A Plan To Be Followed
“May your will be done on earth as it is in heaven”
Matthew 6:10
If God’s will is to be done on earth, it has to start in your heart. Are you willing and ready to do God’s will? Perhaps you are saying, “Tell me what
God’s will is, and then I can tell you whether I am willing to do it.” That is a reasonable request, and God’s Word answers it. God’s will is that you believe that Jesus is His Son and your Savior. You say, “Oh, that is easy. I believe it. Is that all there is to the will of God?” No, that is not all. Now comes the hard part. God wants all believers to be like Jesus. You say, “Be like Jesus! Who can be like Jesus?” You can! It is God’s will for you. The Holy Spirit will help make it happen! How is that? Well, everything that happens to you is “good” if it makes you like Jesus. That means trouble can be good for you. How can this be? You will have to pray a lot to know why God lets things happen to you, won’t you?
PRAYING FOR GOD’S WILL
Must we pray about everything? You may ask, “Does God have a will for each thing I do every day? Does He have a will for what shoes I should wear? Which route I should travel when going to work? Or what I should eat for lunch?” Does God bother about such little things?
God knows every little thing we do. However, He has given us a good mind with which to make decisions. It is not necessary to pray about things that neither hinder nor help the plan of God. These are our decisions to make. We should ask, “Does this affect God’s plan? Does it strengthen my walk with God?” That is why God has given us a brain. He wants us to use it!
However, some “little” things are not little because they do affect the plan of God. If I say, “I don’t feel like praying today,” that is no “little” thing. By not praying, I weaken my walk with God and fail to grow spiritually. But if I say, “I don’t feel like eating fish today,” that is a little thing, and it is not necessary to pray about it. Eating or not eating fish does not affect God’s plan.
Sometimes, however, God saves our lives through a feeling inside us that warns us not to go to some place or do something. This “feeling” is really the voice of the Spirit within us. We need to pay attention to these inner warnings. We need to know how to listen to the Spirit! You see, even though God has angels who guard each of us, we still need to listen. Often, we find that we would have been injured if we had not listened to the Spirit. God’s angels protect those who listen. So, in things that do not affect the kingdom of God, we can make our own decisions. But we should always be listening for the voice of the Spirit lest we make a wrong decision.
Praying for His Plan
We want to say here again what we are saying throughout this book. God has a plan and every believer should prayerfully seek to follow it. Before we pray for anything else, we should think of God’s plan and ask ourselves, “Am I doing what God wants me to do today? Is my work part of His plan?” God’s plan is not just for preachers. It is for everybody. It is just as important for the clerk who sells cloth to know he is following God’s plan as it is for the minister of the gospel to know he is in God’s will.
So, when a job is offered to you, it would be right to pray about it before accepting it. But your decision should be based on whether the job helps you do God’s will—not on how much money you will be paid. Some people accept jobs where there is no church just because the pay is better. Now, if you start a new church where your new job is, then perhaps you are in the will of God. But if you take the job and stop praying in the house of God, then you are doing wrong. It is better to take less pay than to be out of God’s will.
So, when a job is offered to you, it would be right to pray about it before accepting it. But your decision should be based on whether the job helps you do God’s will—not on how much money you will be paid. Some people accept jobs where there is no church just because the pay is better. Now, if you start a new church where your new job is, then perhaps you are in the will of God. But if you take the job and stop praying in the house of God, then you are doing wrong. It is better to take less pay than to be out of God’s will.
What is God’s will? Let us state it again. God’s will is that:
- All men believe.
- All believers be like Jesus. Jesus gave the Great Commission.
Remember Matthew 28:19-20. We talked about this in Lesson 5. Jesus was speaking to us about His will for those who had not heard the gospel.
This is the command of Jesus, and the will of God. All other prayers are “little” prayers compared to prayers prayed for the plan of God. But to do the plan of God, we will need all kinds of people. We will need:
People who can pray.
People who can preach.
People who can work and give.
People who can teach.
People who can witness to their neighbors.
