The Father's will

Written by Douglas Agyapong.

"In those days Hezekiah became ill and was at the point of death. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz went to him and said, "This is what the Lord says: Put your house in order, because you are going to die; you will not recover."...Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord...Before Isaiah had left the middle court, the word of the Lord came to him: Go back and tell Hezekiah... I have heard your prayer and seen your tears; I will heal you...”. (NLT) 2 Kings 20:1-6

Bible reading: 2 Kings 20:1-6

One popular statement that signs off many prayers is: "Your will be done. In Jesus’ name, AMEN". Though a noble saying, it plays a trick on our minds in the long term. At the end of such prayers, the question evolves: "If God would answer my prayer only on the condition that it is parallel to His will, what, then, is the need for prayers? God's will would be done, anyway!!!" That, however, is not the point. Recall that King Hezekiah was going to die earlier but for his prayer, he received an extension of life in accordance with God's will. That will of God would not have been executed if Hezekiah had not demanded it.

Matthew 26:39 says: “Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, "My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will." This will of God refers to a prayer request that God would give a nod to; His will does not necessarily mean something He would have still done despite our prayers. Therefore, by this quote, the Lord Jesus did not mean "Father, do what you already wanted to do". Rather, He meant "Father, do this if You please" Or better still, "Please do not do this if it displeases You".

Again, Matthew 8:2-3 says: “A man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.” Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. "I am willing," he said. "Be clean!" Immediately he was cured of his leprosy.” In this context, it was the will of Jesus to heal him, but without the patient's request, He was not going to do it.

In Ephesians 6, when Paul talked about the armour we need as Christians, he ended with “And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.”

Dear reader, if we stop praying there exists the possibility that almost nothing good would happen in our lives; consolidating our disbelief in God. But if we pray diligently and consistently, we will have almost everything we want (not need). And as we grow in the Spirit, and the nature of our hearts transform into that of our Father's, we approach a dimension of Christian living in which none of our prayers ever go out unanswered because everything we ask for will be in accordance with God's will.

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