* Trusting the Will of God

Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is. 

Jeremiah 17:7 

Brothers and sisters in Christ, we cannot continue to live in sin and think just because we ask in the name of Jesus we will be granted our requests. In accordance to the word of God, tremendous power is released through the passionate, heartfelt prayer of a godly believers.

. . .  The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.  James 5:16

It is the prayers of righteous men and women that avail with God:

If ye abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.  John 15:7

This means IF you are abiding in Christ you can ask and it shall be done. IF you are walking in obedience to God's Word, then you can ask with assurance in the name of Jesus.

Some will disagree with this Biblical teaching. They will say you can ask ANYTHING in the name of Jesus and it will be done.  But that would imply that God acquiesces to our will when the bible clearly indicates that we are to submit our will to His will. 

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.  Romans 12:2

When you are presumptuous in your prayer without submitting your requests to God’s will, He may answer your requests, but it may not be in your best interests. He did this with the children of Israel in the wilderness experience when they prayed out of the lust of their flesh:

And He gave them their request; but sent leanness into their soul.   Psalms 106:15

And there went forth a wind from the Lord, and brought quails from the sea, and let them fall by the camp, as it were a day's journey on this side, and as it were a day's journey on the other side, round about the camp, and as it were two cubits high upon the face of the earth.  And the people stood up all that day, and all that night, and all the next day, and they gathered the quails: he that gathered least gathered ten homers: and they spread them all abroad for themselves round about the camp.  And while the flesh was yet between their teeth, ere it was chewed, the wrath of the Lord was kindled against the people, and the Lord smote the people with a very great plague.  Numbers 11:31-33

But, if you trust in God, in His will, you will find yourself strengthened as did Apostle Paul when he put in his prayer request; not once, but three times and He did not get the response he was looking for.

And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure. For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 2 Corinthians 12:7-9

But that did not stop Apostle Paul. He did not lose faith, in fact, he was strengthened because of it.

If our faith is based on the premise that God can do and will do anything that we ask, we have created a recipe for disappointment and loss of faith. This is bible. God is sovereign and yes He can do anything, He is capable and able to do anything.  

And he said, The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.  

But that does not mean that it is an automatic that He will. 

The three Hebrew captives acknowledged that though God is capable of the impossible does not mean that he will always do the impossible according to our desires and requests as they were faced with the fiery furnace:

If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king.  But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.  Daniel 3:17-18

 The catch is that He does what He does according to His will, not our will. We have to trust His will with every aspect of our lives and every fiber of our being including what we pray for or about.

Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is. Jeremiah 7:7

To believe otherwise is a setup for failure. Not only will it disturb and cancel out the peace of God that is promised to us, it leads to disappointment and a loss of faith.

Further reflection on the three Hebrew captives, the bible records that they trusted God despite the obstacle.  Their demonstration of their obedience to God and their reliance in Him when they refused to bow to false Gods at the King's request and subsequently were thrown into a fiery furnace.  Their response to this ultimatum demonstrated their trust in God.

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter.     Daniel 3:16

Their trust in God, which was first spoken and then demonstrated by their actions allowed the glory of God to be manifested.

Then Nebuchadnezzar spake, and said, Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who hath sent his angel, and delivered his servants that trusted in him, and have changed the king's word, and yielded their bodies, that they might not serve nor worship any god, except their own God.  Daniel 3:28

When you trust in God, then you trust the will He has for you and your life and the responses to your requests.

Trusting God’s will is paramount.  If you’re not going to trust His will, then what is the point of praying?  We have to realize that all the things that we go through are not always about us.  We may just be the instrument that God is using for His glory to be revealed,

Jesus trusted the will of God and made himself subject to it.  Jesus prayed:

Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine be done.  Luke 22:42

In the weakness of human flesh, Jesus did not want to suffer. He wanted the cup of suffering removed, but He submitted His will to God's will.   Why?  Because He wholeheartedly trusted in God.

Knowledge and experience builds our relationship with God.  It starts with trusting in Him.

Trust in the Lord with all thine heart;

and lean not unto thine own understanding. 

In all thy ways acknowledge him,

and he shall direct thy paths.

Proverbs 3:5-6

Biblical Studies

07/20/19

06/02/21