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.
—1 John 5:14-15
Do you have this confidence in Christ? Do you believe if you ask anything according to God’s will, that He hears you, and whatever you ask, you will receive what you have asked of Him? When you know what God says about something in His Word, you can pray what He says with confidence that He will do it.
Consider what the Word says about healing.
“Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers” (3 John 1:2, NKJV).
“My son, give attention to my words. Incline your ear to my sayings. Do not let them depart from your eyes. Keep them in the midst of your heart; for they are life to those who find them, and health to all their flesh” (Proverbs 4:20-22, NKJV).
“Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits: who forgives all your iniquities, who heals all your diseases” (Psalm 103:2-3, NKJV).
“He sent His word and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions” (Psalm 107:20, NKJV).
“Who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed” (1 Peter 2:24, NKJV).
These are just a few of the verses in the Word that make it clear what God’s will is about healing. It is evident that God wants us to prosper in health. If this is the case, why do some people—when they pray for those who are sick—ask “if it be your will?” God desires for us to pray His Word. When the Word says that “by His stripes, we were healed” and we ask God to heal if it is His will, doubt hinders us. Believing and confidently praying the Word is powerful. When you pray with confidence believing God’s will, the Word promises that you will have what you ask of Him.
“But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways” (James 1:6-8, NKJV). James tells us that we are to ask in faith without doubting. When you know what God says about something in His Word, and you pray “if it be your will,” you are expressing doubt in God’s will. He who doubts cannot expect to receive anything from the Lord, James says. A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways.
There are times we pray when there is not a clear indication in the Word about God’s will—such as some decisions for our lives. These are the times to pray asking for God’s will. But when the will of God is clear in His Word, praying “if it be your will,” shows doubt that we believe what God’s will is. We can’t be in a place of doubt about God’s will and receive. We have to believe what the Word says. The person who doubts has trouble believing in healing and other truths as well. They judge the issues they pray for based on their reasoning or emotions or experiences rather than allowing the Word of God to be their Truth.
In Mark 9:14-29, the father of a demon-oppressed boy asks Jesus that if he can do anything to help his son to please help him!
“If you can believe,” Jesus tells the father, “all things are possible to him who believes.”
“Lord, I believe, but help my unbelief” the father cries out to Jesus! He has heard the words of Jesus that all things are possible to the one who believes. His faith is stirred, and he desires above all else to believe! And the boy is delivered.
The Lord knows your desire to believe His Truth beyond what you see and feel. “Lord, I believe, but help my unbelief” is an honest prayer. “Lord, I know what your Word says about my issue, but many around me say that nothing can change—that what I believe your Word says is impossible. Lord, I believe, but help me to believe and not doubt. When I know what your Word says, I will pray with faith believing and knowing that all things are possible in you.”
Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God (Romans 10:17). When you hear the Word, again and again, your faith is stirred to believe its Truth. When you choose to believe what the Word says is true, unbelief weakens. Each day you grow stronger to believe and not doubt. You can ask God with confidence for what He says is His will, and, believing, you shall receive.
When Jesus prayed in the garden, “not my will, but yours be done,” Jesus knew what God’s will was for Him—that his flesh must take on our sins. It was the man within Him submitting to the will of the Father within Him. The words He prayed came from his flesh realizing the horrible pain of sin and death that was coming. But His surrender to God’s will revealed His belief that what He was prepared to do would bring the Resurrection promise. He did not doubt God’s will. He knew the result of God’s Truth. He did not doubt the benefit of His obedience. Do we honestly pray with such belief and conviction when we pray “if it be your will?”
The Word is all-powerful, but if someone does not believe its Truth, the Word has no power in that person’s life. It will not benefit someone who does not believe it. But when you apply faith to what the Word of God says is true, it profits you. You experience the result of its Truth in your life.
“Lord, I believe, but help my unbelief!”
© 2021 Lynn Lacher
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