the will of God is to know the mind of God about a given situation in James chapter 1 if you'll recall when he is uh beginning this book and the fifth verse he says if any man lack wisdom what is wisdom wisdom is seeing things from God's perspective when you don't know what God thinks about a given thing that you're praying for he says if any man lack wisdom let him ask of God who gives wisdom his perspective to all men liberally and it should be given to him so he says we have the right to ask God for knowledge of his will and spiritual understanding he promises to give us wisdom God's perspective about things then Romans chapter 8 for a moment in verse 26 look there if you will and here in this 8th chapter verse 26 when he begins the passage by saying likewise the spirit also helpeth our infirmities he's not talking about sicknesses he's talking about a weakness here he's talking about our inability to understand or to know how to pray in a given situation so he says likewise the spirit also helpeth assist us when we don't know what to pray for for we know not what we should pray for as we ought but the Holy Spirit himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uted and there have been times when you and I have faced situations and we've said Lord I don't even know how to pray I I don't even know what to say and so he says the spirit of God who indwells us who is our helper intercedes before our loving God and what does he do the holy spirit intercedes before the Lord Jesus Christ and God the Father to interpret to him listen to interpret to him the pleadings of our heart when we don't even know what they are with groanings and utterings which you and I cannot utter there have been times when I fac situations and I just had to say Lord I don't have any earthly idea how to pray I'm just going to have to trust the Holy Spirit to intercede in my behalf and to bring to you the petitions of my heart that I right now don't even have any earthly idea how I even feel about this that's why the God gave the Holy Spirit to us to help us in areas we cannot help ourselves he came to empower us to teach us to guide us to lead us and to stand before the father through the Lord Jesus Christ and to plead our cause when we don't even know how to plead it ourselves so we have the Assurance of that so what is the proper approach when you and I come to him now let me give you uh several things and you want to jot these down then I may come back and and um interpret them according to different perspectives because what I want to give you are the steps now it depends upon what you're asking for let me give you a few varieties let's say for example that you have a financial need this morning and you know that it's a need so there's no question in your mind that you need a sum of money no doubt in your mind about that you know that God knows you have a need okay that's one situation let's say for example that um uh a job opportunity comes up and I don't like to use the word job because Christians don't have jobs Christians have vocations whereby they can make enough money to serve the Lord there's a whole lot of difference in that just having myself a job make enough money to get by of here Christians have vocation you say my my job is paint not your job's not painting your vocation may be painting Plumbing or preaching they're all equal as far as God is concerned if you're in obedience to God so so suppose for example that you have a vocation you have a particular area of work and another opportunity arises you don't have a desire about it and you don't have a need for it it's just an opportunity so that's another situation what do I do what shall I do when an opportunity Rises when I don't particular need it and I don't particular want it but there it is and I have to deal with it or it may be here's a college student and you've got one of three Mages and you're trying to find out Lord what do you want me to do I've got to make a decision I'm a junior and so so there are many different aspects that you and I may have to look at it all right what is the first step step number one is this distinguish between these three is what I'm going let me back up for a second now watch this for a moment let's start with the basis that your life is right with God and we don't want to have to get off on whether you living in sin or not so we we are working on the basis that your life is clean you really want to know what God wants and here you are coming to him and you don't know what the answer is or you don't know how to get a solution to what you're praying for so with a clean life in mind here you come number one you want to distinguish between one of three things is this request I'm bringing to God is it a need is it a desire or is it an opportunity and I think it's very important that we understand that is it a need is it a desire or is it an opportunity somebody say well now wait a minute now the bible promises to meet my need but not my desires then you need to read the 37th Psalm Delight thyself in the Lord and He Shall give thee what the desires of thine heart God loves us and wants to bless his children so I need to distinguish Lord here is a need here is a desire here is an opportunity the Second Step once you've decided that is to get in the word of God and say all right Lord I want you to give me some past of scripture that deals or relates to that in some way something that I can meditate on something that you can speak to my heart through now this is why it's so important for us to walk in the spirit and to live in this book you see every single Sunday I talk to you about being in the book living in the word of God reading the scriptures if if you like um many people maybe you memorize a verse a month a verse a week a verse a day or you've got a particular uh book that you like to dwell in whatever it might be just get in the book because the more familiar you are with the word of God the more easily you're going to find a passage that may deal and and Surround and give you the spiritual environment in which you can talk to God about the given need that you have you say well I always turn to Philippians 4:19 my God shall supply all of your needs suppose it's not a need then you got to find yourself another verse if it's a desire you can't go to Philippians 4:19 you say well can't you just sort of mix up dis uh uh desires and uh needs no you need to find the passage that deals with that so you say well suppose it's an opportunity all right then you need to find the passage of scripture where God promises you Direction he says