Magnificent Prayer #188
Magnificent Prayer #188
This is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.
1 John 5:14–15 KJV
Many find an easy way of escape from this [verse]. They pray for whatever they think best, and then qualify it with—“if it be Thy will.” This is particularly the case when it comes to prayer for the sick, and it is generally looked upon as signifying commendable submission to the unknown will of God, or perhaps by others as the best that is possible under the circumstances.
Among the many examples of Bible prayers, this kind is conspicuous by its absence. How can a hit-or-miss prayer of this spirit be in faith? And if not in faith how can it be pleasing to God?
The New Testament does not encourage us to wander on in our ignorance, it emphasizes the need of being “filled with the knowledge of His will” (Col. 1:9); it commands us to “understand what the will of the Lord is” (Eph. 5:17); it exhorts us to “prove what is the will of God” (Rom. 12:2).
Now if we are always falling back on to the safety of these “if-it-be-Thy-will prayers” we are debasing this most well-known prayer promise of the apostle John, and making it a prayer “let-out,” a useful carpet under which we can sweep all our unanswered prayers. We imply that what he is really saying is this: “And this is the lack of confidence which we have in Him, that unless we are happy to ask according to His will, He will not hear us, and we shall not have our petition.” So the promise that was intended to confirm our faith serves only to cover our unbelief and to confirm us in our state of weakness, in seeking to prevail with God.
ARTHUR WALLIS
Pray About It: Too often we leave God the option of not answering our prayer by tacking the words “if it be Thy will” on the end of our prayers. Of course, we want our prayers to be His will—that goes without saying. But why not make our prayers be in accordance with His will in the first place and leave off the escape clause? Through His Word and through knowing Him, learn to discern His will in a matter and pray for it to be done.
God doesn’t need us to give Him an easy out if He doesn’t answer as we think He should.
What God asks is a will which will no longer be divided between Him and any creature, a will pliant in His hands, which neither desires anything nor refuses anything, which wants without reservation everything which He wants, and which never, under any pretext, wants anything which He does not want.
FRANÇOIS FÉNELON
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