Sermon Central
-
Understanding The Will Of God
Contributed by Nelson Emeonu on Aug 20, 2014 (message contributor)
Summary: Praying according to the will of God gives you the confidence that He hears you. God’s will is revealed strongly in His infallible word.
“Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is” (Ephesians 5:17)
“Therefore do not be vague and thoughtless and foolish, but understanding and firmly grasping what the will of the Lord is”. (AMP)
“Don't live carelessly, unthinkingly. Make sure you understand what the Master wants”.(MBCL)
“... 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 hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him” (1 John 5:14-15)
“And we are confident that he hears us whenever we ask for anything that pleases him. And since we know he hears us when we make our requests, we also know that he will give us what we ask for” (NLT)
If anyone wants to know the will of God, he must ask Him. Your words should always be “What wilt thou have me to do” (Acts 9:6), “Teach me to do thy will” (Psalm 143:10) and “May He give us the desire of His will in everything”(1 kings 8:58- TLB) When you are serious about pleasing the Lord and move according to His will, you should first of all evaluate those things He wants you to do.
‘The will of God are those things which the Lord desires’.
Having the life of prayer is one of the basic ways to know God’s will for your life. A times, they are made known through meditation and prayer. The consistent prayer life is mandatory for anyone who wants to understand the will of God. The word of God warns that you should make sure to understand what the master wants. It is very important as you ask those things which are necessary for your godliness. The power of prayer demands consistency. The Word of God recorded that David, the man after God’s own heart and Daniel, the governor in the land of captivity prayed three times daily. Jesus, our Saviour always do pray at the mountain for many hours during His earthly ministry(Mark 1:35).
What a challenge!
Many servants of God who have joined the church triumphant such as Martin Luther, George Muller, Jonathan Edward, the man who wrote “Sinners in the hands of an angry God” spent almost all their days and hours on their knees, talking to God over their needs and their ministry. They achieved greatly.
Paul, the apostle admonished the believers to pray without ceasing in 1 Thessalonians 5:17.
The Living Bible put it this way “always keep on praying”.
The knowledge of God’s will is very essential in the life of a child of God. A person can be outside His will, or walking in His permissive will or God’s perfect will. You should understand the will of God for your life. It pleases Him so much. God’s will can be understood through these ways;
a.STUDYING THE WORD OF GOD
“And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left”.(Isaiah 30:21)
“And if you leave God's paths and go astray, you will hear a voice behind you say, "No, this is the way; walk here." (TLB)
“And at your back, when you are turning to the right hand or to the left, a voice will be sounding in your ears, saying, This is the way in which you are to go”.(BBE)
b.MEDITATION
“And Isaac went out to meditate in the field at the eventide: and he lifted up his eyes, and saw, and, behold, the camels were coming”
“Keep silence before me, O islands; and let the people renew their strength: let them come near; then let them speak: let us come near together to judgment”.(Isaiah 41:1)
c.LISTENING TO THE HOLY SPIRIT
“And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom
the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in
you”. (John 14:16-17)
d.PRAYER
“And 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)
“And we have an assured confidence that whenever we ask anything in accordance with His will, He listens to us.And since we know that He listens to us, then whatever we ask, we know that we have the things which we have asked from Him”. (WEYMOUTH)