trust in the Lord with all thine heart lean not to thine own understanding and all thy ways acknowledge Him He will direct your path but listen you must not take a passage that I give you you must find a passage that when you reading God says and somehow that passage grabs your heart and you have to Feast on that there's something about hanging in there with the same passage and letting God begin to work that into your life and Osmos that into your thinking and you begin to meditate and chew it up till it becomes an anchor and I mean something that you deal with every day that is you're thinking about it and pray over when you're praying about your prayer request you're saying Lord in the light of this what are you trying to say to me something that holds you to your attention to what you're talking about now notice we haven't even begun to pray yet we've asked the Lord to show us what kind of desire it is and then to come to him and ask for a particular scripture now once you have uh that particular scripture the next question you have to ask is this uh do I have a promise that God would show me his will we've already given that in James Jes 1: 15 If any man lack wisdom so we said now Lord I don't I really don't know you will in this situation but you said if I lack your perspective wisdom that if I ask you you will give it so I want to thank you right now in advance that you will show me your will that I'll know how to pray even before I ask you about this thing you say well now how do I know that's God's will real simple read james5 there's some things you and I do not have to ask if it's the Lord's will is it the Lord's will for me to ask for wisdom when I don't have it absolutely unquestionably because he's promised it so I want to claim james: 15 the next step is to claim Romans 8:26 and 827 Lord I don't know how to go about this but you said the holy spirit is going to assist me to show me what to say and how to come to you so I want to thank you that I have the promise that you're going to show me you will I have the promise of the holy spirit's assistance in doing so now Lord on the basis of that I'm coming to you and let's say for example that you have a financial need Lord I'm coming to you with this specific need you know my need and I'm asking you to meet my need on the basis of this particular promise of that promise of This Promise in the word of God now listen listen very carefully once God gives you a passage of scripture and you feel the freedom you say how will I know I have the freedom number one now watch this if you have a particular passage that definitely says that God promises to do so and so there's no question about it secondly if you've committed yourself to him he's given you a passage you know whether it's a need or desire or an opportunity you've claimed this promise and you and you are committed to being obedient and you see commitment is a part of it you committed Lord you know I'll take it either way you want I just want to know how to pray then you said Lord I need you to show me how to ask you about this thing all right one of two things are going to happen you're going to start praying for God to supply this particular need if what you're praying for is the Lord's will and let's say for example that you have a need and if you have a need it is the Lord's will to provide your need there's no question about that what you have to distinguish is is this a need or is this a desire all right here's what'll happen now watch me carefully as you begin to meditate on the passage of scripture and I cannot tell you how important that is because meditating on that passage is a cleansing sifting proc says sifts my mind cleanses my heart focuses me upon him and if there are things that I think are important in reading that passage and talking to him about that passage and about my life and getting me ready to talk to him about it he's going to sift those things out so what we're doing we're asking him to show us how to pray Lord here is a definite need that I have I'm submitting myself to you that I'm asking Lord here's my need and I'm willing for you to answer that need me through me or any way you want want to and the only way I know how to pray at this time is Lord would you meet my need and I'm trusting you to do that then if it is something definite that you know a need that God's promised to answer listen you ask him once claim his promise and then you begin to thank him don't keep asking him to do what you've already asked him to do once you begin to thinking about you say oh I can't do that yes you can listen if he says if any man lack wisdom let him ask of God who gives to all men Liber let me tell you what hangs us up what hangs us up on asking for a need is not if it's God's will or not what hangs us up is the details we want to get all mixed up in the details so listen once you know there's a need once you have a Biblical promise what you do is you ask him to meet that need you begin to thank him and praise him and then this is what you ask then you begin to petition him now Lord you show me how to respond Lord you you give me a Discerning spirit so I'll know what's going on you show me what I'm to do next you show me if I'm to sit and wait or if I'm to act so that then you're making very specific requests on how you to respond in a given situation when you know that God is going to answer your prayer so the thing you have to do is wait and pray for direction for detail God's going to answer it you don't have to keep coming saying oh God please do it please do it please do it please do it if it's your will if it's your will if it's your will forget it if when you T If It Be Your Will Lord on the end of it you just negate your faith all right let's take another kind of situation let's say for example that uh you're in the process of making a decision you've got three choices you say Lord I'm at a total blank as to what to do here's what you do you decide first of all are these needs are these desires are or is this a situation of an opportunity let's say for example it's an opportunity but you have to make a decision about one of those three all right so you've got three situations that come up you get in the word of God in a passage that you can hang on to Lord here's what you promis and I've got a couple of favorites one of my favorites is Proverbs 35 and 6 you can't ever go wrong with that because he says absolutely he will give you direction for your life so you bring in that passage you claim James you claim uh Romans 5 and you say all right now Lord I don't know I don't even