His Will

 

DEVOTION

THE 1^ST LETTER OF JOHN

HIS WILL

 1 John 5:13-15

13 I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. 14 This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 15 And if we know that he hears us — whatever we ask — we know that we have what we asked of him.

NIV

So, the key is knowing what his will is. If we ask anything according to his will, we can have the confidence that he hears us and because he hears us we can know, without a doubt, that whatever we ask, we know that we have what we asked of him. But, again, it is back to the key of knowing his will, because the opposite of this would be that whatever we ask that is not in accordance with His will, we will not have it. James gives us that truth when he says we have not because we ask not or because we ask amiss or with the wrong motives. It is not as though we can ask God for anything that we want to waste on our own passions or lusts. Our asking has to be in conformance with what he desires for us. We might be able to say that there are some general wills of God that we can be sure of, such as accepting Jesus as His Son. Another would be that He is the God that heals us. Jesus sure showed that part of the Father’s will by healing all that came to him. We also may know that it is God’s will to provide for us. He demonstrated that providing manna and quail for the Israelites in the wilderness. He also showed this provision many other times, such as with the widow’s jars of oil and flour when she provided bread for Elijah from the last of her supply. From then on her jars were never empty. So what we want should be what God wants and then we know that what we want we will have. What do we do when we do not get want we want? Do we just keep asking day after day, week after week, and year after year? That could get a little depressing, or discouraging at the least. Maybe, just maybe we should reevaluate whether what we are asking for is in accordance with His will. Maybe we are asking with the wrong motives. Maybe we ask for healing so we would be free of pain, instead of wanting to bring glory to him. Maybe we are asking for someone to get saved so that we feel good about their salvation, especially if it is a family member, instead of asking because it will bring glory to Him. Just some thoughts about how we ask, or why we ask. Maybe we are asking the right way, but then we would have what we are asking, at least that is what is being told to us here. So it still comes down to knowing what the will of God is. Therefore our main objective is to always be in the will of God regarding our lives and listening to the voice of the Spirit, asking him to reveal the truth of the will of the Father so we ask for the correct things that will bring honor and glory to God.