Scripture Reading:

1. 1 John 5:14:  “If we ask for anything according to God’s will, He hears us.”

2. Mathew 26:39: “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from Me, yet not as I will, but as You will.”

Discussion Points:

-         We must ask, not demand, that God answer our prayers.

-         As servants of God we have no right to demand that God act according to our will.

-         Why does the Bible not instruct us to “tell” God what we want?

-         1 John 5:14 shows that there is a connection between “asking” and God “hearing us.” 

§   Why is this verse in the Bible?

§   If we don’t ask according to God’s will, does He not hear us?

§   Or, does following this verse just make our prayers more effective?

-         Example provided by Jesus as seen in Mathew 26:39.

-         Jesus asked that God spare Him from death on the cross, only if it was in accordance with God’s will.

§   Jesus understood, that even in the prayer for His life, that He should only pray for things in accordance with God’s will.  In other words, you should ask, not demand – even for the important things.

-         In order to follow this rule, it is helpful to prepare our hearts and minds before praying to ensure that our prayers are request and not demands. 

-         The wording of our prayers can also be important. 

§   “if you are willing…” – see examples shown in Jesus’ prayers.

-         Important:  Sometimes God’s will differs from ours.  So, when asking for God’s will, we must be prepared to accept it.  It is important to remember, however, when God chooses not answer our prayers in the way that we wish, God will provide us with the strength needed to accept his answer.  For example, when God choose not to answer Jesus’ request that He be spared from death on the cross, the Bible states “that an angel from heaven appeared to Him and strengthened Him.”

-         Also important: If we know that God will give us whatever we ask according to His will, then if we ask for things that we know are in accordance with God’s will, we know that we will receive them (i.e.,  more faith, for God to be with us in a particular situation, etc.)

Point of Lesson:  The Bible shows us that there is a connection between “asking” for God’s will in our prayers and God’s willingness to hear them.  To increase the effectiveness of our prayers, we should ask not demand.  This is accomplished by preparing before we pray and by carefully wording our prayers similar to the way that Jesus prayed.

Past Prayer That Worked:  In our 5^th lesson, we will cover a past prayer that worked that illustrates this rule (as well as the next 3 rules). This past prayer is the prayer of the leper and is found in Matthew 8:2.  This week, review the prayer of the leper and see if you can find out how the leper complied with this forgotten rule.