People who can witness to those in other lands.
People who can build and work with their hands.
People who can comfort those who are in trouble.
Oh, there are so many kinds of people who are needed in doing the plan of God. Each of us should pray to know what God wants us to do. We should also pray that others will give themselves to work in God’s plan.
Praying With the Spirit
How can we know how to pray? How can we pray for people to be saved and for believers to be like Jesus when our own families have such great needs? We have children to feed, houses to build, bills to pay, clothes to buy, knowledge to obtain, and plans of our own. Is it possible to be more concerned about the plan of God than about these other things?
The answer is, “Yes, it is, but you will need help!” When Jesus went to heaven, He said He would send the Holy Spirit. One of the Holy Spirit’s names is “Paraclete,” which means “One called alongside to help.” Ah, that is just what we need! We need someone to help us do the right thing. We need someone to help us put first things first. We need someone to teach us how to pray, and that is exactly what the Holy Spirit has been sent by Jesus to do!
We need the Holy Spirit. Do you know why? The Holy Spirit helps us pray for the right things. Listen to what the Bible says in Romans 8:26-27: “In the same way the Spirit also comes to help us, weak as we are. For we do not know how we ought to pray.” Think of it! That is quite a statement! We do not know how we ought to pray! “The Spirit himself pleads with God for us in groans that words cannot express. And God, who sees into our hearts, knows what the thought of the Spirit is; because the Spirit pleads with God on behalf of his people and in accordance with His will.”
Praise God! Now we have Someone to pray for us “in accordance with His will.” That is exactly what we need! The Spirit will not pray for selfish things. The Spirit will pray for:
- All men to believe.
- All believers to be like Jesus.
We need to yield ourselves to the Holy Spirit and let Him pray for us and through us. Sometimes we feel a great need to pray for lost men. Then the Spirit will pray through us in an unknown tongue. He will pray according to the will of God. Sometimes we know we have not been acting like Jesus, and we pray to be like Him. The Holy Spirit will help us because it is His work to pray according to the will of God.
Of course, if we are going to pray about things for ourselves, we must not expect the Spirit to pray for us unless it is something that concerns the plan of God. If we are praying for money to help the work of God, the Spirit will help us. If we are praying for a car with which to do God’s work, the Spirit will help us. But if we are praying selfishly, then we will have to do our own praying, because the Spirit’s work is to pray according to the plan of God!
COMMITMENT TO GOD’S WILL
There is no happier place than in the center of God’s will. Who are the unhappy people? Who are those who are never satisfied? Who are those whose lives are empty and without meaning? Who are they? People who are not doing the will of God.
The unhappiest people in the world are those who think happiness is to have everything they want, and to have their own way. How deceived they are! They are the ones who have the most of this world’s goods, but have the least joy!
You see, you can’t measure happiness by the loudness of a man’s laughter, or by how many things he owns. Life is not made of the things we own. A happy life is a life in which the plans and the kingdom of God are sought above everything else!
Limited Commitment
Now let us talk about several important things concerning how to pray. Some people say, “I’ll do your will if . . .” and then they list a lot of conditions. They say, “I’ll go—if there is a house there to live in.” Or they say, “I’ll go—if they pay enough money.” Or, “I’ll go—if my mother can go with me.” Or, “I’ll go—if I can stay close to my home and gardens.”
Brother! Sister! Those are “limited” commitments. These people have said, “Yes,” and then have added the word, “if!” The Great Commission of Jesus will never be done by people who say “if.” It will be done by people who say, “Here am I, Lord, send me”—with no conditions added!
In Psalm 78:41 (KJV) there is a verse that says two things about God that seem impossible. It says, “They turned back and tempted God, and limited the Holy One of Israel.” They:
- Tempted God
- Limited God Can God be tempted?
Can God be limited? Here is a truth that puts fear in our hearts, for it says that man can tempt and limit God! How can an all-powerful God be limited?
