"Your Kingdom Come, Your Will Be Done"

How can we know the will of God? We find it in the Word of God. The more we read the Bible, the more we’ll understand it, and the more we’ll discover what the will of God is.

Jesus said we should pray, “Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10 NKJV). This reminds us that the primary objective of prayer is to first line up our will with the will of God.

In John 15 we find this amazing promise from Jesus: “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you” (verse 7 NKJV). The Message puts it this way: “But if you make yourselves at home with me and my words are at home in you, you can be sure that whatever you ask will be listened to and acted upon.”

Of course, we immediately focus on the last part of that verse: “You will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.” But hold on. Let’s go back to the conditions Jesus gave: “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you. . . .” In other words, if we maintain a living communion with Him, and His words are at home with us, that will change the way we pray.

God wants us to discover His will. And true praying is not overcoming God’s reluctance; it is taking hold of His willingness. Prayer is not about getting our will in Heaven; it is about getting God’s will on earth.

If you want to see your prayers answered in the affirmative, that is the key. Find out what the will of God is and then start praying that way.