Praying in the Will of God

The prayer of petition is a prayer that we use to make requests of God. It has a legitimate, albeit small, place in prayer, for God knows what we need before we even ask Him. Many people think that praying means going to God with your shopping list. But that is not what He needs or requires.

We all have needs, from time to time, but if we can learn to pray, that is the greatest answer. As my friend Bob Mumford used to say, “What should I do? Give people just one nugget out of the mine or show them the way to the mine itself?” I might pray for you, and you might be healed—that is a gold nugget. But I could also show you the way to the mine. Then, you could get as many gold nuggets as you wanted.

“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)

So, if we have a petition, and we are praying in the will of God, we should end that petition knowing that we have what we asked for. If we pray according to the will of God, then we know He hears us. If we know He hears us, we know we have that for which we have asked.