Well, He could not be limited unless He agreed to be limited. But that is what God has done. He has included man in his plan. He has said, “I want to heal, but I will limit myself to the faith of man.” Or, “I want to call that man to the ministry, but I will limit myself to his willingness to go.”
What a thought! That means that even though God wills to do something, it may not be done unless God can find a man who wants to do His will!
We can limit God in salvation. It is not God’s will that any should perish, yet many do perish. Why? Because they do not submit their will to the will of God.
This is true of sickness. It is God’s will to heal sick people. Yet many remain sick, even when it is God’s will to heal them. Why? Because they do not put faith to be healed together with the will of God for them. So they remain sick. They could be healed, but they have no faith that it could happen to them. God is limited because they won’t believe!
We don’t know why God has chosen to do it this way in His plan, but that is the way it is. Think of it! See how important are the faith and will of man! He wants all men to be saved. All men will not be saved, however, because they do not submit their will to the will of God.
He wants all men to be like Jesus, but all men will not be like Jesus. Why? Because they are not willing to humble themselves. So God is limited, and they remain un-Christlike.
Total Commitment
In the story of the tower of Babel (Genesis 11:1-9) it tells that men were all in one place with one language. They united in rebellion against God. They had unity and commitment, but it was a unity of man without God and a commitment to rebellion. What happened? God confused their language, and they had to quit building.
In Acts 2:1-4 we read how the early Christians were all together in one place worshiping God. Suddenly there was a noise like a mighty wind and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with tongues. This was the unity of God and man. What a unity it was!
When man’s will agrees with God’s will, miracles happen! The sick can be healed, the blind can see, the lame can walk. Why? Because the plan of God is working. God and man are again walking and talking together!
This is the purpose of prayer and worship. Worship is talking together with God in praise and thanksgiving. As we worship, God comes down and our hearts and wills move together! When God’s heart and our hearts are united, anything can happen! Praise God!
Total commitment is the total union of two wills—God’s will and man’s will. It is not for us to ask God to change His will to ours. We must find His will and follow it. When we do, the Great Commission will be done, and the world will hear the good news about Jesus!
FAITH AND GOD’S WILL
We will now sum up this unit on “The Priority of Worship.” Worship has to do with the things God is concerned about. The things that God is concerned with is what must always have priority in our praying. Not that God doesn’t care about the other things we have need of, because He does. He will provide them for us if only we will be concerned, above everything else, with the kingdom of God and with the things He requires of us (Matthew 6:33).
Some Questions About Prayer
You hear a lot said, these days, about the power of faith. Faith, they say, makes all things possible. The words of Jesus and of Paul are quoted, such as:
“For God everything is possible” (Matthew 19:26). “If you have faith as big as a mustard seed, you can say to this hill, ‘Go from here to there!’ and it will go. You could do anything!” (Matthew 17:20). “My God will supply all your needs” (Philippians 4:19). “You will ask for anything you wish, and you shall have it” (John 15:7).
Are these portions of Scripture unlimited promises with no “ifs” added? Is poverty unnecessary since riches can be had for the asking? Are the sick to be scolded for lack of faith? Is it wrong to add the words, “If it be Thy will,” to our prayers?
Let us consider the verses listed above. Are there not conditions to the truth of these statements? We believe there are. Each one of these verses has a requirement that goes with it. The believer’s part of the promise is to obey His commandments, have faith, give unselfishly, and know the Word of God. Remember also that God will not answer a prayer which will hurt another child of God.
Examine the verse “You will ask for anything you wish, and you shall have it” (John 15:7). Is this, then, a promise that covers every case? Is it an invitation to ask for and receive everything for which our minds could wish? Is this an unconditional (no “if”) promise? We do not believe that it is.
If it were, we could ask that our house would clean itself every day. We could ask that everybody in the world be wealthy. We could ask that none of our family die. A “no limit” claim to this promise would mean that, given enough faith, all the above things would happen!
