02/26/2024
This morning I was studying one of the foundational elements of answered prayer, the will of God. As I read scripture and a devotional regarding this subject, my belief that it was truth was confirmed once more. The will of God is indeed a foundation of prayer. Unless we are praying in conformance with His will, and not asking Him to do something that is contrary to His character, desire, and in our faith and the name of Jesus, then our prayer will be answered.
E. M. Bounds wrote these devotional words on this subject:
"Prayer is conscious conformity to God's will, based upon the direct promise of God’s Word, and under the application of the Holy Spirit." – E.M. Bounds
And then he went on to say something that at first reading didn't catch my attention, but in a subsequent reading it revealed itself to me as being a truly important thought to consider. Here is what he said…
"We pray just as we believe God's Word." - E.M. Bounds
When I first read about these foundational principles of prayer I thought to myself that they were obvious. Certainly we had to believe for prayer to be effective. But, as I read Bounds’ words again I was struck by the tiny word "as" that he used. We don't just pray because we believe in God and Jesus, in fact our prayers are formed by how we interpret scripture, how we understand God's will, or in short, "AS” we believe. So how do we deal with this huge revelation that we are presented in these two simple letters? How do we insure that our interpretation and understanding of God’s will, and Word as a whole, is indeed correct? I tremble at the consequences of being wrong, and I fear the results of my failure to understand God’s will correctly. Yet, it appears to me that Jesus already knew we would face this quandary...
“Then Jesus told the centurion, “Go. As you have believed, let it be done for you.” And his servant was healed that very moment.”
Matthew 8:13 CSB
And…
“Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.”
Philippians 2:12-13 KJV
I have known since I was a child that we should diligently study the Word of God and seek Him in prayer, but what if we innocently misunderstand, or misinterpret His will? What if none of the Church’s denominations has the entire truth correct? What if the Catholics are right in some regard and the Baptists are wrong? What if the Methodists are right about an interpretation and the Presbyterians are wrong? Do you see what I am saying? However, there is a particular verse that might help give us peace in this very personal and individual struggle, and as we seek out our own salvation and proper understanding...
"Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.”
James 4:17 KJV
I trust in this scripture. The first many times I read it I was convicted by it. I saw it as telling us how to define sin, and the wages of sin, in our lives. How when we do something that our heart tells us is wrong that it becomes sin to us. But then as I was reading it one day I began to see it as something more… If something becomes sin to us at the moment of our realization that it is wrong, then does this also imply that the opposite might be true? Could we understand it to mean this too: "Therefore to him that does bad but doesn't know it, to him it is not sin?" Does this help us understand how Adam and Eve walked with God before understanding the difference between good and evil? Is this how they received God’s mercy and grace before the fall? This is such a difficult piece of scripture because we know that other verses tell us that even when we don’t know that we sin that it comes into play when we come before God. So I came to the conclusion that even though we might not be free from sin, God, in all his love, mercy, and grace, might see our innocence, and show us mercy because of it.
So, just as this seemingly forthright scripture has presented us with quite a spiritual quandary, the very basic nature of our faith in Jesus Christ that we have always thought was easily discerned, might be more complex than we first thought. What about the finer points of scriptural interpretation that Christians (denominations) have argued over for years and centuries? Are there stumbling blocks in certain ones of them that can innocently place us outside the will of God, and strip away the effectiveness of our prayers? Or, will our honest misunderstanding grant us some semblance of mercy and grace in the eyes of God?
Perhaps the answer to this is still beyond our ability to understand as we continue to seek Him, trust in His Word, search out His plan for us, and to ask the Holy Spirit for a deeper understanding of His will, as our faith is built measure by measure… one revelation at a time. So until that day when we know for certain let’s always ask that we be forgiven for our sins which are known, unknown, and committed by abstention, and let’s pray the God’s will, not ours, be done.
Prayer:
Father, thank you for your Word, your will, and leading us to an understanding of it one measure at a time. Help us as we walk out our faith stepping in the footprints of Jesus, and growing in like manner as we go. Forgive us Holy Father of the sins we have committed knowingly, unknowingly, and by abstention. We pray for an understanding of your will Father, but even when we aren’t certain of it we always pray that your will be done, not ours. Holy, Holy, Holy are you our God who was, and is, and is to come, and who is forever good, loving, merciful, and full of grace. You sent your Son Jesus to redeem us when we were yet sinners, and you loved Adam before he had the ability to understand what was good from what was evil. Have mercy on us now, and pour out the redeeming blood of Jesus upon us. As we pray in this way see our desire to love, and be obedient to you, and know our desire to be with you now, and forevermore. Helps us to be holy because you are holy, to love because you love, to be within your will because it is your will, to be perfect because you are perfect, and to be eternal because you are eternal. In all of these things that we receive as gifts from you we give you the glory, because they are of you, and we praise you in every one because you are indeed worthy of our praise. Build now upon the foundation of our prayer lives, and lead us into perfect conversation, and relationship with you.
Amen
Rich Forbes