know how to ask you for this so I'm trusting in the Holy Spirit to show me how to pray then here's what I would do listen when I get on my knees instead of asking God Lord please do thus and so I just have to ask now Lord show me how to pray through the Holy Spirit would you show me how to pray about this did you know that sometime you don't even pray about the things you think you would pray about but that God will begin to show you a whole different facet of the picture that you've never even thought about and it may be something that God wants to get you ready for over here let's say that you're ready and you're coming to him and you're saying Lord here are three opportunities I've got to make a decision I've got seven days to make a in Lord I'm at a total loss what shall I do all right your life is clean you've got a passage of scripture you're waiting upon him to show you here's how you must pray Lord I'm going to obey you I'm trusting you to show me how to pray about this whole situation and so since I don't know what your will is in the situation I do know this is your will Lord I will obey you when you show me the decision that I'm to make and so as I bring it to you day by day I'm going to be waiting for you for direction waiting for you for guidance you know what you've done when your heart's clean and you've committed yourself to obey him and you don't have any earthly idea what God wants you to do listen you can mark this down almighty God and everything thing in holy Heaven is responsible for showing you unquestionably without a doubt which one of those choices is the will of God and he will do it in one of several ways number one he will show you he will show you through the scriptures or through circumstance that something's wrong with that decision so you check that one out or as you pray and seek his face asking for his Direction what will he do you lose interest over here in this one and so the only one that's left is God's will or what he may do he may show you quickly this is what God wants me to do so that what we must do is we must approach the prayer with absolute confidence God's going to show me but now listen the waiting is the important thing I must wait for him to show me what his will is in the given situation when he chooses to do it I must wait for him to show me how to pray when he shows me once he shows me how to pray in a given situation then I just pray about the details of how he's going to work it out to give me wisdom to know what to do at this step and that step and the other but I want to tell you that you don't have to ring your hands and wonder well how in the world am I to pray and to know the mind of God in a given situation when I don't even know it's his will I cannot tell you enough he will show you show you show you clearly unquestionably and then there's one thing I think you'll know for sure remember what he says don't be anxious about anything the second verse of that says and the peace that passeth all understanding and she'll guard your heart you know what God does as you have sought his mind is to even how to pray about a given situation the Peace of the holy spirit will come into your life confirming this is how I'm to pray this is what I'm to pray for and you see there are times when we pray for other people we don't know how to pray for them as we say Lord I don't know how to pray please show me how to pray we wait upon him in the verse claiming his promises and here's what will happen very quietly sometimes quickly sometimes slowly you will arrive just like God evolves it spiritually in you and you will know very clearly exactly how you to pray the waiting and the trusting God will clarify the questions you have when you come to him with your petitions let's pray together father you didn't make it complicated we've made it complicated you didn't mean for us to be confused you meant us to be very clear about our coming to you for we have no greater privilege than the privilege of bowing our heads and our hearts and our Spirits before omnipotent holy loving gracious generous kind God you father and knowing in our heart that you want to answer our prayer you surely want to instruct us as to how we are to ask would you grant each one of us the desire in our heart to really want to know your will in every given situation where sometimes you do show us very quickly sometimes you wait we don't know how to pray our hearts may be in turmoil in frustration we may become anxious about a given situation but you've promised us if we'll wait upon you that you will clear up all the anxiety and you'll show us exactly how to pray especially Lord when we don't know how to pray for people who are friends are loved ones who are in deep trouble and are hurting desperately we must ask you how to pray and you've promised to show us the kind of prayer we need to pray for someone else would you give great Assurance to your children here and those who are watching my television that when we come to you we should come expecting anticipating very clearly exactly how we to pray once we've made that request we have the privilege of thanking you and resting not in our continuous petitioning but resting in your continuous faithfulness I pray today for many who are struggling who are really anxious who are troubled who have needs others have desires others are facing opportunities heavenly father would you grant them the courage to take these simple suggestions from Thy word and apply them to their prayer life making whatever changes that best fit their particular situation but not to approach their prayer with negative feelings oh God I know that you want but rather father to approach you by simply saying Lord I know you want to show me your will and so I come waiting for you to know to show me how so I'll know how to I pray in this given situation thank you heavenly father that most of the time you make it so clear that we don't really have to wonder and fret and fume and doubt about it it's very clear how we ought to pray and father we must confess that our biggest problem isn't knowing what to ask our biggest problem is we don't even choose to ask would you forgive us but failing to ask when you are so lovingly willing to answer every time

Channel: In Touch Ministries

Views: 161,006

Keywords: How To Pray In The Will Of God, Charles F. Stanley, InTouch, In Touch, Ministries, God, Prayer, Sermon, Bible, Preaching, Dr Stanley, Pastor, Church, Sunday, Christian, Faith, Jesus, Holy Spirit, Charles Stanley, Radio

Id: lJOX6p5YJy0

Length: 35min 37sec (2137 seconds)

Published: Wed Mar 27 2024