THROUGH
GOD’S EYES
Psalm
119:97-98
“Oh
how I love Your law! I meditate on it
all day long. Your commands make me
wiser than my enemies, for they are ever with me.”
“I’m not sure if it’s God’s will,” fourteen year old
Michael explained to his ten year old brother Jeremy. “But I’m going to pray for it anyway.”
Jeremy thought about that. Then he said, “I think that God wants you to
get a college scholarship to play football.
And attending football camp will definitely teach you skills to play
better in high school.” He nodded his
head, convinced. “So I think it’d be
okay for you to pray that mom and dad send you to football camp next
summer.”
People often wonder the same thing that concerns
Michael. How can we know what’s God’s
will when we see things through human eyes?
We often support prayer with probable outcomes like Jeremy figured,
don’t we? We often struggle deciding
what is wrong, compared to what is right.
Which is a better choice…what is the best choice? Other things to consider before we pray
requests to God: Is the request
selfish? Would the request harm
another?
We
are urged to ask God only for what is aligned with His will when we pray. How can we know what is God’s will? Enter Holy Spirit. Jesus says in John 16:13-15, “He will guide you in all truth. He will not speak on His own; He will speak
only what He hears [from the Father and Jesus]…and
make it known to you.”
God wants His kids to know
His will. That’s why He gave us His
Word.
As we mature in God’s knowledge and wisdom, we will be
able to pray with confidence. We will be
able to sense, or realize God’s will by how we see Him work and speak in the
Bible. It is the Holy Spirit’s job to
help us discern [dis-SERN] means to determine and understand God’s Word.
This takes time, though.
We must stick to reading the Bible daily. Soon, we’ll be ready to follow what we’ve
learned about God’s will—and pray with confidence.
Take
Home Nugget
“Delight yourself in
the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.” Psalm 37:4 is an
often-quoted Scripture when people want something from God. This passage is
clear that we’re to delight in the Lord BEFORE He gives us the desires of our
heart. Delighting-in-the-Lord thoughts
and behavior is as the opening Scripture outlines.
What does God love?
What does He hate? Check out Psalms 5:5, 45:7 and 97:10 for starters. God’s will becomes clear when we form a
relationship with Jesus.
Help us to align our thoughts and
behavior to your will, Lord.
J.D. Griffith
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