You are probably saying, “Don’t be foolish! God doesn’t answer that kind of praying.” We agree. God doesn’t answer that kind of praying. But to admit that He doesn’t answer that kind of praying is to admit that the promise, “nothing shall be impossible unto you,” is a limited one. There are some things for which we should not pray!
Now let us consider Paul’s promise, in Philippians 4:19, “My God will supply all your needs.” This is a glorious promise, but it is limited by the word “needs.” There is often a big difference between a man’s wants and a man’s needs.
Who wouldn’t want an expensive home? Who wouldn’t want a lot of money? Who wouldn’t want a healthy body? Who wouldn’t want success and fame? Who wouldn’t want to be handsome or beautiful?
Can we use Paul’s words to justify asking for these things? I think not. God has promised to supply our needs; but, our idea of what our needs are may not be the same as what God considers to be our needs. We can ask for them in prayer, but we are going to have to trust God. He knows what is good for us. We are going to have to add the words, “If it be Thy will,” to our prayer.
“You will ask for anything you wish, and you shall have it” (John 15:7) is another glorious promise. But it is also limited. The promise starts with the words, “If ye remain in me and my words remain in you . . . .” Conditions!
Some Prayers That Are Not Answered
Let’s study about two men of faith who asked what they willed, and it was not done unto them. Jesus prayed, “If you will, take this cup of suffering away from me” (Luke 22:42). Can anyone say that Jesus lacked faith? Why, then, did not God take away from Jesus the cup of suffering? The reason is that it was God’s will to save men through His Son’s death on the cross. Was Jesus’ faith weak because His whole being cried out against the curse of “becoming sin for us?” Never! He was neither wrong nor weak. In fact, Jesus was strong, for He yielded His own will to the will of His Father. As son of man, He did not want to suffer and die. As Son of God, He did not want to be made sin. But, above all, Jesus wanted to do His Father’s will. This was the success of His perfect praying. We too, can learn to be successful in prayer.
Naturally, we would rather be rich than poor.
Naturally, we would rather be healthy than sick.
Naturally, we would rather stay at home than go far away.
Naturally, we would rather live than die.
But, as children of God, we would rather do the Father’s will above all else! That is why we can say, with Jesus, “Nevertheless, not my will but Thine be done.”
Paul was a man of faith. Yet not all of his prayers were answered. A painful physical ailment troubled him. It was something he prayed that God would take away. What greater man of faith was there than Paul? “Ask what ye will,” was a promise to Paul as well as to us. So, he prayed. Three times he prayed. And three times God answered, “My grace is all you need, for my power is strongest when you are weak” (2 Corinthians 12:9).
All of the examples prove one thing. Every prayer we pray, every promise we claim, should be according to the will of God. Any prayer that is prayed against His will, or fails to work with it, is not acceptable to God. This kind of praying is a misuse of His promises. “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven,” must always be our priority in prayer.
This makes the knowing of God’s will of first importance. We know two things that are always God’s will. When we pray for them, we do not have to say, “If it be Thy will.” They are:
- May Your holy name be honored.
- May Your kingdom come.
We know that it would be wrong to pray for anything that would be against these two things in God’s will. In other words, “Ask anything in My name,” cannot be used to ask for personal glory. I cannot ask that my own name receive glory and at the same time honestly be seeking the glory of God’s name.
Again God’s will is that all men be saved and become citizens of His kingdom. It is also His will that all citizens of His kingdom be conformed to the image of His Son. Any prayer that defeats this plan of God cannot be one of the, “If you believe you will receive whatever you ask” kind of prayer. These promises are not unlimited. They must be prayed for according to God’s will.
How, then, should we pray? “Please save ‘John Doe’.” No need to say, “If it be Thy will,” because we know it is God’s will to save all men. Of course, ‘John Doe’ can refuse God’s will. To be saved, a person’s will must agree with God’s will.
