CONFIDENCE IN PRAYING

1 John 5:14-15 (NKJV) Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, 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 the petitions that we have asked of Him.

There were two little boys and one was praying, shouting at the top of his voice, saying he’d like a bicycle. His brother asked him why he was shouting when God wasn’t deaf. He replied “No God isn’t deaf, but grandmother is!”😊 He obviously thought grandmother was a safer bet than God for receiving a bicycle! 

I wonder if we can be a bit like that? Do we pray but not sure God is listening, or we don’t know if He will give us what we’re praying for because we don’t know if it is His will or not? You see we have to have faith to believe for what we’re asking for, and if we’re not sure, then we won’t have faith for it, so how can we receive it?

It’s really important to find out what God’s will is and His will is written in His word. He says in 3 John 2(KJV) ‘I wish above all things that you may prosper and be in health, even as your soul prospers.’ That is God’s will for us, to be in health, to be healed, to prosper in all areas of our lives. What we can’t do is pray for something we know God has said in His word is wrong, not like the lady who prayed she could have someone else’s husband, because we know that’s adultery!

What about things not written in scripture? Should I move house or take this new job opportunity? That’s when we have to listen to the Holy Spirit and see if we have peace about it. If He is giving us peace then we can pursue it. And if you’ve pushed a door and it didn’t open, remember closed doors can prove to be as big a blessing as open ones! 

We were trying to move house and yet deep down I had no peace about it. We pursued it because we wanted it, but I still had no peace! Eventually it all fell through and I’m so grateful to God that it did, but I should have listened to the ‘no peace’ voice!😊

I’m sure we’re all still learning, but some of what I have learned is this: to let God’s inner peace guide us. If we’ve not got peace about it, don’t do it. Seek the Lord and find out what the Word of God says and obey it. Pray according to what it says not what we want. Jesus said when we pray believe we have received it and we will have it.(Mark 11:23-25) And don’t forget, sometimes God asks us to do something that makes no sense to our logic, but if we have an inner peace about it, it’s right to do it. 

I hope some of that helps somebody today as we seek to grow in confidence in our praying. Amen.😊

Photo by Rayyu Maldives on Unsplash