Knowing the Desirous Will of God - Asking

One of the aspects of communication with God is to make a request; however, asking must be done in a proper manner.

In Philippians 4:6 we are instructed to not be anxious about anything but in all things to worship and supplicate after giving thanks we are then to make our request.

Philippians 4:6 NKJV

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God;

One of the reasons we do not receive what we ask for is because we are asking so that we can consume according to our own pleasures (James 4:3 “You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.” ).

There is no darkness is in God (1 John 1:5 “This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.” ),

which is where the sin nature manifests itself.

And anyone walking in the darkness does not fellowship with God (1 John 1:6 “If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.” )

because they are not practicing the truth.

Therefore, God will not give us a request that we seek to consume by the desires of our flesh.

He will not give us wealth, health, or happiness that is based upon the desires of the flesh.

When we ask, we need to ask according to His will, not ours.

When we are keeping His commandments to us – Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ (1 John 3:23 “And this is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He gave us commandment.” ),

Love other Christians as Christ loved us (John 13:34 “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.” ),

Abide in Christ (John 15:1-4 ““I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.” ) –

when we ask our attitude will be in a correct place so that our request is appropriate and we will therefore receive what we ask for (1 John 3:22 “And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight.” ).

The more we ask in a proper way, the more confidence we gain in Him as He answers our request (1 John 5:14 “Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.” )

and since we know He hears us, for we are asking according to His will, then we know we have that which we requested (1 John 5:15 “And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.” ).

There are things that we should not ask for, such as for the life of a saint who has committed a sin that leads to death (1 John 5:16 “If anyone sees his brother sinning a sin which does not lead to death, he will ask, and He will give him life for those who commit sin not leading to death. There is sin leading to death. I do not say that he should pray about that.” ).

Nor should we storm the gates of heaven demanding what we want such as the healing of a loved one.

Our strength is not in our health, but when we are weak, Christ is strong.

Although there is nothing wrong with asking for healing, the question we should ask before making the request, is whether or not this is God’s will, for perhaps through this sickness He has a good work for this person to do.

Now when we make a request we do need to do it in faith (James 1:6 “But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind.” ),

while not questioning within our minds as to whether or not we are to have what we ask for.

This comes by first examining the request, giving God credit for what He has done and Who He is, being thankful for what we have, and lining up the ask with what we know is God’s will for our lives.

When we do this, we can ask in confidence, knowing He hears us, and therefore we will have what we asked.

As priest, we all have a direct line to God and are to use it.

As we learn to ask properly and see the results of our request, we mature more in the experiential knowledge of God.

Therefore, this is something that we each have to do, for having someone else asking does not benefit us for we are the ones who really know the purpose for the request and can properly weight it against God’s will

1 John 5:14–15 (NKJV)

And this is the confidence we have facing Him, that if we should happen to ask according to His will, He hears us. And if we intuitively know that He hears us, what we should happen to ask, we intuitively know that we have the things that we asked from Him.