“Please make me like Jesus.” No need to say, “If it be Thy will,” since we know that God wants His children to be like His Son. Jesus’ desire for God’s will led Him through suffering and self-denial. It took Him to the cross. Do we honestly want to be like Jesus? Are we willing to face a cross so that we might be Christ-like? “He made himself poor for your sake, in order to make you rich by means of his poverty” (2 Corinthians 8:9). Are we willing to be poor for the sake of those who have yet to know the “riches” of His salvation? Are we willing to deny ourselves to leave our father and mother for His sake that His will might be done?
“You do not have what you want because you do not ask God for it” Those are the words of Jesus. Then he adds, “And when you ask, you do not receive it, because your motives are bad; you ask for things to use for your own pleasures” (James 4:3). How does it fit together with, “Ask what you will and it shall be given unto you?” It only fits together if our will is yielded to God’s will. But don’t expect answers to prayers that are selfish. Don’t expect answers to prayers that do not honor His name. Our prayer must be in keeping with God’s will. Otherwise God cannot answer that prayer.
Some Things People Pray For
Now, what does this mean in terms of asking for the many things we want? Is it wrong to ask for nice things? Hasn’t God invited us to ask? We can say that things people pray for fall into three classes:
- Things we have no right to ask for, because we know they are not God’s will.
- Things we are not sure of, about which, when we pray, we should add the words, “If it be Thy will.”
- Things we are sure are God’s will and for which we need not add the words, “If it be Thy will.”
Things like selfish living, carnal pleasures, and self-glory are among the first. These are forbidden. We should not bother to pray for them. We know those things are against God’s will.
Second, there are the doubtful things about which we should pray, “If it be Thy will.” Success in business, comfortable living, fame, a beautiful girl for a wife . . . these things are only proper objects of faith if they are in keeping with the will of God. We need to pray about these things and then be willing to accept God’s answer.
The third group concerns things about which God has already declared to be His will. We have stated that it is always His will that His name be honored and that His kingdom come. It is also His will that none should perish, but that all should be saved. Whenever we are seeking the salvation of the lost, it is not necessary to pray, “If it be Thy will.”
But are healing and deliverance God’s will? Do they belong to the second or the third group? We believe they belong to the second group, and that prayers for healing and deliverance should be limited with the words, “If it be Thy will.” Why? Because the lost cannot be reached without suffering and sacrifice, and becoming like Christ sometimes is only possible through the patience and humility that sickness requires. God’s kingdom and God’s glory are more important than our wants, our glory, and our comfort. There are times when we cannot have both.
So, divine healing and deliverance may not always be God’s will. A good example is the eleventh chapter of Hebrews. Half of the men of faith were delivered. Half were not delivered. Those who were not delivered had no less faith than those who were delivered.
We’ve mentioned Paul. He was not delivered from his pain. By submitting to God’s will, God’s power was strong because Paul was weak.
We’ve mentioned Jesus. He was not delivered from the cross. But by submitting to God’s will, He made possible the salvation of all men.
Please don’t misunderstand. God does heal and deliver. “We are healed by the punishment He suffered, made whole by the blows He received” (Isaiah 53:5). Jesus healed those who came to Him. He healed the lame man and the blind man. Daniel was delivered from the lions. The three Hebrew children were delivered from the fire. It is right to pray for these things. We are only pointing out that God’s will must be sought above our will in these matters. His glory and His kingdom are far more important than our comfort and our wants. We must always be prepared for the cross of self-denial that goes with following Jesus.
Let us finish by saying that total joy and contentment can only be found in the center of God’s will. A man in the center of God’s will can sing while suffering. A man in the center of God’s will can pray, “Father, forgive them,” while He is hanging on a cross. Paul was in the center of God’s will when he said, “My God will supply all your needs” (Philippians 4:19). He was bound with chains in a Roman jail. John was in the center of God’s will when he wrote, “I pray that everything may go well with you and that you may be in good health—as I know you are well in spirit” (3 John 2). He was on the lonely island of Patmos where hunger, hate and poverty could not rob him of the riches of glory in Christ Jesus. Blessed is the man who has learned to pray, “May Your holy name be honored . . . may Your kingdom come . . . may Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10, KJV).